Surprisingly… not in a recession?

Recession core, recession indicators, recession culture. Are polka dots and blazers a recession indicator? What about loafers, I ask myself. Definitely, I tell myself. Minimalist living is sooo recession culture.

While we may not be in a recession, it damn sure feels like it. Whether you’re living in the U.K., the U.S., or Australia, the cost of a good meal seems to be getting further and further away from reach. Please, no, waiter! I beg of you to let me stay at this chic restaurant for another 30 minutes! I promise I’ll eventually order a second drink and (my third) entrée, because $50 is a ridiculous price for a main!

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, we are witnessing an exacerbation of the wealth divide. Over the past five years, a widening wealth divide has emerged in most Western countries. Much of this is because many pandemic policies were designed to protect the markets themselves, rather than individual workers. A symptom of this is the inflation of assets, which benefits only those who already have financial holdings in the market, while the rest feel that the extra cost is everywhere. While millions of people were losing their jobs, and the combined earnings of global workers fell by $3.7 trillion, the wealth of global billionaires increased by $3.9 trillion from March 18, 2020, to the end of 2020 alone. Since the start of the pandemic, the world’s 10 richest men have, in fact, doubled their wealth, according to the OECD, while many people have become worse off. In the U.S., the top 1% receive 20% of the country’s income, while the bottom half receives just 10%. And while Europe is seeing a decrease in wealth inequality, the number of people below the poverty threshold is increasing.

In fragile circumstances, everybody needs an embracing community that makes them feel seen, regardless of these depressing truths. And we’re seeing this translate into pop culture. Hyper-pop music (e.g., Brat and Lorde summer) spotlights the grunge lifestyle of working-class club culture in a gut-wrenchingly relatable sonic experience. The rise of the ancient artifact, the cord headphone,  as opposed to the ever-expensive AirPods. The normalisation of the cigarette, while the vape is now seen as out of budget. Wearing a tank top without a bra underneath because I’m suddenly realising how expensive bras are? We make choices as consumers that reflect our values and identity. These choices, undeniably, drive the production of culture and goods. For example, the resurgence of Girls, the TV show, as opposed to something like Friends, because, while a few years ago we could all see ourselves being Monica or Rachel, realistically, a post-Global Financial Crisis graduate lifestyle, as seen in ‘Girls’, is more relatable. Or even the FX show Adults, a merging of the two, except they all live together as roommates in a parent's place, because New York City rent has been even more inflated relative to the average wages.

What we are seeing, though, is that while the rich and royal get relatively wealthier, there is a certain limit to power display and wealth accumulation before a certain level of revolt. It’s really a rule of thumb, a tale as old as time. Rome has fallen! (The Germans called out) Just kidding, baby, there is no Rome (metaphorically speaking, of course)! The sentiment is that much like the French in the 1789 Revolution, the Qing Dynasty, and, of course, Rome. In an almost cyclical fashion, there cannot be such an accumulation of wealth without widespread distaste and social change driven by the public.

Today, hints of civilian discontent with oligarchic structures or wealth-divided nations emerge in the form of online hate and digital protests. The mass distribution of political resources online, including privately funded opinion-based podcasts, online chat rooms, and the mass deletion of ‘X’, as well as digital micro-movements, is evidence of a shift away from the state. Without intending to catastrophise the issue by mentioning the collapse of Rome, these events serve more as historical examples of how valuable protests and authentic, like-minded human connections are in reclaiming what were the promises our government made of equal opportunity and fair systems. The creation of a modern ‘recession culture’ can be a truly positive movement that brings people from different countries, yet in similar situations due to an intertwined global financial system, together. Instead of alienating people for choosing to consume things that might have previously been seen as ‘cheap’, we are fostering a culture of global solidarity and celebrating things beyond highly valued material objects and inflated assets.

We are recognising each other’s social and economic positions, then making them likable and even desirable. We are already coming together across borders to support others and recognise their circumstances, which is the first step toward meaningful representation and eventually disrupting systems to create more opportunities for ourselves. You can feel it erupting. To be a part of Brat and Lorde summer, to rewatch Girls and twirl my little baby cord headphones around while I delete ‘X’, feels electric.