Millennials' Insatiable Anxiety.

I am a Millennial and a proud member of Gen Y. For those wondering, Millennials are all those people born between 1981 and 1996. I know this is a superfluous explanation, but my mother might read this, and she knows absolutely nothing about this stuff. I am proud to be one of those lucky enough to have lived through the '90s, though not exactly to the fullest, given I was born in 1992. In that wonderful decade, I was just a child. I remember some things, like Italy at the World Cup and Valentino Rossi in MotoGP; others, not so much. Luckily for me, the internet exists, allowing me to catch up on part of what I missed.

Why am I talking about this? Today I was talking to my sister at lunch—she’s a Millennial too. Out of nowhere—or rather, I’ve forgotten the reason for the statement—she blurted out an incredible exclamation: "Millennials are human-shaped anxiety!" She began listing, without any restraint, shame, or inhibitory filter, every single thing that causes or has caused anxiety for Millennials in their lives. That list of anxiety gave me anxiety.

Since the game was truly perverse, I wanted to join in with the joy of those holiday mornings when you know you can sleep in. The game was simple: make a list of everything negative Millennials have seen and lived through. This post is the result. When I reread the list, I realized I’m like Thanos: a survivor. It’s just a pity I’m missing the Infinity Stones to rewrite the history of billions of survivors.

Come on, let's have some fun today.

Salad Anxiety.

No, this paragraph has nothing to do with vegans. Truth be told, Millennials didn't have to deal with vegans in any way. We were all perfectly happy killing cows, calves, goats, lambs, steers, pigs, and even horses to enjoy the taste of their meat. No one judged us; in fact, people would join the BBQs bringing even more meat. I’ve seen BBQs on August 15th or Easter Monday with enough meat to feed an army regiment. That "don't kill animals" thing was invented by Gen Z, a generation high on social media and addicted to Fake News, who don't realize that being vegan harms the planet more than shooting a calf in the forehead.

The salad in question has the meaning of drama and the taste of enriched plutonium. In April 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine made a bang that still echoes—one of those atomic blasts that sent an entire city into extinction and all of Europe into a panic. That explosion was the greatest civilian nuclear disaster ever seen on the face of the planet. Right, there was also Fukushima! Heaven forbid I don't include Fukushima in the club, since in today's world, everything must be included. Unlike Japan, where the poor plant was hit first by an earthquake and then by a tsunami (even Japanese engineering has a limit), in Ukraine, it was a nuclear disaster caused by the plant itself.

In Chernobyl, the plant blew up on its own, and the funny thing is it exploded during a test. That is, the plant operated for years without being tested; when they finally tested it, everything blew up. The accident occurred during a scheduled test to verify if the turbines could generate enough energy to keep the water pumps active in the event of an electrical blackout. Basically: "let's see if this plant works even if we don't pay the bills."

To keep it short: they removed all safety systems (the test was specifically to see if the plant would hold if systemic anarchy reigned within the plant itself). During the experiment, the reactor overheated, and the water that was supposed to cool it turned into steam bubbles. In that type of reactor, the less water there was, the more powerful and hot it became. An avalanche effect began: more heat = more steam and less water = even more heat. When the technicians realized the situation was dangerous, they pressed the emergency button to insert the "control rods" (used to put out the nuclear fire). But those rods had tips made of graphite which, for an instant, instead of shutting down the reactor, caused the heat to spike to the maximum.

The internal pressure became so strong that the reactor lid (which weighed a thousand tons!) flew off like a champagne cork. Air rushed in, touched the scorching material, and there was a second massive explosion that shot radioactive smoke into the sky.

So, they tested if the plant was safe, it blows up, releases a radioactive cloud across Europe, and anyone living within 50 kilometers was forcibly removed. Well, what can I say... it could have been worse, right? I’d really like to read what that test report says. Knowing the Soviets, it probably says: "slight malfunction! Nothing serious! A few cracks on the roof to be repaired ASAP!"

That cloud spread through the skies of Chernobyl and beyond. Atmospheric currents, not realizing the cloud was a dangerous intruder, carried it away quite happily, dispersing that mass across Europe and spreading panic.

Part of the population thought civilization was destined to end. Radiation was going to be the end for a billion people. The phobia was that radiation would settle on the water, the soil, and agricultural fields, leading to the destruction of every vegetable and animal on European soil and the death of every single human being by starvation and dehydration.

