Millennials’ defining trait was economic anxiety rather than aesthetic distinctiveness

Evidence

Rather than unique aesthetics, however, millennials’ defining trait was their collective response to economic uncertainty. Living in a world of tech IPOs, Kardashian hustle, and celebrity entrepreneurs, millennials suffered from “relative deprivation”—the nagging sense that everyone else was getting rich. For many, the solution was more capitalism—but their kind of capitalism. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 307

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the omnivore monoculture thesis — the economic driver behind flattened taste; also dovetails with the death of the sellout mechanism.