Serious Thoughts: Millennials to TIME: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
Recently, I read TIME's new article about the millennial generation and I have to say I was really offended. My first instinct was to write an angry rant about this article, but I realize that that doesn't really solve anything. Stein does make some valid points and, towards the end of the article, he does give millennials the credit they deserve, but, what I think he and a lot of other people fail to realize is that the millennial generation is a product of their time. 'Millenials' aren't 'millenials' because they are fundamentally different from other people, they are 'millenials' because of the greater forces that impact their lives. I mean, maybe if Thomas Edison had been born in the 80s he would have invented Facebook instead of Mark Zuckerburg. It's the nature versus nurture debate all over again and, in this case, I've got to say, it's nurture that makes the 'millenial' generation so 'millenial'.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that millennials were raised incorrectly or anything like that, it's just that they were born in the midst of a huge technological revolution. As a millennial, I can remember a time when, if you wanted to watch a movie, you had to get out a VHS tape and spend ten minutes rewinding before you could even get to the video. Now, you can watch a movie on a screen the size of a playing card with no more than a touch of the finger. There's nothing wrong with that; in fact it's really cool. All I'm trying to say is that that that would be a huge change to occur in one life time, and I'm not even 20 yet! What's more, in the future, you'll probably be able to watch a movie on the inside of your eyelids just by thinking about it. Amazing technology is being developed every day. What are we supposed to do, ignore it? For better or for worse the world is an entirely different place, in terms of technology, than it was 10 years ago and, in another 10 years it will be even more different. We 'millenials' only adjust to the changing world.
For example, Stein makes the point that the average baby has more pictures of itself than a 17th century monarch. While this generation is not the first generation to have access to the camera, it is the first generation to deal with the digital camera. For the first time in history, you can take a virtually unlimited number of pictures without film, basically for free, and have instant access to them, without having to the inconvenience of buying or developing film. The result is that it is quicker and easier to create an image than at any other time in history. It's not that past generations of people were any less narcissistic than the 'millennials', it just takes longer to make a painting than snap a picture with your iPhone. If I had to sit still for hours to have an image of myself, there would be a lot fewer pictures on my Facebook profile. But documenting our lives isn't a bad thing; having a lot of photographs doesn't make you self-centered; there's nothing wrong with taking pictures to commemorate exciting or interesting things in your life. We just have more opportunity to do it than other generations.
Returning to the claim that 'millenials' are somehow more narcissistic than any past generation, let me just remind you that most millenials are in their teens or twenties. I think that it's common sense that people tend to become less self-centered as they mature. A lot of 'millenials' simply haven't had that time yet. I think that it appears that 'millenials' are more self-centered because, in many ways, their lives are increasingly becoming public. I once read in another article that the millenial generation is one of the most "exposed" in history. I think that's a good way of looking at it. Millenials aren't sharing anything on Facebook or YouTube that previous generations wouldn't have written letters to their friends about or reflected upon in their journals. The difference is that nothing on the Internet is ever really private, no matter your security settings. But, again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. I like to see what my friends are doing with their lives, and I think they like to see what I'm doing too. Why is that a bad thing?
As I said before, we are defined by our age. Millenials are simply a product of their circumstances. The distinctive 'millenial' behavior is so jarring simply because the world is changing so quickly. The article points out that a lot of millenials still live at home. That's because a lot of them can't find work, which is because a lot of the unskilled, entry level jobs young people used to occupy either no longer exist or are done by machines or computers. Only a generation or two ago, it was possible to get a good, steady job in a factory with only a high school level education. That is no longer possible. Not only have manufacturing jobs all but disappeared, the remaining jobs require increased education and expertise. It is now nearly impossible to find a decent paying job without a college degree. Even if you have a college education, there's no guarantee you will be able to find a job. In turn, taking time for college results in massive, crushing debt and means that, while our grandparents may have entered the work force at age 18, most millenials will not enter the workforce until they're at least 22. Millennials live their lives differently than their forebears because they have to.
