Whenever you open up a newspaper, magazine, or the internet, there's a good chance you'll find a slick think-piece about the "flawed" and "wayward" generation that is "Millennials", written by someone who probably isn't one.
To all of the journalists who like to write about "Millennials": As sophisticated and cutting edge as you think these articles are your no different than Grandpa Simpson yelling at a cloud.
Nobody cares about your articles brah. You're just another member of the old guard who grew up in tougher times and judging young adults who haven't grown up and matured into full-grown adults yet. What you're doing has already been done before, only those articles and books weren't as accessible back then. It's a cycle that goes back to the birth of journalism of America which exploits the differences in lifestyle and habits of the old and new generations.
So what divides each generation besides age? How they are raised and how society and technology were developed around them. For every new generation, there are technological advancements where the younger generation adapts easier than the elder because the old generation is used to the old form of technology and mass communication.
According to the old generation, the radio was never was never supposed to work.
In the 1950s and 1960s, home televisions were never supposed to work
In the 90s, the internet was never supposed to work.
In the early 2010s, smartphones and social media weren't supposed to work.
In the early 1910s, the radio and film weren't supposed to work.
And In the 1700s, the newspaper printing press wasn't supposed to work!
What you're also doing is judging a generation raised on a culture that YOU created. Millennials didn't invent smartphones and social media. You did.
And for most members of the "Millenial" generation, they've just gotten started in the real world and are still trying to find their footing.
Growing and becoming successful isn't about having natural talent and gifts, but the brutal thankless grind from behind the scenes that no one sees. Mistake after mistake that would compel one to quit their goals before human nature intervenes and has them try again. The only difference between then and now is that young adults today don't have the privacy they old generation had when making those mistakes and errors.
The worst part about having no privacy when maturing and making mistakes is that an internet troll or mob mentality could take over you and discourage you to give up. As if you failed once, you could never live up to the greatest of your idols.
And then there is the stereotype of "Millennials" being labeled as narcissistic, entitled and self-absorbed, when the current generation has nowhere near the financial benefits that Baby Boomers had and have worked tirelessly just to get by. Every generation is at their most narcissistic when young, not just millennials, and then when we get old we'll get cranky about the next generation having it easy.
To further clarify my point, here's the video that inspired me to write this by "Adam Ruins Everything Star" Adam Conover. Conover makes a lecture at a University arguing that the "Millennial" society views as doesn't really exist.
