According to anthropologist Jason Hickel¹, the generation that came of age after the 2008 crisis is the one that has developed the greatest doubts and deepest concerns about today's narrative, which portrays poverty as a natural phenomenon—thus legitimizing this system as the only possible one. In 2008, I was 17 years old, and I don't have clear memories of the global economic situation, the crisis, and its consequences. However, as I grew older, I realized that the world we were being told about was not the same as the one I was experiencing—something felt off.

A system that crushes minorities (racial, gender, social, etc.), a system meticulously designed to benefit the few at the expense of the many. A system that claims to address hunger and inequality but, in reality, profits from the very disparities it pretends to fight.

We are aware of this, and we want to resist. We work in the cultural sector because we believe in the transformative and revolutionary power of knowledge, which can improve our society. We have skills, a perspective on the world, and we are capable.

And yet, in Italy, it seems that the skills we have acquired are not enough for a decently paid job. We are forced to juggle project-based contracts, poorly paid internships and apprenticeships, seasonal jobs, and work that has little to do with our studies. This dynamic leads to stress, panic attacks, depression, and a general sense of inadequacy—especially because the prevailing narrative seems to be, "If you work hard, you can make all your dreams come true." A statement that applies only to a few. In the anthropological field, it is particularly evident that personal responsibility actually plays a marginal role within a complex system like neoliberal capitalism.