The Millennial Urge to Crack Jokes as the World Burns

The stock market had barely groaned its first warnings of a potential recession when my phone buzzed. It was my closest friend from college, sharing a TikTok — the 2025 equivalent of sending a sympathy card or a "thinking of you."

"Millennials bringing out the Recession Pop Playlist after seeing the stock market crash," the video read, as a creator danced to the 2009 hit "Down" by Jay Sean. The next day, she sent me another TikTok — this one a meme of Amy Poehler, dressed in a hoodie and sunglasses, throwing up the peace sign as "Gangsta's Paradise" played in the background. The on-screen text joked that millennials were about to live through our fourth "once in a lifetime" recession.

It was a classically millennial response to these unprecedented times we've been living in — for nearly 20 years. And listen, I get it: My first instinct was to post a screenshot of the S&P 500 dropping six percent to my Instagram Story with an acoustic cover of "There She Goes" playing over it. When it was reported that JP Morgan Chase had raised its probability of a global recession to 60 percent, my husband and I turned up some music and danced it out in our living room.

This specific phenomenon seems to be a coping mechanism our generation has developed as a result of our collective trauma. Why face the threat of another recession head-on when you can disassociate from it — or even make light of it?

Of course, as someone who entered the workforce during the Great Recession — and had to scrape by as a temp for 10 months before landing a job with benefits — I know how this plays out, and it's decidedly not funny.

Worst case scenario, the market crashes and companies respond the way they did when I was fresh out of college: by conducting mass layoffs and implementing hiring freezes. Those who are laid off will join federal employees in flooding an already challenging job market. Job postings that were getting hundreds of applications suddenly get thousands.

At the same time, the American people will learn too late that it can take years, not weeks or months, to build manufacturing plants and processes on American soil, and that some raw materials simply can't be sourced in the US, impacting even companies whose products are "American made." As a result, President Trump's tariffs will create an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, as companies that import goods or materials pass those costs on to the consumer. Some small businesses simply won't survive it.

For those lucky enough to be employed, wages will stagnate. Young people will move back in with their parents, only to be mocked by older generations whose reckless voting and leadership created an environment where they can't afford to live on their own.

It's a dark picture, right? I take no pleasure in writing out the thoughts that were swirling in my head as my husband and I danced carefree in our living room, as if the world wasn't actually about to collapse around us again.

I wish there was some sage advice I could give younger generations who may be experiencing this for the first time. If I'm being honest, there isn't — but I can tell you that, in the midst of this mess, you'll find a sense of community among those in your generation that you didn't expect. The kind that will keep you going when you've hit rock bottom. That will always hold the same grudges that you do. And that will laugh with you about it 20 years from now, even when you know you shouldn't.