We literally give more rights and freedoms to most of the animal kingdom! It's insane how we can look at the animal kingdom and be like, it is important we protect the habitat so these animals can thrive, but we don't afford that to our own kind. We just accept that we can't charge animals rent and don't question why we should either.
@@patchouliodonovan9529 We don't charge animals rent only because they don't have any money but we take their land, pollute their homes, and kill them for fashion or fun (unfortunatelly, we do that to human animals, too :-( Humans are top predators and take what they can...
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Adults are annoyed that kids don't want to do any of their "regular" jobs, but like... when is the last time you have seen an adult come home from work all excited to tell you about the great day they just had? My parents have always come home late, tired and cranky. I am honestly terrified of entering the job market and ending up like them, coming home in the evening and just sitting in front of the TV until it's time to go to bed. No wonder kids dream of jobs that represent freedom and fun.
no job is like that though....you see the surface of a youtuber...you see their videos ..they are tired often broke with little security ..youtube is very much a side gig for most people ..to do anything well its going to suck the energy out of you...trust me you will get the same feelings of depression from your dream job..in fact its THOSE feelings that stop most people pursuing them rather than anything ...people get tired of coming home exhausted from their dream job etc
I literally thought the same when it came to job search, but they still didn't understand me. "What do you mean? That's life!" But now I want to reconcile with this idea. The job market in my country is trash, especially on entry level job but in general too. Another downside in my situation is that I'm not a sociable person and speaking to stupid people every day for 8-9 hours is really terrifying. I tend to avoid call-center jobs or in the sales field.
I also totally think that we should stop asking kids what they want to 'be' and more 'who' they want to be, and what they want to 'do.' Because I know from my experience that 'being' my job is so bad for your mental health in terms of separating your work life and home life! Loved this video as always. I love being a TH-camr and I'm SO grateful to have this as my job. 40,000 in the UK wow!
Emily D. Baler has a great TedX talk about asking a different question - “What kind of life do you want to have?” Their road to that lifestyle can be achieved in so many different ways, instead of them feeling hemmed in to one box 😊
I mostly think that adults just need to get off their high horse about what young people say they want to do. Also most of those adults probably have very little understanding of what goes into being a TH-camr - if you told someone you were an independent video producer as well as scriptwriter, camera person, editor, marketing exec wrapped into one role...they might not get it but they'd probably be impressed. Whereas you say 'TH-camr' and people turn up their noses. There are so many skills involved in it...in the way there are in ANY job, but for some reason creative skills are viewed as less secure or achievable.
I also doubt most of these young people who say they want to be a TH-camr has any concept of just how much work goes into it. They just see the videos and the fact that they can earn money for what they think is just filming themselves. I suspect without generalisation Leena is giving a substantial amount of young people a lot of leeway.... I have and I am sorry to say this witnessed considerable number of examples of young people who are lazy and lack work ethic.. where they jacked in jobs after a couple of weeks because they couldn't handle having to get up and start work at 9 am etc...
@@AthynVixen Do you think kids who want to be an astronaut have any idea how much work it is? Or kids who want to be a chef? Or a vet? If young people en masse (what do you even mean by a "considerable number?") couldn't hold a job because they sleep in, we would have data to show it. Forming your perspective on a personal anecdote about a young adult who might have other circumstances in their life is a dangerous game. Honestly based on your wording, you seem to be arguing in bad faith based on your own bias against young people, which is why I'm calling you out.
I am "the adult" you speak of, I have a child. My child has said previously that they want to be a you tuber. They have not said it because they are passionate about something they want to share, say Leena and her books. They've said it because they've heard their friends say they want to be you tubers. I value creativity, a lot, he also wants to be a illustrator, I love that. He needs to grow as artist. If he does this whilst also you tubing about illustration. Fine. Like Leena it is something children (when they are old enough) can make a decision to put their faces out there whilst also pursuing a career. If you tubing takes off, great. If not then and they drop it, what were they doing it for in the first place.
@@26Sundrops I am a young person thank you and this is not 1 anecdote. Its several experiences of me and several of my peers in several employment situations. But cheers for generalizing and dismissing actual life experiences..
@@AthynVixen Cheers, it doesn't matter if you're young or if you know more than one. It literally doesn't matter. Generalizing any age group as lazy or unable to work is absolutely bonkers ridiculous. Cheers.
There's also the fact that many people lost their jobs in so-called "stable" fields such as business, engineering, construction, etc due to the pandemic. I know while getting my degree a huge selling point from my professors was that I was going into a field with a high level of job security; the pandemic made that untrue for many of the people I graduated with. The only people I know in my field (engineering) who are truly "stable" all work for the government, and that's changed the way I've conducted my job search. It made me realize that I value long-term stability in a career more than I originally thought, even if that means accepting a job that I'm less passionate about.
Yes, like, the way that employment goals for the middle class went from 50s “nuclear family” brand new expectations of a basic stable office job/housewife, to 60s counterculture rebellion leading them towards idealized “dream jobs! instead of expected, (skipping the 70s/80s as I don’t know enough to comment currently) to the 90s “rage against the machine/apathy for the reoccurring office job/nuclear family expectation” evident in shows like Daria, friends etc, to the 2000s - 2010s idea of the “LOVE WHAT YOU DO DREAM JOB” ideal being pushed onto everyone again, to today (which i would class from 2015-to today/2025 maybe) where people AREN’T dreaming of labor and are instead divided into people asking 1/3 questions, dependent on their class/what’s available to them; 1. Do I know what my dream job is, and is it worth the effort to get there? 2. Can I get any job, even one I dislike or hate, that will pay me enough to have the finances/freedom do what I want outside of work (like working from home, van life, TH-camrs, saving aggressively to retire early, owning property to become a landlord for passive income etc) 3. Can I get enough jobs (part time gig economy/shift work) to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head while I run myself ragged trying to keep up with wages stagnant and costs of living going up, plus any student/family/medical debts that constantly hang over me? Like, I know multiple of my middle class peers who currently work in finance, who’s life trajectory so far (in terms of school/work) looked like this; Go to school for subjects that are valued (business, maths, engineering courses etc) instead of arts or sports etc regardless of passions. Leave school with high A-Levels for those subjects Obtain a job in finance (the biggest and most financially secure employment on the island) Save money frantically (while binge drinking every weekend to dull the week’s drudgery +living with parents Purchase a flat (with either inheritance for 1 person or with direct parental assistance otherwise) *Keep living at home while you rent out the flat until you’ve got enough for a second flat or have at least paid off the first flat Move out into the second owned flat/a lower quality/cheaper flat/with a partner Use the passive income of the first flats rent to pay off their own rent Go on luxe holidays + purchase luxury goods after you have confirmed your position in the middle class. *most of my friends are currently at this point, but have told me in detail their plans for the rest. And like? None of that currently appeals to me or will probably appeal to me? And maybe part of that is because I’ve been clinically depressed since I was 9, and suicidal since I was 12 (Dw I’m medicated + fine currently) along with my parents owning their own business + being landlords themselves, but I have no interest in becoming a landlord to cement my place in the middle class (which seems to be the most effective + easiest way to do it currently) and when I was in school, despite being very intelligent, I struggled with lack of accommodations etc for my issues + failed to get the required qualifications for the Working In Finance plan (U in maths - stands for Unmarkable - i didn’t complete enough questions to even be marked). I currently work in retail, like I have since I was 14, though I’m currently working from home as a Covid test booker for a pharmacy. I’m on a 0-hour contract, and I live at home, and due to being unemployed for 2 yrs due to the pandemic (for family and personal reasons) I have no savings (though I am working on that). I know that intellectually that the easiest way for me to solidify my position as middle class with my current qualifications etc is to become a landlord, but I really do not want to do that, and I have no other career aspirations or ambitions 👀 so I am just left to mush around in my 20s, waiting for the world to end or to die, whichever comes first. Hell, I would want to do something that actively helps the climate if I could, but the first question on my list above applies - is it worth the effort it would take to get there? My depression says no, but my desire to help says yes.
This is interesting as I'm an engineer and my work have 15 vacancies in technical roles and they cannot find anyone. We didn't lay people off in Covid so I thought this was the case for engineering across the board. We are also suffering from a large percentage of people retiring and really need some youth to come up and move the business forward
I quickly learned to reply that I wanted to be a teacher, even though that wasn’t true. It makes sense because teachers are usually the main profession that kids come into contact with and it’s a perfectly respectable career. So whoever was asking me this time would give an approving nod and then rant about how terrible it was to be a teacher and why I was wrong and I would be like aha yes thank you for your unsolicited careers advice my nine year old self greatly appreciates it
I was in a children's literature class and the prof said "It's like science fiction when we ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. What do you want to be when you become one of us?"
When asked, for the first time, what I wanted to be when I grew up, I did not understand the limitations of possibility and answered: I want to be a giraffe. I also didn’t understand why the kindergarten teacher got so mad at me for my answer.
I honestly don’t understand why we ask kids below 10 what they want to be when they grow up - the majority of them don’t even have a concept of jobs or employment or wages or taxes etc - educational requirements etc - that would be required to make an informed (or at least coherent) answer. I love when kids under 10 say shit like “giraffe” or “astronaut” etc bc it’s a sign of optimism + enthusiasm within the youth that the world needs more of !
@@doctorwholover1012 I've always asked my son and it is less about what they are going to be and more a reflection of passions and personality. My son says illustrator so I buy paper and pens in the bucket load. The OP says giraffe which means she's fun and has a passion/respect for animals. Some teachers take it too seriously!
What I think would worry me if I was a parent would be the effect it might have on their mental health. Negative comments, and hyper-scrutiny. I’ve seen lots of TH-camrs go through really difficult times because of the huge pressure that seems to come with it. I’d have the same worries if they wanted to be a celebrity of any kind. Also, losing their privacy and giving too much of themselves away. Once it’s on the internet, it’s difficult to take back. Although I guess the same could be said for any social media, not just TH-cam. At least with social media you can more easily distance yourself from it than if your income stream is tied to it.
