IT’S BEEN five years since a song that called out the present youth’s shallowness and obsession with fame, smashed the charts. It rejected all the hype and fascination with excess. It condemned the superficial. It went against today’s Selfie Mentality. It rallied against the attention-needy youth, as well as, urged us to “crave a different kind of buzz”. Yes, that song is Lorde’s “Royals.”
But somewhere in the endless replays, it lost all its meaning. The very youth it told off embraced “Royals,” singing along to half-memorized lyrics, yet grasping zero of what it was about, ironically embodying all that the song stood against. Baby, I rule, right?
BUT EVERYBODY’S LIKE
It’s ridiculous how Facebook likes and Twitter followers are our generation’s measures of self-worth. They call us Millennials, the Selfie Generation, often described as narcissistic, shallow, entitled, and uninvolved. With an inherent craving for popularity and attention, always seeking an audience’s validation, whether it be through retweets, comments, or shares. Even the most mundane actions and trivial thoughts converted to wallposts in hopes of snagging a dozen or two likes.
Social media has made great things possible. It has connected us to the world and made communication even more easy, but at what cost? Most of us live life half-emerged in Facebook, tethered to our phones 24/7, paying more attention to the need to curate how we present our lives to other people on our walls, to give an eff about actual human interaction. Social networks claim that they connect us, but actual conversation, interaction, and involvement are at an all-time low.
There’s discussion how it seems our generation merely inhabits this world, not taking an active role in shaping it, not taking into our own hands the need to build a brighter tomorrow. We may post our complaints and opinions, (but mostly complaints) on our walls or public discussions, but all this amounts to merely preserving our discontent, when we undertake no true action to start change, make a difference, or leave a mark.
The youth have become so engrossed in their self-centered bubbles that they fail to realize the world beyond them. It’s as if we’ve had our cameras pointed at our faces for so long, that we’ve forgotten to aim our lenses and viewfinders at the events, thoughts, and issues that truly require attention. (Ease off the Selfies, guys. Please lang.)
Just-Woke-Up Selfies? Thousands of Yolanda survivors still welcome each new day in dilapidated housing projects and tent cities in Tacloban. You Only Live Once? There’s been a surge in the numbers of crime in our country, ranging from mall shootings to unsolved media killings. Have the overwhelming urge to post pictures of every single meal you eat? Nearly a quarter of our country’s population lives in poverty, barely eating thrice a day. Another post about your relationship woes? Our country is in crisis, with a crippling debt and politicians continually funneling hard-earned tax money into their own pockets. (#Dramatic, #MakonsensyaKa)
The old cliché is “the youth is the hope of the fatherland”, but at this rate our future seems to be dim.
CRAVE A DIFFERENT KIND OF BUZZ
In “Royals,” Lorde sums up today’s youth very aptly. Individuals aiming for the status, prestige, and lifestyle that befits Royalty, instead of craving the power and influence of a Ruler. It’s parties and pageantry over leadership and responsibility. It’s the need for fame and popularity, not the capability to stir change.
The young are supposed to be the forbearers of the future, a new foundation for change, but how can we be so when we’re too engrossed in ourselves to care. There are nearly 20 million of us, ages 15 to 24 in the Philippines, the youth sector being a vast majority, but why do we have very little say in the affairs of our country.
Not trying to oversimplify matters, but our generation can choose to emulate one of two things Royals with all the regalia, fame, and spectacle or be Rulers, with the will and authority to lead and make a difference.
There’s an existing call for the involvement of our country’s youth, still largely untapped and indifferent to the issues that should concern them, but with enough pledged hands, we could be the change that this country urgently needs.
Social media should be put to better use. Instead of being mere avenues for vanity, Facebook, Twitter, the entire Internet for that matter, has the potential to be a means to mobilize the young population of our country. Instead of videos or Vines, it should be petitions, movements, and news that should go viral. Instead of adding friends, why don’t we build communities? Instead of sharing Selfies, why don’t we share ideas?
As Lorde so sublimely puts it, we should start craving a different kind of buzz. Striving for leadership and influence not popularity. Aiming for relevance and involvement not likes and shares. The Filipino population is a young population and we bring with us new eyes, new perspectives, and new initiatives. We all have the potential to leave a mark and make a change in this country, all we have to do is put down our phones and start getting involved.
Baby, we’ll rule./PN
