this post was submitted on 29 May 2025
445 points (96.5% liked)

World News

46802 readers
3198 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Instead of even trying to chase jobs that seem out of reach, Gen Z is embracing living like a rat—not showering or leaving the house for days at a time.

The millennial era of “work hard, play harder” and “girl bossing” has given way to a new trend. In China, at least, Gen Zers are proudly calling themselves “rat people”—they’re spending entire days procrastinating in bed, scrolling on their phones, snoozing and ordering take out.

I think it has something to do with "giving up" on the economy: if you have very low chances of landing a job anyways, why even try?

The article does not directly tell us how many people participate in this movement consciously. It does hint, however:

Today, over 4 million American Gen Zers remain jobless. In China, the government has said that as of February, 1 in 6 young people are unemployed.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world 15 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

Friend, fuckin' same. It seems like all the propaganda hit pieces do is make them feel more relatable, damn.

[–] KelvarIW@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 8 minutes ago

Remember when the USA banned TikTok and all the USA users flocked to RedNote? USAmericans were shocked that, contrary to their propaganda, Chinese life was just like theirs (but with healthcare); and Chinese users were shocked the USA life wasn't propaganda.

[–] Bababasti@feddit.org 4 points 13 minutes ago

You have more in common with a Chinese or Russian worker than any billionaire.

[–] the_q@lemm.ee 12 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

If only all the rats of the world combined into an unruly rat king... Then things would change.

[–] guyoverthere123@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 11 minutes ago

Master Splinter?

[–] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 hour ago
[–] 2ugly2live@lemmy.world 5 points 1 hour ago

Wasn't there also the "lie flat" trend? It's not just Gen Z who are calling uncle. If I had the means, I'd join them.

[–] network_switch@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

I always find these articles being so popular in western social media weird and subtly braggy. It's like the Lyndon Johnson quote about about making white feel better than black people so you can rob them of whatever. Such a distraction that makes people feel like we're better than them/at least we're not them. Yet pretty much every trend I've seen about Chinese ennui was at the time true of Americans and western Europeans just articles being written about the ennui would not be mainstream for a couple more years. Like minimalism during the financial crisis or recently quiet-quitting in the US were celebrated in US social media as great workers movements that are positive social movements and a sign of cultural strength while lying flat in China in US social media is a sign of societal decline. Whatever either is, it's the same shit. It's always weird exoticism to me. You don't get popular articles about youth expectations about young people in Romania or Greece

[–] commander@lemmy.world 1 points 32 minutes ago

Americans shouldn't be looking at other countries to feel better about themselves regardless. They should be letting themselves feel bad so that they actually maintain some energy levels to fight for their own rights domestically instead of contributing to the constant stream of jingoism that has been American media since inception. Decades living and its a cycle of next enemy while economic disparity just keeps widening but people are pacifying themselves with the next enemy

[–] moonlight6205@lemm.ee 2 points 2 hours ago

At least they are proud

[–] Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub 3 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

Careful, I hear ml and hexbear users gearing up anticapitalist rhetoric to one up you with. I see the fedoras and neckbeards in the distance

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 16 minutes ago

Bitch, you live in Alsace. You are a peasant. You need to give your fuckin' lord the grain. Your fucking children, you've had 15 children. You've never taken a bath. You've literally never. washed. your. penis. You've never used toilet paper. Motherfucker, you have worms. You are dying. You've had 40 children, 3 of them are alive. 2 of them are child soldiers in the Duke's army.

Bitch, the greatest thing you can hope for is to die at the old age of 36. You fucking can't read. You don't know what TV is. If you were transported into today, you would be the worst gamer of all time. You don't know shit. You literally probably don't even know what the direction 'left' is. I'm sure some Medieval guy is gonna get mad at me for this, bitch I've been to the Renaissance Fair. I've eaten a large turkey wing, which the Juggalos call 'bitch beaters', which I think is problematic but a funny thing to call them.

Motherfucker, you gotta recognize where you are, and then you gotta get passed that. You gotta be unemotional. You can't sink into this hole. You live in the oubliette. Your job is to crawl up the ladder, motherfucker. You live in the HOLE. You're in the HOLE. You are a RAT. And the rat, when he's in the hole gets fucked. People only throw trash in the hole.

You need to eat a body. And you need to carry the plague. And you need to carry a plague around this whole world, that will change this whole fuckin world. And all your enemies will vomit black bile and will choke on blood and will grow boils and die. But only if you get together with your other RATS. And you come up with some kind of super plague, to fuckin end your enemies and...

End. This. Nightmare.