You're not wrong, but when kids say they want to be a doctor or lawyer, no one feigns concern about their mental health or the pressure they'd deal with in that kind of job (save for doctors and lawyers, perhaps).
This! This is exactly what I was going to say. There is almost no other job where you get scrutinised not only for the quality of your work but literally how you eat breakfast, what you wear, who you date (and how you break up and if you get married and if you have kids). I think this would be my real worry, and the push to always do something new and different rather than the same thing well.
In my experience as an educator, middle class children are still more likely to cite ‘traditional’ job roles as even at a young age they perceive the accessibility to quality education their privilege affords them. Working class kids have always been more likely to dream of being footballers and pop stars where talent or physical attributes trumps passing exams which their over subscribed and underfunded schools struggle to deliver. And, as you point out, let’s not forget that TH-camrs are still quite often flogging STUFF and part of the capitalist machine!! It’s not all freelance hearts and roses.
Totally agree with this video essay. If one of my kids said "Hey Anna/Mom, I want to be just like Jake Paul when I grow up," I would question my parenting, but just saying they want to be a TH-camr is not a red flag in my opinion. Heck I want to be like booksandlala when I grow, (but I think she is younger than me...) And to top it off; I think if one of my boys told me they wanted to be a teacher, (which I am,) I would be more concerned about their well being in that carrier field then other options.
I really resonate with this. I was a teenager when TH-camrs started... being. I wanted to be one for all the reasons you talk about. Now I'm working for a corporation and can feel the oppressiveness of office life, not mattering, giving too much of myself for little in return. And here I am, in my late 20s, still wanting to have some kind of creative, "free" career. And I'm not surprised it's become a mainstream want for kids these days!
Same here! The mismanagement, discrimination, hatred and unreasonable expectations of corporate life are driving our generation to seek work for ourselves.
Working in a creative field I can tell you although it has some freedom, its still brutal to survive, if you think about changing careers at some point, make sure to have enough money saved. An alternative could be to work part time.
@@mawkernewek I think a lot of kids still watch youtube (I'm on the older end of gen z and I still spend more time here than any other social media) but you're right in that tiktok is newer. Next I'm sure kids will say they want to be tiktokers instead of youtubers
I was born in the 90s and I can confidently say that TH-cam is not phasing out with younger people. Everyone my age and younger still watches content on TH-cam all the time. Depending on the personal interests of each person, they may spend time on other platforms like TikTok or Twitch, but each of those has a different type of content. If I want to watch long streams of video games, I'll usually go to Twitch. If I want short, snappy, often funny videos, I'll go to TikTok. If I want something that's of middling length and/or on almost any topic you can think of (educational, gaming, music, food, community, etc) I'll go to TH-cam. Also, many creators on Twitch and TikTok also have TH-cam channels, so the sites are not mutually exclusive.
I always hated the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Even as a kid, I thought, "Ya, I'm 8 years old. How am I supposed to know?" As kids, we had no conception of how anything in the world worked. We just wanted to play Pokemon and stuff - so of course, it makes sense that a bunch of children would want to do TH-cam or whatever fun activity they are exposed to. Eddie Burbank did a video dunking on a 'Bill Maher boomer holier-than-thou-silly-kids-who-want-to-be-TH-camrs' rant where he touched on some similar subject matter - saw this video being recommended in the comments there, so I came over and was pleasantly surprised. Whether or not this rant was scripted/semi-scripted/or off the cuff, you're very articulate and make great points. Much appreciated!
I find it refreshing that kids have a broader perspective on what jobs they can do than I did. I had very few ideas outside teacher, doctor, engineer etc.
Agreed. I wanted to be a translator so no so much of a deal. But that's because I had/have an interest in foreign languages. But although I'm an early Gen Z, I'm quite afraid of jobs with little to no security. That's because I grew up in a family with secure jobs and I'm the first with a college degree. A 'free' job would mean wasting all my studies and living with less salary than my parents.
My 9 year old wants to be a TH-cam gamer. We’re working class. I’m worried about his self confidence and how critical ppl can be online. He’s a lovely and sensitive kid who gets bullied by bullyboys. I’m trying to be supportive but realistic. Trying to build his confidence. I’ve said he’s not allowed till he’s 11-13 and he should work on his editing skills and figuring out what sort of ‘content’ he wants to make. I’d prefer him to be an engineer or a programmer or something with a bit more stability, guarantees and possibility for career progression. BUT we can’t choose what I kids do, that’s his choice to make. Can’t lie, if he wants to buy me my dream trampoline foyer castle I wouldn’t be complaining 🤣
One option is to allow him to stream but with comments off, or he can stream/publish videos on private social media for friends and family only until he's at a more mature age? Just some ideas! It's very good to protect children's privacy online.
I'm originally working class (I think that may have changed but my mindset hasn't). I think what people with no children and from a middle class and upwards background forget is most you tubers fail and most don't make money. Children these days are thinking they can do it and earn tones of money and drive around in a porche. Those are not life goals. Those are not the things that will feed the soul!
@@VAA-42 9 year olds don’t need ambitions that feed their soul. Even adults need to feed their bellies before their souls. As I have children and am working class from a immigrant families I can’t say I in the know as to their view of kids wishing to be youtubers. As you are I’ll take it as read that’s your view. I went to uni and still have debt and that at least doubled since then for my kids. If they have a phone and a personality it’s not that far fetched they might make a bit of income on TH-cam, twitch etc, if they motivate and educate themselves with what works. It’s not all porches to us, it’s not worrying about money. All. The. Time. And having money to do and buy what you like without having to sacrifice
@@VAA-42 It doesn't hurt at all to try. It's horrible to live a life where you don't try anything you're passionate about because "it might not make money." It costs very little to start creating content. If the kids have unrealistic expectations, let them try anyway. They can shift gears later. We also need to end the idea that kids need to pick one track for their life and careers by age 14. They have a whole life to live.
This video is so timely. I’m 30 and am just now realizing that I was never given space to dream or find my calling back as a teen or even in college. I was told to find something I enjoyed that was “realistic”, basically something guaranteed to bring financial stability, not happiness or fulfillment. I’m finally taking time (while still employed by corporate America) to decide what actually speaks to me. I understand the desire to have stability, but dismissing happiness because it’s not realistic has basically signed me up for years of my soul being chipped away. This nails it for me. If we’re happy and driven, who is to say we can’t find stability (financial AND mental) doing what we love?
My parents (retired from France public health system, also not doctors) guide for surviving modern workplace : - no overwork without compensation. - if you think what you're asking to do is illegal/not your job ask for an email detailing what you have to do and why BEFORE doing it. - never hesitate to be desagreeable with your manager - unionise
Look, the age on my birth certificate and the fact that I pay bills (on time), might indicate that I'm an adult. But dang it, I refuse to call myself one!
I really think that part of the problem we have with healthcare (i.e. doctors with god complexes, not listening to patients, etc) is because so many people now go into doctoring for the respectability, money or because their parents said they should. If there were more opportunities for people to do what they were passionate about I think we'd have a much better healthcare system filled with people who cared (provided they also improved working conditions). Slight tangent there but why can't we just let people be what they want to be and support them.
I’m a doctor and trust me people do not go into medicine for money respectability or because there parents said they would as you realise quickly none of that is true. The only reason doctors stay in medicine (and there are less and less staying) is because they enjoy their job from a intellectual side and helping patients as working in the NHS as a doctor is the equivalent of staying in an abusive relationship deluded things will change one day!
@@nadiaabdulla3548 I know several people who have gone into healthcare because of parental pressure, money and/or respectability. Granted it's anecdotal but some of them are from families who work in healthcare and say they know a lot of colleagues who went into it for the same reasons.
I remember being a high school student and feeling like I didn’t know what so many jobs even meant. I had never seen an engineer at work or a lawyer. I mostly could only see doctors and teachers in their jobs, and my dad at his one-man commercial photography business. It’s hard to want to be something you don’t understand. My 13yo wants to be a professional baseball player, and both my kids want to be game streamers or TH-camrs. I think it’s because there’s visibility into what these people do and how they get their jobs. But we live in the US, where there isn’t universal healthcare, so I may still encourage an office job.
I think there a few more valid reasons not covered here that a parent might not want their child to be a TH-camr, including the dangers of potential fame and the mental health effects that a life lived online can have on a very young person. I also don’t think the stats are quite comparable from publishing to youtube, as we’re not looking at the demand for those jobs. When I was teaching, I never had a kid tell me they wanted to work with books (a big bummer, I was an English teacher), I had scores of kids telling me they wanted to be youtubers. I don’t think that this should cause some moral outrage; when I was a kid, every child wanted to be Michael Jordan. Very normal behavior for a kid to want future power as they are given so little. I genuinely hope these kids explore their interests and hopefully find something pragmatic on the way there. While I totally agree that being a company man is not guaranteed stability, I also am a little frustrated by the emerging idea that gig work is the answer to the social ills of capitalism. At the end of the day, TH-cam is a billion dollar company, and when they make changes to the platform, creators don’t get a say.
Both my kids have asked to do TH-cam and I have said no. I feel that they are too young to be exposed like that and I very much worried about bullying which I think is interesting you did not mention. I would think that would be a major concern for parents
As a secondary school teacher I sometimes ask my tutor group about what they want to do and generally very few say youtuber its what they currently enjoy so anything football or dance/drama and like you said a lot of vets. I think some kids see it as easy money to be a youtuber, just film yourself for a bit and done. And probably a lot of parents might hate their job so why would that appeal to a child. And as it is quite a new concept to be a youtuber the older generation of middle class could see it as not fitting into the bubble of "acceptable career" just because its new.
1. Love everything you said 2. Love these kinds of videos 3. Love how intelligent you are and how accessible you make understanding these things for everyone 4. You look great!