In a lot of ways, the odds are stacked against millennial, but, as Stein eventually suggests, we're optimistic about our futures. We have the education, the opportunities, and the technology to do things that no generation has done before. I think that this article is speaking a little soon. It's frustrating to be written off as self-obsessed and lazy just because of the year of your birth. No generation can be defined in such limited terms, especially not this one. This generation may well be one of the most diverse in history. I took TIME's 'How Millennial are You' quiz and scored only a 30%, even though I am a millennial. I think this is further evidence of the limited scope through which the millennial generation is viewed.
The time to asses this generation will come, but it has not come yet; the millennial generation has barely begun to live and, believe me, we have a lot of living to do.
Just sayin'
For example, Stein makes the point that the average baby has more pictures of itself than a 17th century monarch. While this generation is not the first generation to have access to the camera, it is the first generation to deal with the digital camera. For the first time in history, you can take a virtually unlimited number of pictures without film, basically for free, and have instant access to them, without having to the inconvenience of buying or developing film. The result is that it is quicker and easier to create an image than at any other time in history. It's not that past generations of people were any less narcissistic than the 'millennials', it just takes longer to make a painting than snap a picture with your iPhone. If I had to sit still for hours to have an image of myself, there would be a lot fewer pictures on my Facebook profile. But documenting our lives isn't a bad thing; having a lot of photographs doesn't make you self-centered; there's nothing wrong with taking pictures to commemorate exciting or interesting things in your life. We just have more opportunity to do it than other generations.
Returning to the claim that 'millenials' are somehow more narcissistic than any past generation, let me just remind you that most millenials are in their teens or twenties. I think that it's common sense that people tend to become less self-centered as they mature. A lot of 'millenials' simply haven't had that time yet. I think that it appears that 'millenials' are more self-centered because, in many ways, their lives are increasingly becoming public. I once read in another article that the millenial generation is one of the most "exposed" in history. I think that's a good way of looking at it. Millenials aren't sharing anything on Facebook or YouTube that previous generations wouldn't have written letters to their friends about or reflected upon in their journals. The difference is that nothing on the Internet is ever really private, no matter your security settings. But, again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. I like to see what my friends are doing with their lives, and I think they like to see what I'm doing too. Why is that a bad thing?
As I said before, we are defined by our age. Millenials are simply a product of their circumstances. The distinctive 'millenial' behavior is so jarring simply because the world is changing so quickly. The article points out that a lot of millenials still live at home. That's because a lot of them can't find work, which is because a lot of the unskilled, entry level jobs young people used to occupy either no longer exist or are done by machines or computers. Only a generation or two ago, it was possible to get a good, steady job in a factory with only a high school level education. That is no longer possible. Not only have manufacturing jobs all but disappeared, the remaining jobs require increased education and expertise. It is now nearly impossible to find a decent paying job without a college degree. Even if you have a college education, there's no guarantee you will be able to find a job. In turn, taking time for college results in massive, crushing debt and means that, while our grandparents may have entered the work force at age 18, most millenials will not enter the workforce until they're at least 22. Millennials live their lives differently than their forebears because they have to.
In a lot of ways, the odds are stacked against millennial, but, as Stein eventually suggests, we're optimistic about our futures. We have the education, the opportunities, and the technology to do things that no generation has done before. I think that this article is speaking a little soon. It's frustrating to be written off as self-obsessed and lazy just because of the year of your birth. No generation can be defined in such limited terms, especially not this one. This generation may well be one of the most diverse in history. I took TIME's 'How Millennial are You' quiz and scored only a 30%, even though I am a millennial. I think this is further evidence of the limited scope through which the millennial generation is viewed.
The time to asses this generation will come, but it has not come yet; the millennial generation has barely begun to live and, believe me, we have a lot of living to do.
Just sayin'
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