[–] BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago

How dare they speak against capitalism! Only people as smart and cool as us know the Truth™️

[–] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 hours ago

bitch I'm disabled

[–] skisnow@lemmy.ca 102 points 14 hours ago (5 children)

The millennial era of “work hard, play harder”

I hate to be that guy that calls everything Orwellian, but this is NOT how Fortune was describing Millenials 15 years ago

[–] conicalscientist@lemmy.world 3 points 17 minutes ago

15 years ago millennials were cast in the generic framework of lazy younger generation. Now we have hindsight for them to be able to observe what actually happened. Millennials absolutely became a workaholic play hard generation.

[–] GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world 7 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Ah, yes, the rhetoric 'grind culture' disguising working three jobs just to eat and sleep in conditions that are semi-humane. But being scolded and scorned for never being able to buy a house because we like avocado toast. Working so hard, but never working enough in the same breath.

It was never about the fucking toast. 'Goblin mode' and 'adulting' and 'gamer shut-in' and 'NEET' was never about being lazy. It was always about painting out the propaganda to guilt us into not meeting the model of expectation instead of our elders accepting blame. Maybe, hear me out, they should open their eyes and see that we're living in a level of poverty so hilariously deep that not even our kids--Gen Z and Gen Alpha--will be able to dig it out.

They're not giving up because they're lazy. They're opting out of a system designed to fail.

[–] Baggie@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 hours ago

Man I remember when I was allowed to work hard, now robots get all the jobs and I'm stuck. It's really weird.

[–] Fingolfinz@lemmy.world 22 points 14 hours ago

Yeah wtf is that? I’m a fucking burnout who is so lazy my hair is just a matted mess and has been for like a month

[–] LePoisson@lemmy.world 10 points 14 hours ago

Maybe Chinese millennials are more hard working ~~cooler~~ than us American ones?

[–] Fingolfinz@lemmy.world 38 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

That’s just called depression. I’ve been experiencing that for years

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 20 minutes ago* (last edited 19 minutes ago) (1 children)

Late-stage capitalism induced depression 👈

[–] Fingolfinz@lemmy.world 2 points 9 minutes ago (1 children)

The environment doesn’t help whatsoever and capitalism absolutely breeds this but it’s not the sole cause. Depression is still a disorder that needs to be treated and would still exist even without this hostile environment we live in

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 minutes ago

Fair. Maybe I should get treated 🙃

[–] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 12 points 12 hours ago

It would be so very Warhammer 40k if sheer capitalism warped humanity into the Skaven.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 13 points 14 hours ago

A sudden seemingly coordinated wave of "China is horrible" stories, just as the courts start striking down Trump's 145% tariffs.

Crazy coincidental.

[–] Baguette@lemm.ee 9 points 13 hours ago (2 children)
[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 190 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Hard not to sympathize. World is fucked.

[–] match@pawb.social 65 points 20 hours ago

Solidarity with rats worldwide

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 43 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

Aren't rats notable for their hygiene and social skills? Seems like a poor comparison.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 22 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Chinese culture has almost satirical levels of disrespect and misunderstanding of animals so it's very much on character.

I used to have 3 rescue rats and they are incredibly clean, active and social animals. I'd used to take them outside and observe how they explore new areas and its was really incredible how coordinated and thought out their exploration plans would be and executed with utter most curiosity. Also very cute how they'd come back to me and ask to be taken home to their cage by basically hugging my foot.

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Rats are the best. Little pocket puppies

/r/rats is the reason I'm still on Reddit

The pet rats community here is far too quiet

[–] archonet@lemy.lol 2 points 21 minutes ago

the only thing that stops me from getting rats is the short lifespans. I love dogs, and ~10 years is already too short. Dealing with that every two would just break me.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

One of the animals in the Chinese year is the rat. I don't think that there is a "satirical level of disrespect" if the animal is that important.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 0 points 16 minutes ago (1 children)

If anything the zodiac contributes to misunderstanding of animals. It's like saying in the west we understand the buffalo because we have Taurus as a horoscope.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 points 13 minutes ago

"Americans hate cows because they don't understand them, as evidenced by this foreign language article that compares Americans to cows"

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] demizerone@lemmy.world 11 points 15 hours ago

Fuck ya. Go rat people go!

[–] HyalineCat@lemm.ee 14 points 15 hours ago

I would too if I didn't have to work full time for affordable health care pouts

[–] rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee 38 points 19 hours ago

I can get behind this. Overthrow your country's oppressive working conditions by simply refusing to engage and proudly calling yourself a rat. Everyone in capitalist hellscapes should do that.

[–] askat@programming.dev 7 points 14 hours ago

They quit rat race

load more comments
view more: next ›