Brilliant video as always! I do think all “hard to get into” industries have a sort of survivors bias for the people who are in there. TH-camrs in general are going to think being a TH-cam is more realistic that it is. So much of it relies on luck and there are a lot of other factors, for example if you’re a BIPOC or queer person you are statistically less likely to be able to make a living from something like TH-cam due to algorithms which are bias towards whiteness and heterosexuality for example. Though all those barriers also exist in ‘normal jobs’. But on the flip side it is more realistic to be a youtuber/influencers than say a traditional TV presenter, anecdotally I know a few people who are influencers/youtubers (not making a living really but semi successful) where as I don’t know a single person who even works in TV. So I think parents should just think of it like they think of any hard to get into industry, let children dream big.
It sounds like a common statement to me. Lgbt+ content is often demonetized and buried (rather than suggested up top by the algorithm) even with channels I’m subscribed to and regularly watch. I’ve heard many creators and commenters talk about it. I haven’t seen any independent research about it, but would be interested.
I'm a tiny TH-camr but I put SO much work into my channel, it's kind of like a part time job! And it make me really sad when people sneer at content creators because I really really love making videos. It combines all my strengths and it just feels right. I think there's this idea that TH-camrs just sit in front of a camera looking pretty and doing f all, when in reality making videos, designing thumbnails, editing and presenting to camera is a real craft!
Loved this! I agree with the point about what’s okay for adults but not for kids. I imagine that generation would be ecstatic to have a child that was a tv presenter or host but as soon as the show they’re hosting is of their own design and on the internet, suddenly it’s not respectable? Like what?
When working a corporate job (like I do) the established work culture suggests to look into business-minded content to help you navigate your career. What I found is that videos like this one are just as helpful - if not more. They make me think about my boundaries, the conditions under which I sell my labour. And the fact that selling my labour is a business transaction in which I have agency. Leena, you encourage me to ask for what I want at work. And while not everybody can/wants to work for themselves, this conversation is so, so important.
The thing is, making it on TH-cam often times isn't just to do with skill, but complete luck... you can make amazing videos and still get nowhere for years. As someone who's been on here for 2 years still with less than 1k subs, I have experience with this lol... not saying my videos are amazing, but I also know other tiny channels with even better videos than me, that literally do TV-level mini documentaries (Mossy Earth, Leave Curious) and also have less than 1k still. It's frustrating when stupid trends are more likely to get views than someone making niche videos about interesting topics like the natural world. Also, I haven't even monetised my videos yet because I don't have enough of an audience, and TH-cam is still putting ads on my videos recently? WTF? So they're just making money off my videos for themselves. Yikes. Google sucks
Just an observation: the font in your thumbnails is often very small and therefore hard to read. Maybe a little adjustment of size draws more people in :)
I never "made it" as a youtuber but I've been Patreon-funded and live streaming on Twitch daily for four years now, through chronic pain & illness & disability & mental illness that make "real" jobs unfeasible if not impossible. Another factor that kids possibly find appealing is just.. having friends? I feel like the "rockstar" aspect of wanting a famous career is just wanting to be popular, having friends, or just being remembered.
I mean, pretty sure that even back in the day, wanting to be an astronaut didn't last long for most kids - even if you continue to be passionate about space it's not generally a viable accessible career option for most.
I think as well kids have a distorted sense of what jobs are available. They see people like doctors, teachers, etc in their lives, and firefighters, actors etc in media. Same with youtubers- it’s high on the list of jobs kids know about.
I'm studying to be a teacher and it isn't really acceptable to have a public online presence as a teacher in Australia, so TH-camr is not a possible side job for me but I so wish it was!
My first thought was "They're telling you they want to be heard" and if they are then dismissed or laughed at for their answer... well, you can understand where that want is coming from, where the unmet need is. Great video!
Yeah I think u hit the nail on the head at the end. A lot of people just don't get what 'being a youtuber actually means and involves'. They are assuming it just means being loud and obnoxious and self absorbed and taking nice pictures of yourself doing things and using products. And it's just so much broader, diverse and yep Work than that.
After years of watching and loving your content, I finally joined the gumption club today (first and only Patreon account I’ve ever had). Something about this video pushed me to do it. I think I finally thought about it not just as a tip, but more a statement that I support your voice (and I really do care about your well being!) Your delightful, provocative, and comforting videos bring me thought provoking joy each week. Although I watch tons of creators all of the time, your channel is the only one I watch without fail on my sub list (and it’s been that way for years). Thank you for the quality you put into your craft here, Leena. It’s recognized and respected.
I think most parents just want their kids to have a "steady job" nomatter what it is, and also want them to have a decent education ... so they are worried that their kids may start youtubing straight after school with minimal qualifications ... and they may fear the precarious nature of youtubing and potentially how soon with will end. On average, most TH-camrs (even after having acquired more than 100k subscribers) leave TH-cam within 10 years.
Oh god, that line 'the fantasy of having enough' really hits home for me - it's why I'm *basically killing* myself outside my formal employment so I can be a performing/recording flautist (ie, the thing I've been training for since I was 10, that everyone said I could be until the day I finished my music degree when it was suddenly an unrealistic expectation)
i love this video. It is just a lot of ideas that i had also, in a blurry way, put together in a very clear way and it all fits together and it's great
I like this video because you are delight to watch and listen to. You turn a phrase beautifully and you put big ideas into accessible and relatable bits. I feel better about how I can show up in the shittier parts of our 3D situations these days after your videos, and not in saccharine or shallow ways. And you ask, or pass along, really great questions.
I've been thinking about this topic a lot as I apply to graduate school. Growing up, I always said "I want to be a teacher," and, truly, I *do* have a knack for teaching/training people, so it makes sense. But mainly, I think I wanted that job as a second-grader because it was the only career I had seen in action and that I could understand. Fast-forward to it being time for college; all my high school teachers were pressuring us to tell them what we wanted to major in and what careers we wanted. I had no idea! By this time, I had come to the conclusion that I did not like children and could not teach middle/high school because I disliked the environments. So, I had to come up with something else, and that something else was the classic default of "business." So, I declared a business major and told everyone I wanted to be an event planner, because that is all I could think of in the moment. So, I started taking business classes, and I absolutely fucking hated them. They were boring, and I am not good at math. At the same time as I was figuring this out, I was taking art classes because, in my Freshman year, I'd taken a photography class and LOVED it. However, since everyone was telling me that being a photographer was not a viable career option, I continued to try to take business classes and declared art as a minor. By the second semester of my Sophomore year, my minor became my major, and I stopped taking business classes. I wound up getting my BFA 3 & 1/2 years ago, and now I'm applying for graduate programs because I want to get my MFA and... become a professor. You see, throughout my life, I looked around and never saw anyone whose life I wanted. I did not dream of labor, nor did I dream of misery, which is what everyone had promoted to me my entire life. My parents complained about their jobs all the time, and yet they wanted (and want) us all to have jobs like theirs and "do what has to be done to survive." Okay, fair enough, but, rightly or wrongly or maybe neither, I don't want to just get by in life and be miserable while I barely make ends meet. When I got to college, though, I found the person whose life (or career, rather) I could truly envision myself having -- my photography professor's. She doesn't make a ton of money, but she loves her job and her students, and she and her husband still do travel, and she gets to continue to make art and exhibit it -- basically everything I want to be able to do in my own life. Nothing is easy, of course, and most dreams are harder to achieve now than they used to be because everything costs so much now, but I know I won't be happy unless I try. 🤷🏻♀️ The point of all this is that older generations have brainwashed us into thinking that we should want their lives and should want to do whatever it takes to survive, miserable or not, and they don't like that we are rebuking all of this and making ideals of our own.
ok thoughtful comment time. you made a lot of great points but i think one of the things i'm struggling with is the reality that people at the "early career" stage of their lives are forging a lot of new paths (as you said, these jobs we're doing now didn't exist when we were younger and being asked what we "want to be"). I agree there's SO many better ways to frame it like, what kind of world do you want to live in or what kinds of skills do you want to use or develop? I wish I'd been asked those questions instead as a kid and hell, even through undergrad. They're STILL relevant, especially because now careers as people knew them (i.e. working for one company until retirement) just don't exist anymore for most people and with the ability to shift trajectory comes a lot of uncertainty. Not only because we need money to access necessities, but also because the framing about "what we do" has always sort of been predicated on "who you are." And that's doing everyone a big disservice. Excellent video! Lots to chew on. I wish I knew more kids in my life to get their perspective. Right now I just feel out of touch mostly (or just struggling to make it through my own life and deal with my own existential anxieties haha).
This was brilliant! A small addition of my own: I remember that when I was a kid and mentionned my latest dream career, with 100% certainty an adult would tell me "what it takes" to reach it, and it was always aimed at my current weaknesses or challenges. Be good at drawing, let go of your fear of heights etc. I always left these conversations feeling defeated, even if they were supposed to be motivational. Maybe adults can't ruin the youtuber career because they don't know what it takes to be one? "Have a microphone and say your opinion" is something not even a teacher could ruin...
THANK YOU. This is amazing. My dad was watching Bill Maher the other day and apparently all Bill Maher talks about these days is how stupid young people are 🤦 but he was basically being the living version of those awful articles and it made me SO MAD. (And it led to a awful fight between me and my dad, too 😣)
I think young people look at the model of work our parents have based their lives around and reject it wholeheartedly. Work in one job/sector for 40 years and only enjoy life/do things you've always wanted to do in retirement, put everything into a job that will drop you immediately if needed, try to 'climb a ladder' that many can never achieve no matter how much effort they put in, work with no flexibility (office-based with long commutes, long hours, no remote/flexi-time options, 5 days a week, hard to get off for appointments etc.) Young people want flexibility because they value their personal lives. They know that work should only be a part of their lives. Unfortunately, we lived in a society where women couldn't work but now we live in a society where both people in a couple need to work crazy hard and still can't afford a house. Hopefully, things are slowly starting to change in terms of job flexibility because we need to make it easier for people to balance family life with work life.
