Our Generation Loves Performance

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I took a break from social media for a very long time because I think it has been heavily affecting my mind. Before I did, as I scrolled through it, I kept seeing posts regarding AI misuse, failing systems, LOTS of animal abuse, racism, ableism, and other problems that we are facing. Most of those posts came from the same people I know who use AI for things as simple as their Facebook post captions, receive money from politicians in exchange for their votes, and love making fun of these existing problems as part of their “dark humor.” I am currently graduating as a secondary education student, and during assistantship, I encountered a lot of future teachers who love making fun of people, especially children with special needs. I hate how these aspiring educators think that the stimming behaviors of a child with autism are funny. These are the same educators I heard discussing what inclusive and progressive education is. I heard strangers conversing about someone who went to a rally for jeepney drivers, yet got there through Grab. I read articles about how bad AI is, written using ChatGPT. I have advocated for animal rights my whole life, and there were times when I asked people for help online. A lot of people shared my posts, but actual help was seldom given. These things are what we call performative behaviors today. The word “performative” was coined during the 1920s, but our generation popularized it during the pandemic, and it just keeps becoming more recognized. We love using it to describe each other, and perhaps it is the most accurate description for our generation. We call the older generations “hypocrites” for using religious teachings and other unrealistic ideologies to condemn each other. Then there is the generation before us: posers, the ones who do things without actually knowing what it is about. But us? We are not hypocrites. We do not think we are perfect, nor do we try to be. We are also not posers, for we truly believe in what we are doing and what we are talking about. But we love performing that we are better than them—that we are better. We love performing that we are loving and that we help one another. We love performing acts of kindness and humility. Yet hunger, war, and other miserable things still exist in this world. We think we are so good for having acts such as volunteering, charities, foundations, and organizations that advocate for the greater good. I am not saying that I do not appreciate these things, nor that they are not good. Because I get involved in those acts as well. But their very existence does not prove that we are a good society, rather, it proves the exact opposite. These acts are like putting bandages on the big wounds that we also caused. We love performing that we are better than the older generations, and they hate it. Older generations think that our so-called
performance
s are useless, that we only perform chaos. That we are problematic, crybabies... dramatic. We love to perform by fighting for what we think is right—revolutionizing, rallying... and shouting. But can we just shut up? Even for a moment. And really think through whether performing is truly better than hypocrisy. Honestly, I do not see the difference. I am so tired of everyone’s
performance
. Of everyone thinking they’re better than everyone else just because they are doing something for the sake of proving it. Everyone loves to talk about what should and should not be. Everyone loves to talk with hypocrisy. Everyone loves to talk as
performance
. SHUT UP. Shut up and just do something. Not just for your image. Not for display. Do it because it is necessary. Because it needs to be done. Because you want to.
No, this is not AI generated.

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