📻 Z: THE GENERATION OF NOSTALGIA

In a world saturated with screens, young people are rediscovering the pleasure of reading on paper, writing in notebooks, listening to vinyl records, or cooking family recipes. Retro becomes a refuge: an act of resistance against digital immediacy and a bridge to the memory of their ancestors. This recovery of “outdated” practices is not only about aesthetics—it is also a search for more human life rhythms, less driven by consumption and the accelerated pace of progress.

Among siblings, we don’t understand each other

But what happens when innovation surpasses the biological clock? The gap between generations widens. Family members no longer share the language of their siblings or their parents. A family that demands quick adaptation abandons the table for lack of understanding. Integration between grandchildren and grandparents decreases: among the elderly, approaching younger generations is experienced with anxiety and shame. Older groups are stripped of the possibility of communicating fluidly within a society that spins with vertigo between tradition and modernity: exile begins to be felt through almost imperceptible transformations, such as the extinction of analog devices in everyday life. The expropriation of the social ground is not geographical, it is spiritual.

In reaction to this phenomenon, several generations begin to feel disconnected from current culture and look to the past as an authentic and safe space. One angle of this shift is Generation Z’s perception of millennials: the generation most immersed in technology consumption, the generation with the highest alcohol consumption issues, the generation of anxiety. For Generation Z, millennials reflect a period where cultural changes were profound and radical—and in that process, they are seen as a generation deprived of the educational guidance for tomorrow.

New generations view a return to conservatism as a solution, for better or worse: forgotten values are rescued to uphold the spirit of culture, but there is also a conservative hardening against essential social changes for the integrity of all human beings. Zooming in, the media conflict is lived between two main fears: uncertainty about the future and cultural shifts on issues of gender.

Religion and spirituality: between criticism and longing

Within this context, the relationship with religion becomes ambiguous. Generation Z distrusts the Catholic Church because of historical scandals within the institution, yet at the same time, some young people seek in spirituality a sense of community and meaning. This nostalgia for the sacred is expressed in small rituals, in personal meditations, in philosophical readings. But how do we bring this into Sunday masses, catechism teachings, and classrooms?

It is a phenomenon that combines rupture and continuity: religious authority is questioned, but the communal rootedness it offers is missed.

What is urgent is not to question the aim of nostalgia, but to provide it with an emancipatory horizon. A space not yet explored that could become an opportunity to create more diverse and inclusive spaces led by the Church, and to represent a new generation of young Catholics seeking meaning in this uncertain, future-nostalgic world.

📌 The challenge is to understand these youths not as contradictory, but as an expression of a complex time: a generation that, while rescuing the past with a certain harshness, also demands a more just, plural, and ethical country.

Educating in equality is not enough

In Chile, various studies and educational experiences confirm the rise—or regression—of sexist cultural attitudes among younger generations: from the trivialization of violence in dating relationships (pololeo) to the widespread consumption of misogynistic content (everywhere, every time).

📢 In schools: mockery, harassment, resistance to gender protocols, and even male-led protests that ridicule reports of violence. In universities, an alarming normalization of antifeminist discourse has emerged, disguised as counterculture. Early work experiences continue to reveal wage gaps. This phenomenon is not marginal.

The institutional and media response has generally been to create superficial campaigns: “more sex education,” “more protocols,” “more awareness.” But educating without questioning the very model of humanity is not enough. This is an ethical issue, a philosophical issue.

The deeper question: What do we mean by forming an ethical subject?

It’s about disputing the deepest meanings of desire, power, masculinity, love. Schools must critically review the frameworks through which they teach relationships, as well as the language that perpetuates the symbolic subjugation of women from childhood.

🌐 The resurgence of machismo among new generations has been institutionalized within a comfortable yet intoxicating cultural context: becoming an influencer at any cost; the rise of the algorithm that sees everything and censors some things, but turns a blind eye to mocking and humiliating content; the eroticization of violence as entertainment; and the nostalgia for a strong, “promising” masculinity extracted from an already stale imaginary. All of this is presented as a response to social unrest, to a world of unfulfilled prophecy.

So, what alternative models are we offering? Where are the narratives of desire without domination? Chilean culture remains deeply conservative, with a strong rejection of diversity and non-normativity. That is why it is urgent to promote cultural policies with a gender focus: to fund new narratives, new bodies, new voices.