"It's just so mad to me that you're born as a 3D person, yet there is no land that you are legally allowed to exist on without paying. Like there's no where - if you don't have any money, it's basically illegal for you not to be hovering over the earth." ...I've never phrased it to myself like that before, and that insight shook me to my core. My perspective is forever changed.
YUP. "In Defense of Housing" by Peter Marcuse + David Madden is a book that dives into the economic/political aspects of housing beautifully. There's also a TH-cam talk from the authors for anyone who's not ready to read a whole book :)
i find vloggers are probably good for kids to watch, because it gives them a glimpse into a different kind of life. one that may be a beacon out of an abusive one. i learned how to keep house and take care of myself in 2012 using youtube because i came from an abusive hoarded home.
I wanted to do TH-cam when I was 14. My parents said "you need to get a real job". I trained to be a teacher ended up not enjoying it. Never even went into the profession. I have regretted not doing anything TH-cam related ever since. Nowadays, my parents say "you can do anything, even TH-cam or Etsy" and I look at them like...."are you serious?!" I lost all that time and opportunity because they didn't believe in me. Now I am just going job to job, just trying to pay the bills, with all ambition in me long gone, I am lost about what I want to do in life. I am going share this video with my teaching friends for sure, this is so important.
Never put a kids dream down! I honestly think when kids get their dreams crushed by adults that is what causes so many of them later on having a crisis and trying to “find their passion”. It should be ok to imagine and dream as a kid! I also think there is no harm in trying out being a youtuber once you are grown and see if it’s for you. By starting my own channel I have developed so many great skills from videography, script writing & video planning, video editing, doing voice overs, teaching my tutorials clearly and be much more clear and articulate in the way I communicate. I have also become way more self expressed and confident, and learnt a lot about social media marketing in the process. Let’s say that being a youtuber might not be my path long term - who cares?! I have then developed my skills in several areas which I can use in other careers if I like.
You unpacked this so well! I, too, wanted to be a TH-camr when I was a teenager.. and sometimes, the desire still pops up today. I couldn't quite articulate why until now but your words and the reasons you listed resonate a lot with me... Also - I think this blue color combined with the silver jewellery looks just STUNNING on you
as someone who was constantly told "you don't want to do that, you won't make a living/you'll start to hate it/etc" kids should just be encouraged at whatever they want to do. Now i work a job i hate, in an industry i have no interest in because it's supposed to make a decent living (which it also doesn't these days). is it supposed to be better to work a job you're not interested in to make money, than one you are interested in? i was a dumb enough child to listen to what grown ups said i should be. don't listen to 'em kids!
As a 90s kid the goal was "to be on TV". In any form. A little less exciting was to be in an article in the local newspaper. TH-cam IS the Tv of the young generation. Besides Netflix etc. And it's the easiest to accomplish (easier than getting on a tv show). Even a 10 second meme can make you go viral. Maybe it just shifted from "being on TV" to being on TH-cam 🤷♀️
I really appreciate your perspective. Thanks for the video! I think TH-camrs or vloggers have a similar position to writers or artists in previous generations: Creators, often with a free-spirit, self-employed but definitely depending on patrons or Patreon ;-) They are still part of society but somehow not taken seriously because of what they represent. Think about all the creative minds who were persecuted, belittled and financially struggled during their lives and then eventually widely admired by generations after. Today, the harsh criticism anyone in the public eye gets from commenters online specifically might very well be the main reason most people worry about their children becoming TH-camrs or vloggers and ultimately struggling with addiction and having anxiety/depression and other mental health problems because of the behavior others show online. If my family hadn't been working class I would have studied fashion design, but working in a creative job with the pressure and competition and unpaid work and the risk of being unemployed was why my parents basically just talked me out of it. So I just sew my own clothes now and seeing your video I once again wonder how much creative potential goes unused because of class and capitalism.
Thank you SO much for this video! I *do* agree that there are different types of youtuber and it depends on what content they make! Just like with celebrities, there can be youtubers who are just looking for drama or likes and can be toxic, but there's another side! There are so many excellent youtubers who could be academics but because academia has so many problems they turn to youtube to share their knowledge with the world and who can become fairly compensated in their niche where they wouldn't earn enough in "respectable" jobs.
Firstly - love this content. Love how it makes me think. My thoughts that came up this time was about, more broadly, the desire of my peers (30s) and younger to 'be their own boss' and be entrepreneurs/small business owners. It feels like a logical progression as we move to a more individualistic society. It says a lot (equally) about the kind of narrow/restrictive workplaces that are the norm, but also about desire to move away from teams, teamwork and working with people you might not get on with. Lots to think about. Thanks for a great video
I didn't notice the incorrect spelling when I clicked on the video, but I saw the thumbnail before the title, but now you pointed it out, it makes me think of the political party lol. (btw I'm Australian, where we use UK spelling, but our progressive party uses the US spelling of Labour)
I once watched a short interview-the-public type of video where people were being asked 'what is your biggest regret?'. And there was a man in his fifties or sixties who said, with such an aura of sincerely held regret, 'not having more choice of career when I was younger.' I think a broad sphere of work is a very, very good thing. More power to ambitious young people.
I love this so much. And as a 23yr old, dealing with injury, my job opportunities are very different to what they were beforehand, which is making me questions how i want to sell my labor power.
In the current job market the majority of jobs are hard to get and offer no security. Why wouldn't people gravitate to the hard to get, insecure jobs where at least they get to creatively express themselves and have control over their own workload? Older generations need to get a fuckin clue man
I love your arguments here. And your channel in general is great stuff, I'm obsessed! Though as a Russian I always get a little confused when hearing people want socialism... Most of my associations are outright awful: plan economy, poverty, inability to buy goods you need, dreadful service EVERYWHERE because there is just no alternative, etc. Yes, you get an apartment for free, but you're not really in control of when or where. And generally, you don't have much control over your life. Sure it's totalitarism, not socialism. But I'm not sure you can have democracy and socialism at the same time.
And that's why we need the creativity of everyone to expand our imaginations on what is possible. Past iterations of communism/socialism will not be enough, but capitalism is killing us
Just want to say you make me chuckle so much, and I really needed a chuckle - thank you. Also, yeah, when we were young everyone wanted to be a footballer or pop star. We don't choose the safe simple answer, we go for gold as children - - which is awesome. Did we all become footballers and pop idols resulting in the end of days? no, because we can dream and not destroy society at the same time. Don't panic and let them be.
Really appreciate your points on this. When I was young saying you wanted to be a celebrity was definitely considered vapid because it was the idea of having money or reputation that was appealing, not the work itself. Now there's such a meaningful scope in the field it's impossible to dismiss as valuable work, and these articles are just people not evolving their understanding of the landscape to include the worth people like you provide :)
Loved this video! Sad I missed the premiere but I was having a post-very-busy-week-nap 😅 Question as a Gumptioner: can I put "Boss of fantastic youtuber" on my CV? 🤔😅
SUCH a good video Leena! in nursery when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I said a rock star (?). Got a lot to unpick there on why this was my idea of success and under what reason was a 5 year old wanting to be a rockstar...this probably explains why I'm now self employed oop
When I was a kid and my dad asked me what i wanted to do with my life and I answered honestly he flat out told me I was be unrealistic. It took me 6 years after graduating high school and job hopping to realize that's BS and I can do whatever I want.
Omg Leena I love you. You help me with my life and I mean it! You have such a warm personality and you bring up issues that are incredibly relevant to my life and I'm sure so many others. You've made my day and probably a week :) Thank you from my heart and hi from Moscow
One other point about the comparison between the publishing industry and TH-cam is that the publishing industry is basically all in London (maybe not as much since the pandemic but probably still ?) but you could be a TH-camr and stay in the place where you have friends and family if you want to and maybe even… afford rent… this is probably true of many of the careers parents want for their children and I don’t see why that’s better to be so restricted in where you work
"You are born as a 3D person, yet there is no land you are legally allowed to exist on without paying." THIS! THIS THIS THIS
@Amy Ritchie Not everybody wants to get high or kill themselves, lol.
We literally give more rights and freedoms to most of the animal kingdom! It's insane how we can look at the animal kingdom and be like, it is important we protect the habitat so these animals can thrive, but we don't afford that to our own kind. We just accept that we can't charge animals rent and don't question why we should either.
@@patchouliodonovan9529 We don't charge animals rent only because they don't have any money but we take their land, pollute their homes, and kill them for fashion or fun (unfortunatelly, we do that to human animals, too :-(
Humans are top predators and take what they can...
Adults are annoyed that kids don't want to do any of their "regular" jobs, but like... when is the last time you have seen an adult come home from work all excited to tell you about the great day they just had? My parents have always come home late, tired and cranky. I am honestly terrified of entering the job market and ending up like them, coming home in the evening and just sitting in front of the TV until it's time to go to bed. No wonder kids dream of jobs that represent freedom and fun.
no job is like that though....you see the surface of a youtuber...you see their videos ..they are tired often broke with little security ..youtube is very much a side gig for most people ..to do anything well its going to suck the energy out of you...trust me you will get the same feelings of depression from your dream job..in fact its THOSE feelings that stop most people pursuing them rather than anything ...people get tired of coming home exhausted from their dream job etc
I’m the same. My mum is a teacher as she hated her job and the rude kids she had to work with. She’s retired now and is MUCH happier
I literally thought the same when it came to job search, but they still didn't understand me. "What do you mean? That's life!" But now I want to reconcile with this idea. The job market in my country is trash, especially on entry level job but in general too. Another downside in my situation is that I'm not a sociable person and speaking to stupid people every day for 8-9 hours is really terrifying. I tend to avoid call-center jobs or in the sales field.
I also totally think that we should stop asking kids what they want to 'be' and more 'who' they want to be, and what they want to 'do.' Because I know from my experience that 'being' my job is so bad for your mental health in terms of separating your work life and home life! Loved this video as always. I love being a TH-camr and I'm SO grateful to have this as my job. 40,000 in the UK wow!
