What I — A Youngish Person — Thinks the Future Should Look Like
By: Mason Crist
Tags: Generation Z, Change, Politics, Future, Youth

And what archaic cheese packaging has to do with it.

I am unashamedly a grandma’s boy. I visit her every other day and sit at her kitchen counter as she plates tasteless spaghetti in front of me and talks about what most grandmas love to talk about. Simpler times.

Were advancing, fast! According to Moore’s law, every 18 or so months, computer processing speeds double. What does that mean? Well, according to your big billionaire tech heroes, communication gets quicker, smartphones work faster, and rockets get hurled farther. What does that mean to me? An unaccomplished undergrad working part-time at a grocery store. Well, marketers develop better ways to claw into your human behavior and desires. Fast food scientists develop better tasting foods that exploit your salt, fat and sugar-based palette. And big tech develops more useless apps and products to become addicted to so you can ignore the slave labor that creates them, the plastic packaging filling up our oceans and landfills, and your growing waistline.

If this is now, what were those simpler times my grandma loves to relish in?

Just the other day, we were rummaging through an old barn that has been in our family for generations. We were trying to find an old crate I could furnish my room with to give it that bucolic homestead vibe Chip and Joanna rave about.

I came across a wooden 5lb cheese crate. Too small for a coffee table, but perfect for me to admire for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, simplicity and functionality. All wood, with dozens of half-blind dovetail cuts binding the pieces together. No nails, glue, plastic, or “follow us on IG to hear about our latest products” print. Just a box for some cheese.

But why did the producer put so much intricacy and effort into a cheese vessel? “They had to work with what they had!” grandma chirped.

People wanted cheese and the producer gave them cheese. But then competition came. Things got a little cutthroat and now we have processed cheese foods containing less than 51% cheese and pre-grated parmesans being pulled from shelves for containing cheap cheddar and wood pulp. All wrapped up in a plastic package that subtly asks to be hopelessly recycled. “It's apricots!” my grandma would say, a fresh new take on nuts.

What upsets me here is the insincerity corporations have towards humanity. People are treated as consumers, not humans. Corporations cut corners and disregard ethics to turn a quick buck. But then people catch on. What do these corporations do? They give a quick PR apology and slap an organic, handmade, gourmet or sustainably produced label on their product to show they have changed.

Look at eggs. Nobody liked seeing those videos of sad caged chickens defecating on each other, confined so tightly they were unable to spread their wings.

People got upset. Some took to the streets, busted down barn doors, and said, “treat chickens humanely, as living things!” Big business apologized and started selling cage-free eggs. Victory!

The Humane Society did a little investigating however and found that the only requirements to put a cage-free sticker on a product are that each chicken needs one square foot (144 inches) of space. Chickens are held in dark barns, shoulder to shoulder, knee-deep in their neighbors’ poop, but better off than their caged brothers, which still exist.

I work at a popular grocery store that has a special’s isle — for non-grocery related items. Now, do not tell my boss, but all of its trash. Plastic microwavable omelet cookers, fiber-board furniture, cheap clothing and an endless supply of crummy knock-off children’s toys that will bore after 15 minutes of disappointing playtime. These are the everyday purchases of consumers living in the most advanced society the world has ever known.

This is what the 21st century has to offer. This is what we are putting our ingenuity, recourses and innovation towards. Wine toppers, flatscreens and senseless self-help apps. Improving the well-being and security of millions can wait.

I know by now I must sound like the most inconsiderate, unappreciative snob you have ever heard. But I sincerely do not see the point. Humanity's current goal is to turn a profit. Exploit who you can and manipulate the masses into thinking they still need to keep up with the Joneses.

No sense in complaining anymore about corporate responsibility or our throw-away consumer society. I suppose there are people working on it and why worry about issues of humanity when I can just bury my nose in Instagram and stare at internet trends for hours.

My main contention and question here is what is the point of humanity? Economic and technological advancement? Towards what? Cheap meaningless goods?

Class mobility is diminishing, 35 million Americans suffer from some form of food insecurity, 40% struggle with obesity and an increasing endemic of anxiety and depression is sweeping among the youth. All while the race to the peak of the money pile sits on everyone’s mind.

Like every other time, it is time for a change. The Reformation brought a political uprising and we advanced. The Scientific Revolution brought modern science and we moved on. The Industrial Revolution brought glory and we progressed. It is time for the Technological Revolution to die. We need to move on and reorient humanity's goals. It is time for a new age of enlightenment.

Where do we start? How about we look at what humans truly need and capitalize on that instead of the selfish race to the top. How we can spread well-being and security to as many people as possible. Cheap knick-knacks and 8K resolution TV’s are not the answer but thank you for the smartphone, laptop and air conditioning. Sincerely, Generation Z.