We are experiencing two vibe shifts in rapid succession, each fundamentally different in promise and consequence. The first offered a return to agency, rewarding merit, fostering innovation, and inspiring dreams of a thriving future. The second swiftly overshadowed the first, offering only vague assurances of fairness, with a destructive impulse toward tearing down structures rather than building anew. Tragically, it feels like we’re squandering an extraordinary opportunity.
My generation, born in the mid-80s, grew up in a world captured by rigid ideological frameworks. Academia and media, traditionally sources of exploration and discovery, became instruments of orthodoxy. Disciplines once committed to truth spiraled into absurdities, tragic in their consequences, comic in their manifestations.
We came of age without a unifying dream. Rather than pursuing greatness or innovation, our ambition was muted by the weight of guilt. Climate anxiety shaped our narrative. We were taught to consume as little as possible, apologize for our existence, and fade away quietly, ashamed of daring to live. Curiously, while shutting down entire economies and allowing industries to decay was acceptable (or even celebrated?), advocating practical solutions such as clean, advanced nuclear energy remained taboo. It was as if genuine solutions were unwanted; suffering, both personal and collective, became the preferred currency.
Then came COVID. Amid the chaos, something flickered, a spark of renewal. Innovation roared back into prominence, and for a brief moment, it seemed meritocracy was reclaiming lost ground. Builders and visionaries found their footing once again. Technology promised possibility, agency was revitalized, and for the first time in decades, dreams seemed attainable. The regime change in the U.S. initially appeared to strengthen this shift toward opportunity, with broad support for cutting government excess, rewarding merit, and genuinely representing people’s voices.
Yet, despite popular alignment on these principles, the winners failed to unify a society still deeply fractured by political divides. Many recoiled from those at the helm, reflexively resisting even policies they previously supported. Like the Luddites of old, rather than embrace innovation and abundance, factions chose to smash the automated looms, ultimately rejecting the very future they once desired.
The nascent Randian spirit, fueled by extraordinary individuals harnessing cutting-edge technology to build a prosperous future, faltered. Instead of lifting society upwards, we’ve returned to a grim echo of the 1930s: a desperate struggle for the allegiance of society’s bottom third. The choice offered is stark, regressive, and deeply flawed, between communism and national socialism. Both ideologies promise redemption, purpose, and a better world, but history teaches brutal lessons clearly illustrating that neither offers genuine liberation.
We stand now at a crossroads, having glimpsed the promise of what might have been, yet perilously close to repeating the darkest chapters of our past. The tragedy lies in risking failure, wasting one of history’s rare opportunities, a chance to return to first principles, eternal wisdom, and true human flourishing. The vibe shift offered redemption; we are perilously close to squandering it.