Reference: For this article, the term, "Millennials" is personally defined as, children born in between the years 1993 and 2002, placing "millennials" anywhere from high school to 23 years old.
Look hard enough on any social media site, and you are sure to come across several posts and videos about "What's Wrong With Our Generation," whether it be asking why or someone's opinion as to what that cause really is. While I was on Facebook the other day, I ran across one of these videos and decided to give a listen on another possibility as to what is screwing up this generation. That's when I thought,
Millennials are a generation of complainers.
For everyone who has made the next viral hit post pinning the reason why our generation "sucks" should really look into the mirror. Hell, maybe I should, too. As contradictory as it is, the reason we are looked down on by other generations (and even our own) is because of hypocritical posts and videos that are meant to acknowledge the generational problem.
We're lazy.
We make idols of moral-less people.
We listen to obscene music.
We care more about social media relations than personal ones.
I really thought I had it down, just like everyone else who has ever made a video or post dedicated to this topic. But then, a secondary thought hit me,
Are we really the "out generation?"
Well, sure we are.
But are we really the only out generation? With a brief look at history, one can see that we are nothing new. In fact, we are the prototypical new generation. The 20's brought a generation of "rebellious" people who bypass prohibition laws and began wearing new, scandalous clothing such as dresses that only ran down to the ankle. The 50's brought the rebel greasers who listened to the lawless strings of rock n roll. The 60's and 70's generations brought on rebels in the hippie movement. The 80's had their new music that the older generations hated and now here we are.
A generation of rebels who don't really work for their share and listen to new and obscene music.
The difference between us and them is merely held in the media. If Facebook and Twitter existed in previous decades, the same message would be spread around like the flu.
So, between us being a bunch of complainers and thinking we are special and unique comes from the classic teenage mentality of our parents can't possibly understand what it's like to be a kid in this day and age. And we're right– they don't. Just like their parents and their parents before them.
The reason our generation "sucks" is because we are all still young and new. Expectations are being thrown on younger and younger and what we expect of ourselves is that everyone is supposed to know what they want to do with their lives at age 18. We envision ourselves at age 20 with a stable career, no student debt, and happily married. This may have been a possibility and even a social norm of our grandparents, but not us.
These are different times, and we need to figure that out. Nobody knows how to live in these times and no one is an expert. But, that's for us to figure out ourselves. So, in reality, we are just as hard working as any other generation. We may not be off to War like the "Best Generation" of the 40's or making an honest living young like other past generations.
We live by the means of working smarter, not harder.
So, what really is wrong with generation is that we are too eager to not be screw-ups. We look up to the generations above and expect us to be there already, but that just is not realistic. The truth is, they were in our shoes once. It was a different world filled with different challenges.
We will figure the world out, and everything will be alright. And, in a few short years, we will be looking down at our own children, complaining about their culture and music.
Times change, and so must we. We will adapt and, as years go on, we will become less and less of the generation we once were that was ready to screw everything up. We will all be fine and we will contribute to the world.
When it's up to us, we will rise to the occasion.