In all this terror of death, politicians knew only how to say one thing: disinfect your vegetables and everything will be fine. As if plutonium and uranium radiation could be washed away with disinfectant. Stupid people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki—they didn't realize sooner that plutonium is terrified of soap.

My mother was also gripped by terror. My sister was born on April 10th; the plant blew up on the 26th. The poor woman feared that if she didn't wash the vegetables, my sister would have three legs, four eyes, or six fingers.

Only later was it discovered that the cloud was so low in radiation that it would have no consequences within the European sphere. No child or adult would become the Hulk or die. What we experienced was pure and simple mass hysteria—completely understandable, though: dealing with the USSR, you never knew exactly what to expect, as the Soviets were always famous for telling half-truths or directly covering everything up.

Full Tank Anxiety.

Oil has been one of the great leading actors of this entire period. Oil powers power plants and all transport—civilian, commercial, and military. Not to mention plastic, a product of gasoline production, beloved and practically everywhere, even in the human body.

Whoever controlled the oil controlled the global market. Because the key to the economy is only one thing: the cost of oil. If oil is cheap, the economy grows; otherwise, we’re all living under a bridge.

This is the first fundamental principle to understanding the drama of the '90s and 2000s. There’s one more thing to understand: although countries like the United States or Russia have oil deposits they can use, the vast majority of oil reserves are in the Persian Gulf—a region of the world under Arab "dominion" and obviously a well-known zone of great political and social stability...

Until 1989, everything flowed more or less smoothly. Between a holy war against Israel and two coups in Iran, the oil trade flowed well and the whole world was well-supplied, with the price of a barrel stable and cheap. Everything was turning as it should.

In 1990, Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, decided to invade Kuwait. Why invade a tiny country? Because the country might have been small, but it produced 20% of the world's oil. And since Iraq was coming off a failed and very expensive war against Iran, the state coffers needed to be filled quickly. If Saddam had then reached Saudi Arabia, he would have controlled 50%, dominating the world economy far and wide. One word from him and the whole world would fall into a deep crisis, while Iraq would have palaces and streets of gold.

At that moment, the world saw what happened and 37 countries, led by the United States, supported Kuwait, and so the first Gulf War broke out. That was the first war broadcast live on TV, where the world saw the brutality of war and understood that the world might go to hell, but the West must have control of oil at all costs. For weeks, we witnessed aerial bombardments against the Iraqi army until the ground offensive began, which, in 100 days, pushed Saddam's army back within Iraqi borders.

Danger averted? Not even in your dreams. In 2003, we returned to those parts once more. This time oil was involved, but only to a certain extent. The main reason Americans and the British attacked Saddam again was the presence of phantom weapons of mass destruction. To this day, no one knows what bombs they were because they were never produced. That was an excuse the whole world fell for.

Oil was a reason, not so much for its production, but for its sale. In the months before, Saddam Hussein had begun selling his oil in Euros, the newly born single European currency. This would have meant an unacceptable economic loss and loss of control over the world for the Americans. They had to intervene. In a few weeks, the US and England occupied Baghdad and Saddam fled. He was found years later, in 2006, inside a remote hideout and was executed.

And today we have Iran. In 2026, King Trump decided to attack Iran, killing its spiritual and political leader, as well as a good chunk of the government cabinet. The excuse was that Iran was building the atomic bomb. Strange, given that the CIA and the Pentagon said they weren't. In response, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's crude oil passes. If you see prices skyrocketing now, you know why.

Kebab Anxiety.

Oil has destabilized a region already largely unstable on its own. If the Middle East is a powder keg, we lit the fuse on purpose and watched the powder keg explode. Now we ask ourselves, "Why does the Arab world hate us?!" I swear, I don't know... we Westerners have always been so respectful of Arab sovereignty in those parts...

Kebab anxiety occurs in three distinct places and phases.

After 2003 and the American invasion of Iraq, the country was left without a government, leading the population into a bloody power struggle between the various factions that were created. In that civilian disaster, anyone with a minimum of charisma would reign unchallenged.

