Ownership was once the cornerstone of the American Dream: a house with a white picket fence, a paid-off car in the driveway and a library filled with books you could hold and mark with notes. For Generation Z, that dream is slipping through our fingers like sand and in its place, we are left with subscriptions, rental fees and never-ending monthly payments.
We’ve entered an era where we will never truly own anything, not even the media we consume. Consider streaming services: every month, we shell out money to platforms like Netflix, Spotify, and Disney+. For what? Temporary access to a rotating catalog of content? One day, your favorite show disappears because of a licensing deal expiring and you aren’t able to download and keep it. It’s rented entertainment and nothing more. Our entire world is paywalled.
The same applies to music. In previous generations, people built collections of vinyl records, cassettes and CDs. Modernly, Spotify holds our libraries hostage and if we cancel our subscription, our access will vanish overnight. We have digital playlists with no physical albums which causes us to pay indefinitely for access to songs we will never truly own.
When we look at the housing market, we can recognize that this trend extends beyond our media. The idea of homeownership for most Gen Zers is laughable considering soaring rent prices and the cost of homes outpacing wage growth. Presently, owning a house feels as realistic as finding affordable healthcare because we are stuck in a cycle of dependence that moves from one overpriced rental to another—subjected to inflation without the benefits that our parents enjoyed.
Even cars are becoming temporary possessions. The rise of car subscription services and leases reflects a growing inability to afford outright purchases. Many of us rely on rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft, meaning we don’t own cars at all. We pay to get from Point A to Point B without ever holding a set of keys.
This mindset of subscription-based living is creeping into every corner of our lives. Want to work out? You’ll pay monthly for gym access or a Peloton membership. Want a designer wardrobe? Subscription clothing services will rent you trendy outfits for a fee. Even software isn’t ours to keep anymore. Programs like Adobe and Microsoft require ongoing subscriptions. We’re constantly paying just to function in a digital world.
Some might argue that we’re in a golden age of convenience. Why bother buying DVDs or CDs when you can stream everything on-demand? Why take on the responsibility of homeownership when you can move freely as a renter? This so-called convenience hides the harsh truth that we are becoming a generation of renters, instead of owners.
We are tethered to endless payments for access to temporary experiences and the implications of this are profound. Without ownership, there is no stability. We can’t build wealth through property or pass down collections and investments. Our assets only exist in the digital ether, managed by corporations that can revoke access at any time. It’s a precarious existence that leaves us vulnerable to economic shifts and rising costs.
In the face of this reality, what can we do? It is time to reimagine ownership in the 21st century and our solution lies in digital collectives, co-operative housing and new forms of investment that prioritize stability over endless fees. We are going to push back against the narrative that convenience is worth the sacrifice of control and security.
Change does not occur overnight and in the meantime, Gen Z will continue paying into a system that is designed to keep us consuming without ever truly possessing. This is our endless pursuit of paying, a cycle that we bear the responsibility to break.
Photo by Mackenzie Marco on Unsplash
