Sort:  

Yes, it has been going on for a while... just seems to be coming closer to boiling point, these days. And yes, it's vague and non-specific... but I feel it's somewhat tied to the fact that for a lot of people it is getting harder and harder to simply "paddle in place," which leaves us with undertones of frustration and anger.

Agreed. 'The paddling in place', for the older of us (over 40's), especially, is mentally tough - because we never grew up with that. Things were always progressing.

The 'wests' new paradigm is not the post war constant growth one, improving lifestyle, anymore.

Although I am chronologically a "Baby Boomer," I always considered myself more on the front edge of Gen-X... and with that, growing up with the realization that I would be part of the generation that would actually end up worse off than my parents. My wife and I work way more than our parents ever did, and struggle far more to merely paddle in place.