On Our Perpetual Adolescence

Teaching and Nothingness, "The Disappearance of Adulthood"

Back in 1994, the Sociologist Neil Postman made the radical claim that childhood was ‘disappearing’. His explanation? That there was previously what he called an ‘information hierarchy’ between adults and children. In previous epochs, adults always had more access to knowledge and information than children, and therefore they held a certain authority over children, however with the rise in media and technology, children could now access just as much information as adults, and could potentially view harmful ‘adult’ material, that would have been impossible in the past. Clearly Postman’s claim has taken on new relevance in the age of social media and smartphones. It is not unusual in contemporary society for children have a better understanding of certain topics than their parents. The internet has destroyed the information hierarchy, and therefore destroyed childhood.

I want to take this argument further, and suggest that in Late Capitalism, adulthood is also disappearing. I want to argue that whilst capitalist claims to emphasis individuality and uniqueness, what we are seeing around us is perpetual teenagers, unable to attain the maturity of adulthood that generations before us were able to reach.

The first reason we see adulthood disappearing is that the traditional markers of adulthood are simply not available to any born after around the 1980s. Traditional markers, such as owning a home, financial independence, marriage and children, are less available today than ever. In the UK, house prices have risen massively, whilst wages have not and will not, for lots of young people in Britain, home ownership is not even a possibly, not even a dream in the future. Particularly in the middle classes, we have seen a rise in ‘boomerang families’ — families where the children leave for a short period (usually to go to university) then are forced to return when the economic realities hit them. Birth rates continue to fall as well, with many couples unable to face the costs of bringing children into the world. Government policy, such as cutting child benefit and pathetic maternity leave payments clearly contribute to this. Being an adult is just too expensive in the 21st century.

A second, related point is, that another marker of adulthood is having ‘finished’ your education or qualifications. Whilst children are often seen as incomplete beings, who are in the process of becoming an adult, adults are seen culturally as complete beings, fully ready to participate in the world. This is no longer the case. Adults, in their professional and personal lives, are constantly asked what they are doing to ‘improve themselves’. This hysterical question is a question that can never be answered, which again keeps the individual as a perpetual teenager and never allows them the wholeness of adulthood. For example, as a teacher I have undergone years of education, culminating in my degree, followed by an extensive teacher training degree and surveillance program, and yet every year I am asked what ‘continued professional development’ I will be doing. I am not allowed to stop, I must be constantly improving, otherwise I am failing as a teacher. Byung-Chul Han claims that we have moved to an ‘achievement society’ where people must be constantly moving forward in a positive way, where the model verb can, has replaced should. What CAN I be doing to improve myself as a teacher is the hysterical question I am asked every year. The idea of an authoritative adult is disappearing, as we all CAN continue to develop.

If the traditional markers of adulthood are unattainable to us, how are we supposed to live? Of course Late Capitalism does have an answer for us. We are to stay perpetual teenagers, constantly trying to find ourselves, in a confusing world. The existential dread that used to stereo-typically hit most 15 year olds, is no longer a phase, but a lifestyle. As adults we our encouraged to engage in baseless consumption, quick fixes of fun, and endless enjoyment. As Slavoj Zizek has stated, the demand from society is that we must enjoy. We see this all around us; bars that also have games rooms and colouring books for adults being two examples. We are called upon to consume and enjoy ourselves. Therapists talk of patients complaining that they are ‘not living life to the full’. Late capitalism requires us to be in this perpetually teenage mode, as this keeps us consuming. A hyperactive teenager will be more likely to spend than a contemplative adult.

Ultimately it is Late Capitalism’s emphasis on short term consumption, rather than long term ideals that is restricting people from achieving adulthood. It is also the overly-individualistic notion of self-improvement, both personally and professionally, that undermines an individual’s opportunities to become contemplative and mature adults. We are all teenagers now.

A State of Permanent Liminality (or for as long as this current post-Modern Capitalist economic "event" continues)

Music [...] is the genre that is by its very nature the most ephemeral. Music will always die. It exists only as long as the vibrations continue. Music is not found in structures; it does not depend on words or on obeying the rules. In a practical sense, Music does not seem necessary for human existence.

-Edie Turner, "The Anthropology of Collective Joy" (2011)

Collective joy... victory in a sporting event, watching a concert spectacle, the applause erupting at the end of the theatric spectacle... the Oscar "afterparty".