this post was submitted on 29 May 2025
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Instead of even trying to chase jobs that seem out of reach, Gen Z is embracing living like a rat—not showering or leaving the house for days at a time.

The millennial era of “work hard, play harder” and “girl bossing” has given way to a new trend. In China, at least, Gen Zers are proudly calling themselves “rat people”—they’re spending entire days procrastinating in bed, scrolling on their phones, snoozing and ordering take out.

I think it has something to do with "giving up" on the economy: if you have very low chances of landing a job anyways, why even try?

The article does not directly tell us how many people participate in this movement consciously. It does hint, however:

Today, over 4 million American Gen Zers remain jobless. In China, the government has said that as of February, 1 in 6 young people are unemployed.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 week ago (2 children)

If only all the rats of the world combined into an unruly rat king... Then things would change.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

I always find these articles being so popular in western social media weird and subtly braggy. It's like the Lyndon Johnson quote about about making white feel better than black people so you can rob them of whatever. Such a distraction that makes people feel like we're better than them/at least we're not them. Yet pretty much every trend I've seen about Chinese ennui was at the time true of Americans and western Europeans just articles being written about the ennui would not be mainstream for a couple more years. Like minimalism during the financial crisis or recently quiet-quitting in the US were celebrated in US social media as great workers movements that are positive social movements and a sign of cultural strength while lying flat in China in US social media is a sign of societal decline. Whatever either is, it's the same shit. It's always weird exoticism to me. You don't get popular articles about youth expectations about young people in Romania or Greece

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[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Careful, I hear ml and hexbear users gearing up anticapitalist rhetoric to one up you with. I see the fedoras and neckbeards in the distance

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

bitch I'm disabled

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago

It would be so very Warhammer 40k if sheer capitalism warped humanity into the Skaven.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago

They quit rat race

[–] [email protected] 49 points 1 week ago (4 children)

That’s just called depression. I’ve been experiencing that for years

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago

A sudden seemingly coordinated wave of "China is horrible" stories, just as the courts start striking down Trump's 145% tariffs.

Crazy coincidental.

[–] [email protected] 132 points 1 week ago (5 children)

The millennial era of “work hard, play harder”

I hate to be that guy that calls everything Orwellian, but this is NOT how Fortune was describing Millenials 15 years ago

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Man I remember when I was allowed to work hard, now robots get all the jobs and I'm stuck. It's really weird.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago

Maybe Chinese millennials are more hard working ~~cooler~~ than us American ones?

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 week ago

Yeah wtf is that? I’m a fucking burnout who is so lazy my hair is just a matted mess and has been for like a month

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Most of us spend entire nights in bed, we should not judge

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago

Fuck ya. Go rat people go!

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago

I would too if I didn't have to work full time for affordable health care pouts

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

Wow! I'm totally a rat person! I do work but I hate doing anything else.

[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Aren't rats notable for their hygiene and social skills? Seems like a poor comparison.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 week ago (9 children)

Chinese culture has almost satirical levels of disrespect and misunderstanding of animals so it's very much on character.

I used to have 3 rescue rats and they are incredibly clean, active and social animals. I'd used to take them outside and observe how they explore new areas and its was really incredible how coordinated and thought out their exploration plans would be and executed with utter most curiosity. Also very cute how they'd come back to me and ask to be taken home to their cage by basically hugging my foot.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Rats are the best. Little pocket puppies

/r/rats is the reason I'm still on Reddit

The pet rats community here is far too quiet

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I mean if I lived in China I'd give up too, or worse. Seems very sad to be there

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago (5 children)

how can you afford staying in bed scrolling on phone and ordering takeouts? rent, electric, phone, gas bills? is it because their boomer parents have one child and pay everything for them even when they grow up?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

They are rats man. They find a way to survive just like....... well.... rats

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My guy, gen Z's parents are gen X and millennials, not boomers

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

Right on the cusp myself but my parents are boomers and I'm not the only person my age that's true of

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago

Bingo. Gen Z is still a young adult by definition so the parent's hope is they might land a job somehow. China is a fast moving economy and it's ultra competitive, some people would be inevitably left out.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

wondering this as well

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

Congrats to the Wikipedia contributor who managed to get “shitposter” into a sentence without it being removed

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

thanks for that :D

[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 week ago

I can get behind this. Overthrow your country's oppressive working conditions by simply refusing to engage and proudly calling yourself a rat. Everyone in capitalist hellscapes should do that.

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