Emily D. Baler has a great TedX talk about asking a different question - “What kind of life do you want to have?” Their road to that lifestyle can be achieved in so many different ways, instead of them feeling hemmed in to one box 😊
Imagine looking at the last 5 years and genuinely wondering, "Why don't children want to be police officers anymore?"
I know right, did they see the BLM protests? Or the Wayne Couzens case? Jfc
When those parents were younger, a good portion of them probably wanted to become actors, singers or athlete.
I like the reframing of the "what do you want to do when you grow up" as essentially asking "who do you want to sell your labour to?"
I mostly think that adults just need to get off their high horse about what young people say they want to do. Also most of those adults probably have very little understanding of what goes into being a TH-camr - if you told someone you were an independent video producer as well as scriptwriter, camera person, editor, marketing exec wrapped into one role...they might not get it but they'd probably be impressed. Whereas you say 'TH-camr' and people turn up their noses. There are so many skills involved in it...in the way there are in ANY job, but for some reason creative skills are viewed as less secure or achievable.
I also doubt most of these young people who say they want to be a TH-camr has any concept of just how much work goes into it. They just see the videos and the fact that they can earn money for what they think is just filming themselves. I suspect without generalisation Leena is giving a substantial amount of young people a lot of leeway.... I have and I am sorry to say this witnessed considerable number of examples of young people who are lazy and lack work ethic.. where they jacked in jobs after a couple of weeks because they couldn't handle having to get up and start work at 9 am etc...
@@AthynVixen Do you think kids who want to be an astronaut have any idea how much work it is? Or kids who want to be a chef? Or a vet?
If young people en masse (what do you even mean by a "considerable number?") couldn't hold a job because they sleep in, we would have data to show it. Forming your perspective on a personal anecdote about a young adult who might have other circumstances in their life is a dangerous game. Honestly based on your wording, you seem to be arguing in bad faith based on your own bias against young people, which is why I'm calling you out.
I am "the adult" you speak of, I have a child. My child has said previously that they want to be a you tuber. They have not said it because they are passionate about something they want to share, say Leena and her books. They've said it because they've heard their friends say they want to be you tubers. I value creativity, a lot, he also wants to be a illustrator, I love that. He needs to grow as artist. If he does this whilst also you tubing about illustration. Fine. Like Leena it is something children (when they are old enough) can make a decision to put their faces out there whilst also pursuing a career. If you tubing takes off, great. If not then and they drop it, what were they doing it for in the first place.
@@26Sundrops I am a young person thank you and this is not 1 anecdote. Its several experiences of me and several of my peers in several employment situations. But cheers for generalizing and dismissing actual life experiences..
@@AthynVixen Cheers, it doesn't matter if you're young or if you know more than one. It literally doesn't matter. Generalizing any age group as lazy or unable to work is absolutely bonkers ridiculous. Cheers.
There's also the fact that many people lost their jobs in so-called "stable" fields such as business, engineering, construction, etc due to the pandemic. I know while getting my degree a huge selling point from my professors was that I was going into a field with a high level of job security; the pandemic made that untrue for many of the people I graduated with. The only people I know in my field (engineering) who are truly "stable" all work for the government, and that's changed the way I've conducted my job search. It made me realize that I value long-term stability in a career more than I originally thought, even if that means accepting a job that I'm less passionate about.
Yes, like, the way that employment goals for the middle class went from 50s “nuclear family” brand new expectations of a basic stable office job/housewife, to 60s counterculture rebellion leading them towards idealized “dream jobs! instead of expected, (skipping the 70s/80s as I don’t know enough to comment currently) to the 90s “rage against the machine/apathy for the reoccurring office job/nuclear family expectation” evident in shows like Daria, friends etc, to the 2000s - 2010s idea of the “LOVE WHAT YOU DO DREAM JOB” ideal being pushed onto everyone again, to today (which i would class from 2015-to today/2025 maybe) where people AREN’T dreaming of labor and are instead divided into people asking 1/3 questions, dependent on their class/what’s available to them;
1. Do I know what my dream job is, and is it worth the effort to get there?
2. Can I get any job, even one I dislike or hate, that will pay me enough to have the finances/freedom do what I want outside of work (like working from home, van life, TH-camrs, saving aggressively to retire early, owning property to become a landlord for passive income etc)
3. Can I get enough jobs (part time gig economy/shift work) to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head while I run myself ragged trying to keep up with wages stagnant and costs of living going up, plus any student/family/medical debts that constantly hang over me?
Like, I know multiple of my middle class peers who currently work in finance, who’s life trajectory so far (in terms of school/work) looked like this;
Go to school for subjects that are valued (business, maths, engineering courses etc) instead of arts or sports etc regardless of passions.
Leave school with high A-Levels for those subjects
Obtain a job in finance (the biggest and most financially secure employment on the island)
Save money frantically (while binge drinking every weekend to dull the week’s drudgery +living with parents
Purchase a flat (with either inheritance for 1 person or with direct parental assistance otherwise)
*Keep living at home while you rent out the flat until you’ve got enough for a second flat or have at least paid off the first flat
Move out into the second owned flat/a lower quality/cheaper flat/with a partner
Use the passive income of the first flats rent to pay off their own rent
Go on luxe holidays + purchase luxury goods after you have confirmed your position in the middle class.
*most of my friends are currently at this point, but have told me in detail their plans for the rest.
And like? None of that currently appeals to me or will probably appeal to me? And maybe part of that is because I’ve been clinically depressed since I was 9, and suicidal since I was 12 (Dw I’m medicated + fine currently) along with my parents owning their own business + being landlords themselves, but I have no interest in becoming a landlord to cement my place in the middle class (which seems to be the most effective + easiest way to do it currently) and when I was in school, despite being very intelligent, I struggled with lack of accommodations etc for my issues + failed to get the required qualifications for the Working In Finance plan (U in maths - stands for Unmarkable - i didn’t complete enough questions to even be marked). I currently work in retail, like I have since I was 14, though I’m currently working from home as a Covid test booker for a pharmacy. I’m on a 0-hour contract, and I live at home, and due to being unemployed for 2 yrs due to the pandemic (for family and personal reasons) I have no savings (though I am working on that).
I know that intellectually that the easiest way for me to solidify my position as middle class with my current qualifications etc is to become a landlord, but I really do not want to do that, and I have no other career aspirations or ambitions 👀 so I am just left to mush around in my 20s, waiting for the world to end or to die, whichever comes first. Hell, I would want to do something that actively helps the climate if I could, but the first question on my list above applies - is it worth the effort it would take to get there? My depression says no, but my desire to help says yes.
This is interesting as I'm an engineer and my work have 15 vacancies in technical roles and they cannot find anyone. We didn't lay people off in Covid so I thought this was the case for engineering across the board. We are also suffering from a large percentage of people retiring and really need some youth to come up and move the business forward
I quickly learned to reply that I wanted to be a teacher, even though that wasn’t true. It makes sense because teachers are usually the main profession that kids come into contact with and it’s a perfectly respectable career. So whoever was asking me this time would give an approving nod and then rant about how terrible it was to be a teacher and why I was wrong and I would be like aha yes thank you for your unsolicited careers advice my nine year old self greatly appreciates it
I was in a children's literature class and the prof said "It's like science fiction when we ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. What do you want to be when you become one of us?"
When asked, for the first time, what I wanted to be when I grew up, I did not understand the limitations of possibility and answered: I want to be a giraffe. I also didn’t understand why the kindergarten teacher got so mad at me for my answer.
I honestly don’t understand why we ask kids below 10 what they want to be when they grow up - the majority of them don’t even have a concept of jobs or employment or wages or taxes etc - educational requirements etc - that would be required to make an informed (or at least coherent) answer. I love when kids under 10 say shit like “giraffe” or “astronaut” etc bc it’s a sign of optimism + enthusiasm within the youth that the world needs more of !
That's the best plan in life.
I wanted to be an elephant!
I wanted to be an angel
@@doctorwholover1012 I've always asked my son and it is less about what they are going to be and more a reflection of passions and personality. My son says illustrator so I buy paper and pens in the bucket load. The OP says giraffe which means she's fun and has a passion/respect for animals. Some teachers take it too seriously!
What I think would worry me if I was a parent would be the effect it might have on their mental health. Negative comments, and hyper-scrutiny. I’ve seen lots of TH-camrs go through really difficult times because of the huge pressure that seems to come with it. I’d have the same worries if they wanted to be a celebrity of any kind.
Also, losing their privacy and giving too much of themselves away. Once it’s on the internet, it’s difficult to take back. Although I guess the same could be said for any social media, not just TH-cam.
At least with social media you can more easily distance yourself from it than if your income stream is tied to it.
You're not wrong, but when kids say they want to be a doctor or lawyer, no one feigns concern about their mental health or the pressure they'd deal with in that kind of job (save for doctors and lawyers, perhaps).
This! This is exactly what I was going to say. There is almost no other job where you get scrutinised not only for the quality of your work but literally how you eat breakfast, what you wear, who you date (and how you break up and if you get married and if you have kids). I think this would be my real worry, and the push to always do something new and different rather than the same thing well.
@@alexisreve1 Because it's not usually public. Unless you're one of those doctors or lawyers that's also a youtuber.
In my experience as an educator, middle class children are still more likely to cite ‘traditional’ job roles as even at a young age they perceive the accessibility to quality education their privilege affords them. Working class kids have always been more likely to dream of being footballers and pop stars where talent or physical attributes trumps passing exams which their over subscribed and underfunded schools struggle to deliver.
And, as you point out, let’s not forget that TH-camrs are still quite often flogging STUFF and part of the capitalist machine!! It’s not all freelance hearts and roses.
Totally agree with this video essay. If one of my kids said "Hey Anna/Mom, I want to be just like Jake Paul when I grow up," I would question my parenting, but just saying they want to be a TH-camr is not a red flag in my opinion. Heck I want to be like booksandlala when I grow, (but I think she is younger than me...) And to top it off; I think if one of my boys told me they wanted to be a teacher, (which I am,) I would be more concerned about their well being in that carrier field then other options.