Two years earlier, in 2001, the Americans invaded Afghanistan. Not for oil this time. September 11th wiped out more than 3,000 people in New York and was the first attack the Americans saw on their soil. Because as much as Americans have fought everywhere, no one had attacked them at home. That was an unacceptable humiliation. The Americans said, "It's the fault of Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda" (Al-Qaeda was a terrorist cell). Al-Qaeda asked for proof of the involvement of the cell and Bin Laden. The Americans gave no proof and threatened Al-Qaeda that they would pay the consequences if they didn't surrender and dismantle the training bases. Al-Qaeda refused, and the Americans invaded Afghanistan. In a few weeks, the Americans reached Kabul and the Taliban fled to Pakistan.

From that moment, Americans occupied the territory in Afghanistan, trying to bring democracy to the country (the famous phrase "exporting democracy"), putting a man in charge who would perform the task: Hamid Karzai. Looking at history today, I wonder what that task was...

From 2003 to 2011, there was a grueling and expensive war. The USA and the international coalition (including Italy with the ISAF mission) tried to rebuild the country and hunt down terrorists. The Taliban, meanwhile, reorganized, financing themselves through opium trafficking and launching continuous attacks against foreign troops and the new Afghan government.

In May 2011, Osama Bin Laden was found in Pakistan and killed. With Bin Laden captured, Western public opinion wondered why the Americans were still there, given that the main objective of that war was over. Ten years later, in 2021, the Americans left the country. What happened next was incredible. Not because of the images of people swarming the airport just to escape the country. The incredible part was something else: as soon as American troops left the field, the regular Afghan army collapsed in a few days and the Taliban retook power, returning exactly to where they were in 2001, without firing a single shot. You can see how the Americans exported democracy and helped the country regrow.

Then we have Syria. In 2011, a civil war broke out between supporters of the Assad government and those who wanted to destroy that regime (since Assad was a dictator). It was a fierce civil war.

So we have an Afghanistan full of resentful Taliban against the West, an Iraq in civil war, also resentful against the West, and a Syria experiencing incredible government instability.

In this chaos without rules, the Islamic State was born in 2014, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. His vision was simple: an Islamic state where Sharia would be the law. And he succeeded, more or less. The expansion of the Islamic State was incredible. In 2014, it conquered Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, and vast territories in Syria. They controlled banks, oil wells, and with taxes bordering on extortion, it became a powerful organization—the most powerful terrorist organization ever seen. This money was used to produce propaganda, buy weapons, train new soldiers, and finance terrorist attacks in Europe. Europe... the same Europe that took part in the first Gulf War and winked (though officially condemning the acts) at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It’s clear that we Europeans were also in the crosshairs. Strange that no one realized it. From 2015 to 2020, Europe saw violence and blood. We’re talking about Paris in 2015, Nice, Brussels, and Berlin in 2016, Manchester, London, and Barcelona in 2017, and Vienna in 2020. Plus all the "lone wolf" attacks, not financed by ISIS, yet claimed by ISIS as their intellectual property. In five years, the Islamic State did damage—damn, it did damage. Not just in terms of victims, but in terms of panic.

From 2001 until 2020, for almost 20 years, we Millennials were afraid. Life went on, sure, but every Arab was a potential threat and every day could be your last. You didn't think about it constantly because daily life had to go on, but terrorism was always something you had in the back of your mind. Now terrorism is no longer a threat; racism is, but that’s another problem.

Coin Anxiety.

The year 2002 in Europe marked a moment of mourning: the birth of the Euro. On January 1, 2002, the countries of the European Union stopped having an independent monetary policy and adopted the single currency managed by Brussels. That was the day even the slightest glimmer of stability and economic growth disappeared from the face of Europe. The single currency was supposed to bring wealth and growth to Europe, but what it brought was just a giant scam. Firstly, the weaker countries like Italy, Spain, and Greece were heavily penalized, dealing with public debt that was no longer manageable, while the strong ones, like Germany, took great advantage of it. A two-speed Europe was created.

Prices doubled. Do you think salaries doubled too? No, not even in your dreams. From 2001 to today, salaries have increased far less than inflation. The result? Many men and women are still at their parents' house because they can't afford rent on their own. The only solution to leave is to share expenses with someone, but if you have no one, you stay home.

Everything we own has become increasingly expensive. Between wars, pandemics, and economic crises, we went from "oh, 10 thousand euros for a car is too much" to "40 thousand euros is a robbery! Ah, I miss when you could take home a new car for 10 thousand euros!"

No person with a full-time job can afford to live and have an independent life. If parents aren't there, nothing can be done. No one can plan anything because everything is too expensive to be bought. We went from the grandfather who, with an eighth-grade education and a laborer's salary, bought a beach house and a car, to us who, with a degree and a permanent contract, have to ask the banker's permission even to change the toaster.

