Cockblocked by Capitalism
Hey, you know it’s true.
I’m not original when I say this, as an elder Gen Z woman, but I’ll say it anyway: nothing gives me life more than the government panicking about the falling birth rate.
When people in power wring their hands over this issue and spit out the dumbest theories as to why this is so (followed by the dumbest solutions), I cannot help but wonder if they are really that idiotic or just pretending to be. Yeah sure, they will bring up the rising costs of living and the pressure young people face, but while money is a huge factor, it isn’t the only one stopping us from pooping out babies.
What about TIME? Where’s that 4-day work week we’ve been asking for and which studies have shown is ACTUALLY EFFECTIVE in increasing productivity (which is all they care about) and improving the happiness of workers? What are the big companies doing about CLIMATE CHANGE and alleviating young people’s CLIMATE ANXIETY? If my government puts in as much effort in sustainable initiatives (greenwashing projects don’t count) as they do shoving AI literacy courses down our throats, I might have more confidence in our leaders giving a shit about our children besides what they can do for the economy in the future.
The drawing above, however, isn’t about not having time for kids. (I’m a childfree degenerate, so I really don’t have a horse in this race.) It’s about not having enough time for the activity that usually results in them.
Because if we don’t have the time, mood or energy to fuck in the first place, how do you expect us to give you kids?!!
You’ve heard it all before. I’m not saying anything new nor will I even try. You know the problems, the facts the ruling class are pretending not to see, and the ridiculous bandaids they call solutions that they are slapping on us instead. We’ve had this conversation many, many times, but I think we are having the conversation wrong.
The general statement we agree on is: we don’t have the means to raise families. But tragically, it has now gotten even beyond that point. We hardly have time with our existing families. We don’t have the means to be human beings.
We used to eat, work, have sex, read, socialise, exercise and sleep. Now, the average person has to cross one or two or more from the list on a regular basis. Guess which ones.
Surprisingly, it’s eating or sleeping. You know something’s terribly wrong with society when it is your most basic physiological needs that are not being met.
Seriously. I had a colleague whom I’ll call Samantha tell me that her after-work routine is hastily prepping simple meals and doomscrolling on her phone until she passes out at 3 or 4am. She only got to properly recharge on the weekends, which as you can guess, she spends mostly lounging about at home. Not only is this a 9 - 5 worker, but one that has to go into the office every day before 10am. She lives quite a distance, too, so she must drag herself out of bed at 7 or 9, meaning she hasn’t slept for more than 4 hours on weekdays in years.
If you really think about it, 24 hours a day is not enough when more than half of those hours do not belong to you. So if you don’t live with your partner, your chances of hooking up with them comes down to whether your schedules align that day or week. Ask me how I know.
Honestly – and sorry if this is TMI – I don’t care about sex all that much compared to the other pleasures that make up the human experience. But since sexual desire is a natural human urge and primary emotion just like joy and hunger, it’s sad and more than a little screwed up that it became one of the many things we had to deprioritise because we have bills to pay. Since when did the two become mutually exclusive? When we have sex, just like when we eat or go to the toilet, should not be dictated by our Google Calendar or company hours. But they are, because we let it happen.
When something as simple as eating lunch became a logistical problem and an inconvenience to my dragon bitch of an ex-boss, I knew I had to leave. Everyone could agree with how inhumane it was that I couldn’t finish a meal properly at work, but for some reason, I did not find as much support on other matters like meeting your friends for drinks or going on vacation. Instead, they’ll shrug and say “What to do?” At least that’s what I find to be the overwhelming response in Singapore.
We’ve always been know for apathy and NIMBY responses to everything we hear on the news, but it seems to have spread inwardly, leaving us numb to our own feelings of dissatisfaction or just really good at hiding it. My ex-colleagues including Samantha were too polite to tell me to shut up, but they made it clear that they were not interested in talking about the problems that were affecting their own lives, because “that’s how things are.” Even when they complained about the tedium and stress of their job in the next breath or admitted to feeling too drained to enjoy what little free time they had to themselves properly.
I don’t think it comes to any surprise I didn’t last for more than 4 months there.
Who knows, maybe they’re right and I am childish and entitled for wanting my life back, to reclaim the normal, human needs that capitalism has stolen from us. Which yes, includes sex. But somehow, I don’t think so.
If you want to fight me on this, all I have to say to you is: get fucked. Literally.
(That’s a joke, in case you have no sense of humour at all. Please don’t fight me and snivel about my language in the comments if you’re a tedious person because no matter how unemployed I am I will never have enough energy for that).