I really resonate with this. I was a teenager when TH-camrs started... being. I wanted to be one for all the reasons you talk about. Now I'm working for a corporation and can feel the oppressiveness of office life, not mattering, giving too much of myself for little in return. And here I am, in my late 20s, still wanting to have some kind of creative, "free" career. And I'm not surprised it's become a mainstream want for kids these days!
Feeling similarly and in the same age bracket. The dream would be part time mix of both!
Same here! The mismanagement, discrimination, hatred and unreasonable expectations of corporate life are driving our generation to seek work for ourselves.
Working in a creative field I can tell you although it has some freedom, its still brutal to survive, if you think about changing careers at some point, make sure to have enough money saved. An alternative could be to work part time.
I LOVE the point about kids wanting to be youtubers is the same as kids wanting to be pop stars! It's not something I'd thought of but is so so true
surely TH-cam is a bit old hat to today's kids? it's been around since 2005, which is the equivalent of the 1970s to us grown ups.
@@mawkernewek I think a lot of kids still watch youtube (I'm on the older end of gen z and I still spend more time here than any other social media) but you're right in that tiktok is newer. Next I'm sure kids will say they want to be tiktokers instead of youtubers
I was born in the 90s and I can confidently say that TH-cam is not phasing out with younger people. Everyone my age and younger still watches content on TH-cam all the time. Depending on the personal interests of each person, they may spend time on other platforms like TikTok or Twitch, but each of those has a different type of content. If I want to watch long streams of video games, I'll usually go to Twitch. If I want short, snappy, often funny videos, I'll go to TikTok. If I want something that's of middling length and/or on almost any topic you can think of (educational, gaming, music, food, community, etc) I'll go to TH-cam. Also, many creators on Twitch and TikTok also have TH-cam channels, so the sites are not mutually exclusive.
I CANNOT wait to have my next interaction with a young person to ask them "so, who do you intend to sell your labour to?"
I always hated the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Even as a kid, I thought, "Ya, I'm 8 years old. How am I supposed to know?" As kids, we had no conception of how anything in the world worked. We just wanted to play Pokemon and stuff - so of course, it makes sense that a bunch of children would want to do TH-cam or whatever fun activity they are exposed to.
Eddie Burbank did a video dunking on a 'Bill Maher boomer holier-than-thou-silly-kids-who-want-to-be-TH-camrs' rant where he touched on some similar subject matter - saw this video being recommended in the comments there, so I came over and was pleasantly surprised. Whether or not this rant was scripted/semi-scripted/or off the cuff, you're very articulate and make great points. Much appreciated!
I find it refreshing that kids have a broader perspective on what jobs they can do than I did. I had very few ideas outside teacher, doctor, engineer etc.
Agreed. I wanted to be a translator so no so much of a deal. But that's because I had/have an interest in foreign languages. But although I'm an early Gen Z, I'm quite afraid of jobs with little to no security. That's because I grew up in a family with secure jobs and I'm the first with a college degree. A 'free' job would mean wasting all my studies and living with less salary than my parents.
My 9 year old wants to be a TH-cam gamer. We’re working class. I’m worried about his self confidence and how critical ppl can be online. He’s a lovely and sensitive kid who gets bullied by bullyboys. I’m trying to be supportive but realistic. Trying to build his confidence. I’ve said he’s not allowed till he’s 11-13 and he should work on his editing skills and figuring out what sort of ‘content’ he wants to make. I’d prefer him to be an engineer or a programmer or something with a bit more stability, guarantees and possibility for career progression. BUT we can’t choose what I kids do, that’s his choice to make.
Can’t lie, if he wants to buy me my dream trampoline foyer castle I wouldn’t be complaining 🤣
One option is to allow him to stream but with comments off, or he can stream/publish videos on private social media for friends and family only until he's at a more mature age? Just some ideas! It's very good to protect children's privacy online.
@@26Sundrops thank you I didn’t know about that, that’s a great suggestion. It would be good practice to see if he actually likes doing it 👍🏼
I'm originally working class (I think that may have changed but my mindset hasn't). I think what people with no children and from a middle class and upwards background forget is most you tubers fail and most don't make money. Children these days are thinking they can do it and earn tones of money and drive around in a porche. Those are not life goals. Those are not the things that will feed the soul!
@@VAA-42 9 year olds don’t need ambitions that feed their soul. Even adults need to feed their bellies before their souls. As I have children and am working class from a immigrant families I can’t say I in the know as to their view of kids wishing to be youtubers. As you are I’ll take it as read that’s your view.
I went to uni and still have debt and that at least doubled since then for my kids. If they have a phone and a personality it’s not that far fetched they might make a bit of income on TH-cam, twitch etc, if they motivate and educate themselves with what works. It’s not all porches to us, it’s not worrying about money. All. The. Time. And having money to do and buy what you like without having to sacrifice
@@VAA-42 It doesn't hurt at all to try. It's horrible to live a life where you don't try anything you're passionate about because "it might not make money." It costs very little to start creating content. If the kids have unrealistic expectations, let them try anyway. They can shift gears later. We also need to end the idea that kids need to pick one track for their life and careers by age 14. They have a whole life to live.
This video is so timely. I’m 30 and am just now realizing that I was never given space to dream or find my calling back as a teen or even in college. I was told to find something I enjoyed that was “realistic”, basically something guaranteed to bring financial stability, not happiness or fulfillment. I’m finally taking time (while still employed by corporate America) to decide what actually speaks to me. I understand the desire to have stability, but dismissing happiness because it’s not realistic has basically signed me up for years of my soul being chipped away. This nails it for me. If we’re happy and driven, who is to say we can’t find stability (financial AND mental) doing what we love?
loved this!!!
Thanks bae
My parents (retired from France public health system, also not doctors) guide for surviving modern workplace :
- no overwork without compensation.
- if you think what you're asking to do is illegal/not your job ask for an email detailing what you have to do and why BEFORE doing it.
- never hesitate to be desagreeable with your manager
- unionise
I didn't know we needed this essay.
But by god we needed this essay! Xx
As a former kid who makes TH-cam content but also navigating a harsh job market, this video ought to be interesting
I love the idea of calling ourselves “former kids” just all the time 😂
Look, the age on my birth certificate and the fact that I pay bills (on time), might indicate that I'm an adult. But dang it, I refuse to call myself one!
I really think that part of the problem we have with healthcare (i.e. doctors with god complexes, not listening to patients, etc) is because so many people now go into doctoring for the respectability, money or because their parents said they should.
If there were more opportunities for people to do what they were passionate about I think we'd have a much better healthcare system filled with people who cared (provided they also improved working conditions).
Slight tangent there but why can't we just let people be what they want to be and support them.
I’m a doctor and trust me people do not go into medicine for money respectability or because there parents said they would as you realise quickly none of that is true. The only reason doctors stay in medicine (and there are less and less staying) is because they enjoy their job from a intellectual side and helping patients as working in the NHS as a doctor is the equivalent of staying in an abusive relationship deluded things will change one day!
@@nadiaabdulla3548 it depends on what country you live in. I'm in Canada and the person you responded to has the same pov I have of doctors.
@@nadiaabdulla3548 I know several people who have gone into healthcare because of parental pressure, money and/or respectability.
Granted it's anecdotal but some of them are from families who work in healthcare and say they know a lot of colleagues who went into it for the same reasons.
I remember all children wanted to be pop stars and actors when we were little, nothing different to TH-camrs now
I love your "rants" they are so logical and the points and evidence you get across are things my brain doesn't normally think about.
I remember being a high school student and feeling like I didn’t know what so many jobs even meant. I had never seen an engineer at work or a lawyer. I mostly could only see doctors and teachers in their jobs, and my dad at his one-man commercial photography business. It’s hard to want to be something you don’t understand.
My 13yo wants to be a professional baseball player, and both my kids want to be game streamers or TH-camrs. I think it’s because there’s visibility into what these people do and how they get their jobs.
But we live in the US, where there isn’t universal healthcare, so I may still encourage an office job.
I am here for Leena's Rant Room
I think there a few more valid reasons not covered here that a parent might not want their child to be a TH-camr, including the dangers of potential fame and the mental health effects that a life lived online can have on a very young person. I also don’t think the stats are quite comparable from publishing to youtube, as we’re not looking at the demand for those jobs. When I was teaching, I never had a kid tell me they wanted to work with books (a big bummer, I was an English teacher), I had scores of kids telling me they wanted to be youtubers. I don’t think that this should cause some moral outrage; when I was a kid, every child wanted to be Michael Jordan. Very normal behavior for a kid to want future power as they are given so little. I genuinely hope these kids explore their interests and hopefully find something pragmatic on the way there. While I totally agree that being a company man is not guaranteed stability, I also am a little frustrated by the emerging idea that gig work is the answer to the social ills of capitalism. At the end of the day, TH-cam is a billion dollar company, and when they make changes to the platform, creators don’t get a say.
Both my kids have asked to do TH-cam and I have said no. I feel that they are too young to be exposed like that and I very much worried about bullying which I think is interesting you did not mention. I would think that would be a major concern for parents
As a secondary school teacher I sometimes ask my tutor group about what they want to do and generally very few say youtuber its what they currently enjoy so anything football or dance/drama and like you said a lot of vets. I think some kids see it as easy money to be a youtuber, just film yourself for a bit and done. And probably a lot of parents might hate their job so why would that appeal to a child. And as it is quite a new concept to be a youtuber the older generation of middle class could see it as not fitting into the bubble of "acceptable career" just because its new.
1. Love everything you said
2. Love these kinds of videos
3. Love how intelligent you are and how accessible you make understanding these things for everyone
4. You look great!
Brilliant video as always! I do think all “hard to get into” industries have a sort of survivors bias for the people who are in there. TH-camrs in general are going to think being a TH-cam is more realistic that it is. So much of it relies on luck and there are a lot of other factors, for example if you’re a BIPOC or queer person you are statistically less likely to be able to make a living from something like TH-cam due to algorithms which are bias towards whiteness and heterosexuality for example. Though all those barriers also exist in ‘normal jobs’.
