I think it's gonna be okay. I really do. I think "ironically" working at a coffee shop is how you accept that your life isn't as rich as your parents' lives and it's probably their fault. But you know what? "Happiness is making more money than your brother-in-law." (Mencken) The standard of living is in decline. The "hipsters" are the vanguard and while you're looking down your nose at them, they're enjoying themselves. This and this are true, true, true. The "hipster"* lifestyle isn't a fucking rejection of anything, like media etc would have you believe. It's an embracing of a whole lot of things -- local business is just one of them (great point). It's like the slow food movement times 1000. You're damn right it's the vanguard, it's a reaction to the bizarre challenges people these days grow up with (e.g. buy your daughter the damn Starbucks franchises!). We have to lose this mentality of 'if you're not well on the way to paying down your mortgage and having two kids and a 501k and a desk job by the time you're 30 you're doing it wrong' crap. That's how the Boomers** did it, maybe. Unbelievably that perception still exists. Thinking that every generation should do things the same way ignores the many, many ways each generation's world is different. It's also, you know, stupid. I don't have much else to say about this that you haven't already said or that won't make me sound like an entitled/elitist bitch. (And I wish I did, because of what you wrote yesterday about the lack of thought around here lately and with the exception of a few excellent people I agree.) But here are some things I have learned from the way "hipsters" live: a) it is possible to eat and live healthily for basically no money ... and still have an extremely fulfilling life. b) It is possible to dress well and uniquely for basically no money ... if you are willing to be labeled a "hipster" for your trouble. Not, you know, poor -- just, "hipster." c) It is possible to travel almost anywhere in the world for very little money ... if you are willing to use your brain. d) "Subverting the paradigm" is admirable and often extremely rewarding. These are things I was not taught by watching previous generations, they are things I was taught by observing my own. Now, they may not be what "hipsters" set out to do, if they set out to do anything -- for it's not just a poverty movement, although it will be soon -- but these things are a side effect that any sane person my age should take advantage of. *uncomfortably using the word "hipster" even though it doesn't mean the same thing to anyone who uses it **uncomfortably using generational stereotypes that don't mean anythingThe kids are all right. That "social safety net" described in the linked article is a strawman. It's not steady-state. For one thing, unemployment doesn't last forever (trust me, I know). For another, the United States is busily dealing with "structural unemployment" - a lovely technical term for "jobs that are not coming back ever." It's going to be a long slow decline. Part of it is caused by those very "hipsters" - they don't buy much. They don't need cars. They use "irony" as an excuse to shop at thrift stores (hey, whatever works!). They support "hipster" restaurants, which is code for "keeps money closer to the point of sale" (85% of money generated by a franchise restaurant leaves the zip code of the franchise). And they deeply believe in the shit they buy, to a zealous degree. It's not exactly an anti-consumer mantra, but it certainly protects the local at the expense of the global.
And maybe that's why I liked reading the article while also feeling like the article missed a whole bunch. For one thing, I've never met someone who describes themselves as a "hipster." It's a pejorative, not a class of people. For another thing, all this presumes that "hipsters" are helpless to their fate, that they're out of ideas or options, and that they aren't just as likely to subvert the paradigm and throw it in the faces of their parents as GenX did. Bill McKibben (GenX) argues in Eaarth that the way forward is distinctly hipster-like: Travel less, buy less, eat local whenever possible, use less energy and cultivate online relationships. Shannon Hayes (GenX) argues in Radical Homemakers that the way forward is to freeload until you have enough resources to live self-sufficiently off your own land. I know plenty of "hipsters" who know how to can vegetables. I know zero baby boomers who can do the same.