Cold Anxiety.

The year was 2019. In Wuhan, people began coughing too often. Everyone thought it was just a simple cold. Then the same people started dying and clogging up the hospitals. People thought, "Wow, the flu in China is really hitting hard!" That was the beginning of something I never thought I’d see.

Initially, the world underestimated this problem. When they saw China isolate the city as if a zombie invasion had begun, all the world leaders said, "But it's nothing! It's just a cold! Those Chinese are really exaggerating!"

Then that virus was seen circulating even in areas of China far from Wuhan. At that point, the whole of China ground to a halt. The world continued undeterred not taking the matter seriously, deeming that attitude of the communist government absolutely unreasonable and hysterical. Then, in February 2020, the first cases appeared in Europe. And even then, they continued to say, "It's nothing serious! Keep living your life!"

In a few weeks, all of Europe was infected by that virus that started in Wuhan. Covid-19, or Corona for its friends, became an all-too-uncomfortable traveling companion.

By the time it was too late, we became as hysterical as China, if not worse. No one understood what was happening or why people were dying and ending up in intensive care. We were all locked in our homes, stuck until further notice to prevent the healthcare system from collapsing. The quarantine began, and it was a moment that marked humanity for years to come.

In 2020, that circular, crown-shaped virus became public enemy number one for an entire planet. No one was spared. For two years, we flew blind. We didn't know what to do, how to do it, or when to do it. Every country had its own rules and ways of fighting the virus. It was a constant watching of what others were doing to find the best strategy to get out of the mess. People stayed home to work for months, kids were forced to stay in school isolated from the world, and the economy took years to recover—and not entirely.

During that time, we all wondered if we would be alive tomorrow or if we would still have a job and a salary, given that so many businesses closed and many workers were forced to look for a new job. I still remember the images of the coffins in Bergamo and the dramatic daily reports on CNN. Just as I remember all those who denied it, saying it was all a setup to control us, or those who created the most beautiful and fascinating conspiracy theories ever read by humanity.

Fortunately, the pandemic is just a bad memory. Now, with the whole planet vaccinated, life has returned to normal. But the moral wounds are still quite deep.

Stars and Stripes Anxiety

Since 2001, the Americans have been a real pain in the world's neck. I don't know which genius gave the Americans the keys to the world. Because it was a terrible choice. Fine, they helped win World War II, but they didn't win it alone. Now, passing themselves off as the champions of justice or the saviors of the planet seems truly excessive to me. Yet the Boomers accepted the United States as a beacon for democracy and freedom. Also because the alternative was the Stasi and communism.

Just a quick recap of the last 20 years of American command over the world. In order: War in Afghanistan and Iraq (with terrorism), the 2008 economic crisis, and Trump (twice) with all the tariffs, flip-flops, and conflicts. Are we really sure we made the right choice? The Yankees don't seem very interested in world peace. Rather, they love turning the world upside down and then profiting from it.

The United States has become a problem for the world. With Trump, you don't know if you’ll wake up one morning alive or dead. Out of nowhere, he announces tariffs, invasions, and creates diplomatic crises as if he has nothing else to do. Meanwhile, with Biden, you didn't know if the president was even awake. It's been more than a decade now that America does whatever it wants without anyone saying anything. We are like passengers on a plane where the pilots are fighting over the TV remote while the plane is in a nosedive, and we can't even get out of our seats.

Since 2016, we’ve lived in constant anxiety. Nothing is certain, and when you have a minimum of certainty, it’s pulled out from under your feet by someone who lives on the other side of the ocean whom you’ve never seen or heard of in your life. The even sadder thing is that the world has accepted the USA as the world leader... leaders who have no interest in world peace, only in their wallets.

A Small Reflection.

If Boomers tell me we are lazy or scared, I’ll punch them. All the men in power are Boomers, and they are driving us to the madhouse with policies worthy of the Cold War. They don't understand that the generation they are commanding is a generation of flower children. We want to escape anxiety and live in peace. We aren't interested in wars, geopolitical balances, or making money at all costs. We just want stability, peace, and harmony. We have seen war, death, and devastation for far too long. When will we see a different program?

Perhaps the state of constant anxiety gripping Millennials will disappear when the Boomers in power die. Given modern medicine, I think that is now almost a mirage.

M.