But on the flip side it is more realistic to be a youtuber/influencers than say a traditional TV presenter, anecdotally I know a few people who are influencers/youtubers (not making a living really but semi successful) where as I don’t know a single person who even works in TV. So I think parents should just think of it like they think of any hard to get into industry, let children dream big.
can you prove that the algorithm is biased in this way? that's actually a very bold statement and I'm not too sure thats the case anyway.
It sounds like a common statement to me. Lgbt+ content is often demonetized and buried (rather than suggested up top by the algorithm) even with channels I’m subscribed to and regularly watch. I’ve heard many creators and commenters talk about it. I haven’t seen any independent research about it, but would be interested.
@@CynicalDuchess They cannot, because the algorithm is not open source.
Even adults still have this dream of being youtubers so totally agree we should stop making children feel bad for having this dream too.
I'm a tiny TH-camr but I put SO much work into my channel, it's kind of like a part time job! And it make me really sad when people sneer at content creators because I really really love making videos. It combines all my strengths and it just feels right. I think there's this idea that TH-camrs just sit in front of a camera looking pretty and doing f all, when in reality making videos, designing thumbnails, editing and presenting to camera is a real craft!
Loved this! I agree with the point about what’s okay for adults but not for kids. I imagine that generation would be ecstatic to have a child that was a tv presenter or host but as soon as the show they’re hosting is of their own design and on the internet, suddenly it’s not respectable? Like what?
When working a corporate job (like I do) the established work culture suggests to look into business-minded content to help you navigate your career. What I found is that videos like this one are just as helpful - if not more. They make me think about my boundaries, the conditions under which I sell my labour. And the fact that selling my labour is a business transaction in which I have agency. Leena, you encourage me to ask for what I want at work. And while not everybody can/wants to work for themselves, this conversation is so, so important.
The thing is, making it on TH-cam often times isn't just to do with skill, but complete luck... you can make amazing videos and still get nowhere for years. As someone who's been on here for 2 years still with less than 1k subs, I have experience with this lol... not saying my videos are amazing, but I also know other tiny channels with even better videos than me, that literally do TV-level mini documentaries (Mossy Earth, Leave Curious) and also have less than 1k still. It's frustrating when stupid trends are more likely to get views than someone making niche videos about interesting topics like the natural world.
Also, I haven't even monetised my videos yet because I don't have enough of an audience, and TH-cam is still putting ads on my videos recently? WTF? So they're just making money off my videos for themselves. Yikes. Google sucks
Just an observation: the font in your thumbnails is often very small and therefore hard to read. Maybe a little adjustment of size draws more people in :)
@@tiffytattoo2450 I agree, also simpler titles would be much more appealing
I just checked out your channel and I love it! Best of luck.
@@azrowing7220 thank you!!!
@@tiffytattoo2450 fair, I guess my most recent one is quite small
I never "made it" as a youtuber but I've been Patreon-funded and live streaming on Twitch daily for four years now, through chronic pain & illness & disability & mental illness that make "real" jobs unfeasible if not impossible.
Another factor that kids possibly find appealing is just.. having friends? I feel like the "rockstar" aspect of wanting a famous career is just wanting to be popular, having friends, or just being remembered.
hearing one of my favorite creators mention OTHER favorites of mine is my kink lol. We stan Tiffany and Contrapoints.
I really like the point about reality tv vs vlogging. I've never thought about it that way before!
I love that you featured a snippet from BooksLikeWhoa!
I mean, pretty sure that even back in the day, wanting to be an astronaut didn't last long for most kids - even if you continue to be passionate about space it's not generally a viable accessible career option for most.
I love your pub rants / lectures so much. Gives me major 3am at a party vibes.
I think as well kids have a distorted sense of what jobs are available. They see people like doctors, teachers, etc in their lives, and firefighters, actors etc in media. Same with youtubers- it’s high on the list of jobs kids know about.
I'm studying to be a teacher and it isn't really acceptable to have a public online presence as a teacher in Australia, so TH-camr is not a possible side job for me but I so wish it was!
Adore 💚
My first thought was "They're telling you they want to be heard" and if they are then dismissed or laughed at for their answer... well, you can understand where that want is coming from, where the unmet need is. Great video!
Yeah I think u hit the nail on the head at the end. A lot of people just don't get what 'being a youtuber actually means and involves'. They are assuming it just means being loud and obnoxious and self absorbed and taking nice pictures of yourself doing things and using products. And it's just so much broader, diverse and yep Work than that.
After years of watching and loving your content, I finally joined the gumption club today (first and only Patreon account I’ve ever had). Something about this video pushed me to do it. I think I finally thought about it not just as a tip, but more a statement that I support your voice (and I really do care about your well being!)
Your delightful, provocative, and comforting videos bring me thought provoking joy each week. Although I watch tons of creators all of the time, your channel is the only one I watch without fail on my sub list (and it’s been that way for years). Thank you for the quality you put into your craft here, Leena. It’s recognized and respected.
Loved the point that any career can be vapid! As a full-time singer/songwriter, there’s often the same assumption.
I think most parents just want their kids to have a "steady job" nomatter what it is, and also want them to have a decent education ... so they are worried that their kids may start youtubing straight after school with minimal qualifications ... and they may fear the precarious nature of youtubing and potentially how soon with will end. On average, most TH-camrs (even after having acquired more than 100k subscribers) leave TH-cam within 10 years.
Hi Leena. I am psychology professor and teach statistics, so I can tell you: You understand statistics! Keep up the great videos!
Oh god, that line 'the fantasy of having enough' really hits home for me - it's why I'm *basically killing* myself outside my formal employment so I can be a performing/recording flautist (ie, the thing I've been training for since I was 10, that everyone said I could be until the day I finished my music degree when it was suddenly an unrealistic expectation)
Wishing you luck, rest, and grit, beloved. Lots of grit
As someone half way through my undergrad I've been having all the same anxieties about entering the workforce!
i love this video. It is just a lot of ideas that i had also, in a blurry way, put together in a very clear way and it all fits together and it's great
You’ve just made me realise why I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up… my family didn’t have a lot of money. Wow, never connected those dots…
I like this video because you are delight to watch and listen to. You turn a phrase beautifully and you put big ideas into accessible and relatable bits. I feel better about how I can show up in the shittier parts of our 3D situations these days after your videos, and not in saccharine or shallow ways. And you ask, or pass along, really great questions.
I've been thinking about this topic a lot as I apply to graduate school. Growing up, I always said "I want to be a teacher," and, truly, I *do* have a knack for teaching/training people, so it makes sense. But mainly, I think I wanted that job as a second-grader because it was the only career I had seen in action and that I could understand.
Fast-forward to it being time for college; all my high school teachers were pressuring us to tell them what we wanted to major in and what careers we wanted. I had no idea! By this time, I had come to the conclusion that I did not like children and could not teach middle/high school because I disliked the environments. So, I had to come up with something else, and that something else was the classic default of "business." So, I declared a business major and told everyone I wanted to be an event planner, because that is all I could think of in the moment.
So, I started taking business classes, and I absolutely fucking hated them. They were boring, and I am not good at math. At the same time as I was figuring this out, I was taking art classes because, in my Freshman year, I'd taken a photography class and LOVED it. However, since everyone was telling me that being a photographer was not a viable career option, I continued to try to take business classes and declared art as a minor.
By the second semester of my Sophomore year, my minor became my major, and I stopped taking business classes. I wound up getting my BFA 3 & 1/2 years ago, and now I'm applying for graduate programs because I want to get my MFA and... become a professor.
You see, throughout my life, I looked around and never saw anyone whose life I wanted. I did not dream of labor, nor did I dream of misery, which is what everyone had promoted to me my entire life. My parents complained about their jobs all the time, and yet they wanted (and want) us all to have jobs like theirs and "do what has to be done to survive." Okay, fair enough, but, rightly or wrongly or maybe neither, I don't want to just get by in life and be miserable while I barely make ends meet. When I got to college, though, I found the person whose life (or career, rather) I could truly envision myself having -- my photography professor's. She doesn't make a ton of money, but she loves her job and her students, and she and her husband still do travel, and she gets to continue to make art and exhibit it -- basically everything I want to be able to do in my own life.
Nothing is easy, of course, and most dreams are harder to achieve now than they used to be because everything costs so much now, but I know I won't be happy unless I try. 🤷🏻♀️
The point of all this is that older generations have brainwashed us into thinking that we should want their lives and should want to do whatever it takes to survive, miserable or not, and they don't like that we are rebuking all of this and making ideals of our own.
ok thoughtful comment time. you made a lot of great points but i think one of the things i'm struggling with is the reality that people at the "early career" stage of their lives are forging a lot of new paths (as you said, these jobs we're doing now didn't exist when we were younger and being asked what we "want to be"). I agree there's SO many better ways to frame it like, what kind of world do you want to live in or what kinds of skills do you want to use or develop? I wish I'd been asked those questions instead as a kid and hell, even through undergrad. They're STILL relevant, especially because now careers as people knew them (i.e. working for one company until retirement) just don't exist anymore for most people and with the ability to shift trajectory comes a lot of uncertainty. Not only because we need money to access necessities, but also because the framing about "what we do" has always sort of been predicated on "who you are." And that's doing everyone a big disservice.
Excellent video! Lots to chew on. I wish I knew more kids in my life to get their perspective. Right now I just feel out of touch mostly (or just struggling to make it through my own life and deal with my own existential anxieties haha).
This was brilliant!
A small addition of my own: I remember that when I was a kid and mentionned my latest dream career, with 100% certainty an adult would tell me "what it takes" to reach it, and it was always aimed at my current weaknesses or challenges. Be good at drawing, let go of your fear of heights etc. I always left these conversations feeling defeated, even if they were supposed to be motivational.
