GENZ

📹 street_cam.exe — from TikTok_□✕

Seen on TikTok

Night march from aboveA huge crowd fills a street at night. On-screen text: “This all by the lazy gen btw”.via TikTok · video 7696604007703399688

Students on the streetA collage of student protests: handmade placards, smoke flares and a speaker passed over the crowd.via TikTok · video 7692487115434757408

“Do or die”A young man talks to the camera about jobs and how things used to be different.via TikTok · video 7673598761574092046

🌍 world.exe — click a country_□✕

Not just Paris

120 major anti-government protests in 73 countries in the 12 months to March 2026, the most since 2017 (Carnegie). ★ = government or leader fell.

⚖️ wrong_vs_right.exe_□✕

What went wrong, what went right

🏚️Schools cut back3,256 teaching posts cut for 2026. At one suburban Paris school, maths, English and PE classes were cancelled from the start of term.

🪜The first rung is shrinkingEntry-level postings in software fell from 43% to 28% of jobs (2018–2024). Many "entry" roles now ask for 3+ years' experience.

🏠Cost of livingRent, housing and prices are the shared grievance in protests across France, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Germany and Austria.

🧯Violence on both sidesBurned bus shelters and cars. A student lost a hand to a police stun grenade. 937 police and 248 students injured by 14 Oct.

👤Leaderless = fragileThe loose, leaderless movements rarely became political projects beyond their first demands. Madagascar ended in a military coup and a government of insiders, to Gen Z groups' dismay.

💤 lazy?.exe — Error✕

"The lazy generation"

!

Gen Z grew up through these crises, in order:

2008global financial crisis (oldest Gen Z ~11)

2012French youth unemployment hits record 28.3%

2020pandemic closes schools

2022inflation & cost-of-living crisis

2022→−13% jobs for 22–25s in AI-exposed roles

20263,256 French teaching posts cut

55%of hiring managers say Gen Z lacks a strong work ethic (Intelligent survey)

90%of KPMG's Gen Z interns call the "lazy" label a misconception

5.6% vs 4.2%US unemployment: recent grads (22–27) vs all workers, March 2026

1 in 4young people worldwide are not in work, education or training (ILO)

The data is mixed: a New York Fed study links most of the rise in young-graduate unemployment to remote work rather than AI, and a CESifo paper found no significant rise for recent US grads in summer 2026. Willingness among 18-year-olds to "do their best at work even if it means overtime" did fall between 2020 and 2022 (Monitoring the Future). Millennials were called lazy and entitled too.

🔗 bookmarks.htm — sources_✕

France: day 31

The Gen Z road trip