The question is not only “How do we educate for equality?” but rather: How do we dismantle the symbols behind desire? How do we look back at history and choose another path?

I dare to answer: by walking a path where control, domination, and fear do not govern all the world’s politics.

📌 Creating debate around these issues is also an essential step toward change. Let’s talk about it at @fundaciondracma.

🧭 A Future on Hold: A Generation Between Broken Promises and New Possibilities

Study, get a job, start a family, buy a house. For many previous generations, this path was demanding but achievable. Today, millennials face a radically different landscape: yes, they have higher education—many are the first in their middle-class families to attend university—but what once promised a tender future has turned into a cycle of debt, resting on unstable jobs and an unreachable housing market.

The American Dream Has Faded

A recent BBC article describes how this shift began with the booming post-war society and how it slowly crumbled into today’s deep-rooted crisis in the U.S. As heirs of neoliberalism, Latin America experiences this collapse through its own bloodstream. In Chile, Cold War fear tactics, coupled with the promises of economic progress during the dictatorship under a freshly implemented economic model, gave rise to an emerging middle class—trapped between the hope of upward mobility and the reality of growing debt.

Clear indicators back this up: 60% of young Chileans believe it’s impossible to own a home, and 77% are indebted either through student loans (CAE) or consumer credits irresponsibly handed out by banks. As a result, a significant slice of the population is indefinitely postponing parenthood—not from lack of interest, but due to an absence of real conditions: the overwhelming need to juggle work, debt, and childcare. This tightrope walk deepens psychological distress, which bleeds into the workplace. Mental health becomes not only a public health issue, but a commodified one, increasingly difficult to ignore.

🤷 Living with Your Parents Past 30

Moving out isn’t just about emotional growth anymore; it’s a financial obstacle. Jobs that make dignified housing possible are simply out of reach. So we ask: what does it mean to live with dignity in Chile? That’s not a rhetorical question; it’s a real-time image captured in Plaza Italia—ground zero during the 2019 social uprising, a space renamed Plaza de la Dignidad (Dignity Square). The headlines from that year tell the story of a crumbling political class and a demand for historic justice.

From a gender lens, the burden falls disproportionately on women: motherhood becomes an economically charged decision, impacting employment and mental health. The social contract is unraveling, and competition for scarce opportunities among lower-income sectors becomes unsustainable. Poverty takes on new shapes, informal economies rise, and crime becomes more diverse. Is it really surprising when morning TV shows open with footage of yet another violent incident?

🧠 Is Education Still a Key to Social Mobility?

Even with university access, many young people struggle to find stability. But that doesn’t mean education has lost its value—it means it needs reinvention.

Neuroeducation, developmental psychology, and critical pedagogy all agree: investing in education from early childhood, with innovative methods, is key to leveling the playing field. Educational models that are inclusive, active, tech-savvy, and emotionally aware yield better outcomes in building life skills, especially in vulnerable contexts. They foster critical thinking and emotional resilience.

At the same time, public policies that strengthen the public school system, expand digital access, and train teachers in socioemotional and culturally relevant practices can begin to reverse historical inequalities. The issue isn’t just access—it’s quality, relevance, and real-world alignment. That’s the challenge for innovative models that defy rigid ministry frameworks.

🌐 Beyond the American Dream: Towards a Possible Social Pact

If the "American Dream" is obsolete, it’s time to create a new one that fits Latin American realities. One that doesn’t rely solely on personal hustle. Phrases like "if you want it, you can do it" or "work hard and you’ll be happy" need to be retired. What we need are bold policies: real access to housing, labor laws that offer protection in flexible markets, solid care networks, and high-quality public education in a world where innovation—handled with caution and foresight—can drive sweeping change.

In the last decade, as millennials entered the job market, they proved that mobility depends on overhauling the whole social structure. Markets must offer ethical, political, and cultural responses. Without them, an educated and indebted generation will remain one of the most vulnerable links in the chain—all while heading toward an uncertain old age.

So here’s the final question: Can we, as a society, offer the next generation a present that is truly livable and dignified?

📌 Share your thoughts on our Instagram @fundaciondracma and help us grow a network rooted in critical thinking and hope for change.