What some would consider being the most sensitive generation in America, Generation Z has reached a whole new level of heartlessness.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict started in February of 2014. It has since escalated to a full-blown war that has rocked the whole world. People are expressing concerns over nuclear destruction, World War III and being drafted to fight.
Yes, the fears the world has are valid. In an AP news article from earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin is described as such: “For two decades, [he] has struck rivals as reckless, impulsive. But his behavior in ordering an invasion of Ukraine — and now putting Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert — has some in the West questioning whether the Russian president has become dangerously unstable.”
War is never a small pill to swallow, especially when it’s incited by a hot-headed maniacal dictator.
Despite the rising anxiety over the world’s fate, let’s not forget one very important thing: Americans are not the victims.
American soldiers are not fighting in the Russia-Ukraine War. Russian soldiers are not invading American cities with armed weapons. Americans are not leaving their pets to die while heading to an underground bomb shelter.
So, that begs the question: why are Americans making jokes about it?
Either they’re just insensitive bigots or they’ve claimed to be joking to help “cope” with the situation. But that’s the thing: it’s not their situation to cope with.
A TikTok video went viral with the text, “Me when I get an email from the army [saying] I’m getting drafted into war” with the caption, “Call of Duty but real.” If anyone ever decides to start up the ol’ noggin and read for once, maybe they would know that we won’t get involved because Ukraine is not a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally.
So, we’ve established there’s no rationality to concerns about being drafted or fighting in Ukraine. Now, let us recognize the truth of the matter: Americans think they are the victims in every situation.
It took less than a day for Americans on social media to make their voices louder than those of suffering Ukrainians. American Gen Z’s immediate response to the war was commenting on Putin’s Instagram jokingly asking him to stop, and voicing their fears while they sit comfortably in their bedroom without a missile in sight.
It’s pretty ironic for the people who fueled the fire for cancel culture and ruthlessly attacked people for insensitivity. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good calling out of someone’s idiocracy and offensiveness, but the problem here is the hypocrisy.
Our generation has become too desensitized to understand the gravity of certain situations. It’s not Gen Z’s fault, but at some point, we have to take accountability for that and learn to be empathetic once again.
We have hardships too, however, Gen Z must realize we are extremely privileged to live in America. While America may not be the best place on Earth, living in a country that is a military superpower makes it very unlikely we will see the same destruction as that in Ukraine.
If you have any compassion in your heart, stop posting your unoriginal and unfunny TikToks and maybe start raising awareness of the hardship of those who need aid for survival. If you want to take it a step further, donate to UNICEF or CARE to help Ukrainians survive in these deadly circumstances.
