It upsets me that I’m classified as a Millennial. It’s not the title that makes me cringe, but the stuck up, whiny, lazy, and arrogant people in my generation of which I’m associated. Of course, there are Millennials that have done fantastic things with their lives that have success I wish I could mirror. But the majority make me wish I knew Doc Brown and had a DeLorean.
My generation has seen many changes in education, technology, and entertainment that ultimately made a massive impact on the world around us. These “advancements” were supposed to be better the future leaders of the free world, but the opposite is true.
Millennials were the first to go to public school with the Common Core State Standard Initiative. Learning was now being taught with a populous mindset as opposed to the student focused methods of the past. There’s so much more I’d love to talk about on that issue, but what I really want to focus on is one of the first lessons taught in Pre-K and Kindergarten: sharing is caring. At 4 and 5 years old, we were told that sharing toys with each other showed that we were friends and cared about the other person, which is a good lesson. However, my generation has taken that harmless little rhyme and turned it into a socialist movement. More young voters supported Democratic-Socialist (which is just plain socialism) Bernie Sanders in the Presidential election. And for those who didn’t go along in their support for him, didn’t “care about other people”. Sharing is caring, right? If everyone gives away their money so we all get free stuff, we can all live happy in a socialist wonderland; give me a break.
My parents weren’t very rich when I was growing up. We had a tube TV until 5 years ago. I never had an X-Box. We had dial-up internet until I was 13, which was the same age I got my first cellphone. But it was a contract flip phone, and I didn’t get texting until I was 15. Needless to say, I was in the minority of most folks my age. New gadgets were being introduced everyday it seemed, and we had to have it right then. Having the best new thing gave us a bit of an authoritarian complex. But that’s nothing to what social media has done to corrupt my generation.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter came onto the scene in the mid-late-2000’s. Since that time, they have become social monopolies. These three social networks have become as essential as the telephone itself. It has its advantages, but it definitely has its shortcomings. These websites allow users to like or share what other users have posted, which has led to a need of approval and wanting to be popular. Millennials make every decision on wether or not others will think it’s worth a “like”. Instagram has made us self-worshipping with the introduction of the selfie. Mirror pictures at home, at the gym, or a simple close up selfie is the equivalent to a child saying, “Look what I did!”
While social networks hold a high spot on my list of things I despise about my generation, those who we consider role models is not far behind. I saw an article the other day that read “Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are ‘Goals’”. I had to do a double-take because that was the most absurd thing I had ever read. A woman whose initial claim to fame was a sex tape, and a rapper who said his greatest pain is that he would never be able to see himself perform live…those are the ones that are the standard for the perfect couple? And God forbid you ever say a cross word against Beyoncé, or Queen B, as many of her fans call her. Hollywood’s influence on the lives of Millennials is incredibly effective; it’s almost sickening.
My generation is the most arrogant, egotistical, and apathetic age group ever. We have so many tools at our disposal to better the world, yet we only cry for more stuff. We turn our noses up to the hardworking handy man, but complain when there’s “no jobs available.” We hold “likes” to almost the same standard as food and water. We make mistakes in our lives, but throw the blame on someone else. There will be great individuals to come out of the Millennial generation, but the majority will most likely be seen as a step-back in human decency in future history books.