Maybe adults can't ruin the youtuber career because they don't know what it takes to be one? "Have a microphone and say your opinion" is something not even a teacher could ruin...
THANK YOU. This is amazing. My dad was watching Bill Maher the other day and apparently all Bill Maher talks about these days is how stupid young people are 🤦 but he was basically being the living version of those awful articles and it made me SO MAD. (And it led to a awful fight between me and my dad, too 😣)
I think young people look at the model of work our parents have based their lives around and reject it wholeheartedly. Work in one job/sector for 40 years and only enjoy life/do things you've always wanted to do in retirement, put everything into a job that will drop you immediately if needed, try to 'climb a ladder' that many can never achieve no matter how much effort they put in, work with no flexibility (office-based with long commutes, long hours, no remote/flexi-time options, 5 days a week, hard to get off for appointments etc.) Young people want flexibility because they value their personal lives. They know that work should only be a part of their lives. Unfortunately, we lived in a society where women couldn't work but now we live in a society where both people in a couple need to work crazy hard and still can't afford a house. Hopefully, things are slowly starting to change in terms of job flexibility because we need to make it easier for people to balance family life with work life.
"It's just so mad to me that you're born as a 3D person, yet there is no land that you are legally allowed to exist on without paying. Like there's no where - if you don't have any money, it's basically illegal for you not to be hovering over the earth."
...I've never phrased it to myself like that before, and that insight shook me to my core. My perspective is forever changed.
YUP. "In Defense of Housing" by Peter Marcuse + David Madden is a book that dives into the economic/political aspects of housing beautifully. There's also a TH-cam talk from the authors for anyone who's not ready to read a whole book :)
i find vloggers are probably good for kids to watch, because it gives them a glimpse into a different kind of life. one that may be a beacon out of an abusive one. i learned how to keep house and take care of myself in 2012 using youtube because i came from an abusive hoarded home.
yet another amazing leena video during which i yelled “so fucking true” many times over lol thank you sm for your content !!
I wanted to do TH-cam when I was 14. My parents said "you need to get a real job". I trained to be a teacher ended up not enjoying it. Never even went into the profession. I have regretted not doing anything TH-cam related ever since. Nowadays, my parents say "you can do anything, even TH-cam or Etsy" and I look at them like...."are you serious?!" I lost all that time and opportunity because they didn't believe in me. Now I am just going job to job, just trying to pay the bills, with all ambition in me long gone, I am lost about what I want to do in life. I am going share this video with my teaching friends for sure, this is so important.
Never put a kids dream down! I honestly think when kids get their dreams crushed by adults that is what causes so many of them later on having a crisis and trying to “find their passion”. It should be ok to imagine and dream as a kid!
I also think there is no harm in trying out being a youtuber once you are grown and see if it’s for you. By starting my own channel I have developed so many great skills from videography, script writing & video planning, video editing, doing voice overs, teaching my tutorials clearly and be much more clear and articulate in the way I communicate. I have also become way more self expressed and confident, and learnt a lot about social media marketing in the process. Let’s say that being a youtuber might not be my path long term - who cares?! I have then developed my skills in several areas which I can use in other careers if I like.
You unpacked this so well! I, too, wanted to be a TH-camr when I was a teenager.. and sometimes, the desire still pops up today. I couldn't quite articulate why until now but your words and the reasons you listed resonate a lot with me... Also - I think this blue color combined with the silver jewellery looks just STUNNING on you
as someone who was constantly told "you don't want to do that, you won't make a living/you'll start to hate it/etc" kids should just be encouraged at whatever they want to do. Now i work a job i hate, in an industry i have no interest in because it's supposed to make a decent living (which it also doesn't these days). is it supposed to be better to work a job you're not interested in to make money, than one you are interested in? i was a dumb enough child to listen to what grown ups said i should be. don't listen to 'em kids!
Amazing video! Do you maybe have one where you talk about how you became a youtuber? recent subscriber 😄
As a 90s kid the goal was "to be on TV". In any form. A little less exciting was to be in an article in the local newspaper.
TH-cam IS the Tv of the young generation. Besides Netflix etc. And it's the easiest to accomplish (easier than getting on a tv show). Even a 10 second meme can make you go viral.
Maybe it just shifted from "being on TV" to being on TH-cam 🤷♀️
I really appreciate your perspective. Thanks for the video! I think TH-camrs or vloggers have a similar position to writers or artists in previous generations: Creators, often with a free-spirit, self-employed but definitely depending on patrons or Patreon ;-) They are still part of society but somehow not taken seriously because of what they represent. Think about all the creative minds who were persecuted, belittled and financially struggled during their lives and then eventually widely admired by generations after. Today, the harsh criticism anyone in the public eye gets from commenters online specifically might very well be the main reason most people worry about their children becoming TH-camrs or vloggers and ultimately struggling with addiction and having anxiety/depression and other mental health problems because of the behavior others show online. If my family hadn't been working class I would have studied fashion design, but working in a creative job with the pressure and competition and unpaid work and the risk of being unemployed was why my parents basically just talked me out of it. So I just sew my own clothes now and seeing your video I once again wonder how much creative potential goes unused because of class and capitalism.
Thank you SO much for this video! I *do* agree that there are different types of youtuber and it depends on what content they make! Just like with celebrities, there can be youtubers who are just looking for drama or likes and can be toxic, but there's another side! There are so many excellent youtubers who could be academics but because academia has so many problems they turn to youtube to share their knowledge with the world and who can become fairly compensated in their niche where they wouldn't earn enough in "respectable" jobs.
Firstly - love this content. Love how it makes me think. My thoughts that came up this time was about, more broadly, the desire of my peers (30s) and younger to 'be their own boss' and be entrepreneurs/small business owners. It feels like a logical progression as we move to a more individualistic society. It says a lot (equally) about the kind of narrow/restrictive workplaces that are the norm, but also about desire to move away from teams, teamwork and working with people you might not get on with. Lots to think about. Thanks for a great video
VAPID: underrated word of the day
After watching your Helencore video and now this one - you got yourself a new subscriber!
I didn't notice the incorrect spelling when I clicked on the video, but I saw the thumbnail before the title, but now you pointed it out, it makes me think of the political party lol. (btw I'm Australian, where we use UK spelling, but our progressive party uses the US spelling of Labour)
I will scream about the points you made in this video into the void forever and ever amen.
I once watched a short interview-the-public type of video where people were being asked 'what is your biggest regret?'. And there was a man in his fifties or sixties who said, with such an aura of sincerely held regret, 'not having more choice of career when I was younger.' I think a broad sphere of work is a very, very good thing. More power to ambitious young people.
Very much appreciating these anti- moral panic videos!
Haha I didn't realise the pattern but you're right, unintentional series!
Love this video. The field I currently work in did not exist when I was a kid.
I love this so much. And as a 23yr old, dealing with injury, my job opportunities are very different to what they were beforehand, which is making me questions how i want to sell my labor power.
honestly you are a very caring person and ending up like you would be a good thing I always love listening to what you have to say
In the current job market the majority of jobs are hard to get and offer no security. Why wouldn't people gravitate to the hard to get, insecure jobs where at least they get to creatively express themselves and have control over their own workload? Older generations need to get a fuckin clue man
I love your arguments here. And your channel in general is great stuff, I'm obsessed!
Though as a Russian I always get a little confused when hearing people want socialism...
Most of my associations are outright awful: plan economy, poverty, inability to buy goods you need, dreadful service EVERYWHERE because there is just no alternative, etc. Yes, you get an apartment for free, but you're not really in control of when or where. And generally, you don't have much control over your life.
Sure it's totalitarism, not socialism. But I'm not sure you can have democracy and socialism at the same time.
I have to admit that I am not sure about it as well T-T was a child in the GDR and my parents hate the idea of socialism. I wonder if they are right.
And that's why we need the creativity of everyone to expand our imaginations on what is possible. Past iterations of communism/socialism will not be enough, but capitalism is killing us
Just want to say you make me chuckle so much, and I really needed a chuckle - thank you. Also, yeah, when we were young everyone wanted to be a footballer or pop star. We don't choose the safe simple answer, we go for gold as children - - which is awesome. Did we all become footballers and pop idols resulting in the end of days? no, because we can dream and not destroy society at the same time. Don't panic and let them be.
I didn't know I needed this but everything you've said is absolutely true! I wanted to be a TH-camr when I was younger because it looked so glamorous
Really appreciate your points on this. When I was young saying you wanted to be a celebrity was definitely considered vapid because it was the idea of having money or reputation that was appealing, not the work itself. Now there's such a meaningful scope in the field it's impossible to dismiss as valuable work, and these articles are just people not evolving their understanding of the landscape to include the worth people like you provide :)
I'm writing a thesis about a related topic and this video is gold! Definitely going to cite you.
Loved this video! Sad I missed the premiere but I was having a post-very-busy-week-nap 😅
Question as a Gumptioner: can I put "Boss of fantastic youtuber" on my CV? 🤔😅
SUCH a good video Leena! in nursery when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I said a rock star (?). Got a lot to unpick there on why this was my idea of success and under what reason was a 5 year old wanting to be a rockstar...this probably explains why I'm now self employed oop
When I was a kid and my dad asked me what i wanted to do with my life and I answered honestly he flat out told me I was be unrealistic. It took me 6 years after graduating high school and job hopping to realize that's BS and I can do whatever I want.
Omg Leena I love you. You help me with my life and I mean it! You have such a warm personality and you bring up issues that are incredibly relevant to my life and I'm sure so many others. You've made my day and probably a week :) Thank you from my heart and hi from Moscow
you've quickly become my favourite channel, thank you for this!
Love this. I actually want to rewatch with my kids. Thank you so much.
One other point about the comparison between the publishing industry and TH-cam is that the publishing industry is basically all in London (maybe not as much since the pandemic but probably still ?) but you could be a TH-camr and stay in the place where you have friends and family if you want to and maybe even… afford rent… this is probably true of many of the careers parents want for their children and I don’t see why that’s better to be so restricted in where you work