Descriptive Essay : Misunderstood Millennial

As generations go by, our predecessors assume we are skipping out on important aspects of life just to get a few extra minutes on our devices. In Catherine Rampell’s “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much”, it is said the older generations believe Generation Y is “coddled, disrespectful, narcissistic, and impatient” (Rampell 388). In all reality our generation is just doing what it has to in order to thrive in the world we live in, where technology is one of the largest parts of our everyday lives. If the older generations that criticize Generation Y had grown up in Generation Y they would realize the world we live in requires the use of technology. The advancement of society with technology has shaped Generation Y to be the people that they are, relying on technology; however, older generations believe Generation Y is lazy.

In the book, Generation Me: Why today's young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled and more miserable than ever before, author-researcher Jean Twenge explores the nature of the Generation Y, people who were born in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The phenomenon that Twenge sought to explore in detail was how the Generation Y became the "Entitlement Generation" or, as she eventually coined the term, the "Generation Me." From the title itself, she described the Generation Me as a group of individuals who are "confident, assertive, entitled" but "miserable." Indeed, the book's thesis highlights how the youth of Generation Me are highly individualist and primarily centers on the "self." As in the words of Twenge, ""¦GenMe doesn't just question authority we disrespect it entirely" (28). This statement ultimately sums up the GenMe's attitude and viewpoint about respecting institutions, traditions, beliefs and values that held previous generations and societies together.

The problem is that it only makes them feel better for a short while and eventually leaves them feeling empty. We are now said to be a “harried leisure class starved for time. Economic growth entails a general increase in the scarcity of time.” They say it is as simple as this: increased susceptibility to affluenza means increasing headaches from time pressure. The pace of work has seemed to increase dramatically and we are working much faster today than we were in the past. This contributes to our sense of being overworked, frenzied, harried, stressed out, and burned out by our jobs.

This generational gap was what altered the development of real learning, for it allowed Generation Me children to assume that hard work was not needed to succeed and to learn. Due to the different mindset that was developed through the gap, self-esteem was not lacking in GenMe. So, it is understandable why Boomers felt that an individual should be more important than society. They had to go through life fighting for what they believed in, causing what Tannen calls the “human spirit” to take the blow (Tannen, 419). She states, “contentious public discourse becomes a model for behavior and sets the tone for how individuals experience their relationship to others and the society we live in” (Tannen, 419). Baby Boomers did not have self-esteem so they enforced it on their children, keeping them from ever feeling that way. The cause of them feeling this way is that “the human brain is almost infinitely malleable” (Carr, 70). That malleability was used by Baby Boomer parents in order for them to set a sense of self-esteem and individualism in their children. This alteration of their children’s minds was Boomer parents’ first mistake, for it did not allow children to discover their own worth. Rather, it supplied them with false encouragement, and prevented the possibility of engaging themselves in a society where everyone works together and is confident, but not individualistic.

There are currently six living generations in the United States, each with different characteristics, beliefs, and values. The things that define each generation’s culture are derived from their history, upbringing, and the lifestyle of their time. Our generation was born between 1980 and 2000. We are called Millennials. More specifically, we grew up in the South, which typically lends itself to being more conservative and religious. These characteristics, along with our instant gratification attitude, define who we are, what we believe, and how we view other generations. For example, we might have differing views with the Silent Generation. Some Millennials may feel the Silent Generation’s social, religious, and economic conservatism is outdated.

The ethnography The Myth of the Age of Entitlement: Millennials, Austerity, and Hope by James Cairns, discusses the myth of entitlement about millennials (or Generation Y) in a political, economic and social perspective in the North American context. Cairns debunks the idea that “young people expect everything to be handed to them without having to work for it” (Cairns, 2017, p.133). There is a misconception that millennials do not work hard, are addicted to praise, have a lack of respect for authority and are more entitled than any previous generation. When in reality they have to work harder due to the loss of entitlements compared to previous working generations. For instance, when Sedef got her dream internship at CMI she was grateful to

Donatone proposes that the reason for millennials’ struggles with adulthood, like working, dealing with people or even doing laundry is caused by helicopter parenting; however, she uses Amy, a girl that comes from a family with moderate wealth, to wrongly generalize that all millennials come from similar background. It is especially inappropriate and unfair to generalize about this topic because she talks about such a big and diverse group that is millennial generation, and not everyone comes from the same background. Donatone shows that Amy comes from middle class family when she says “She finally had to dump the part-time job, was still unable to do laundry, and often stayed up until 2 a.m. to complete her homework because she didn’t know how to manage her time without her parents …” (Donatone 1).” In order for someone to be able to drop their job they need someone that can help with their financial needs and wants, therefore it is safe to assume that Amy comes from a family with moderate wealth that is able to support those needs and wants. The author’s moment when she generalizes that all millennials are like Amy and come from similar background is when she states “It’s easy to generalize an entire population by its

My mother would often say of my brother and I have it easier than when she was younger. She says that this generation is a lot lazier and more entitled than hers was. With the newest and latest devices and gadgets coming out every year, she says that the youth feels entitled to have them, but don’t want to do the work to get them. Both of my mom and dad had jobs when they were younger as well as most of their friends, making it her generation's American identity. She explained that there was not as many working laws for teenagers back then for after school jobs. With this came more responsibility, she also said that there was a lot more respect for adults as well as others in general. Things like Facebook allow youth to make rude comments on other’s posts without much thought of what they’re actually

To start, this shift towards a shared economy is giving Millennials a bad reputation. Instead of focusing on their spending habits, Huffington Post blogger, Tim Urban, targets the work ethics of the younger generations in his article, “Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy.” In fact, Urban believes that younger generations were too spoiled in their childhood, so by the time adulthood hit they were destined to be failures. In addition to

The ethnography The Myth of the Age of Entitlement: Millennials, Austerity, and Hope by James Cairns, discuss the myth of entitlement about millennials (or Generation Y) in a political, economic and social perspective in the North American context. Cairns, debunks the idea that “young people expect everything to be handed to them without having to work for it” (Cairns, 133). There is a misconception that millennials do not work hard, are lazy, are addicted to praise, have a lack of respect to authority and are more entitled than any previous generation. When in reality they have to work harder due to the loss of entitlements compared to previous working generations. For instance, when Sedef got her dream internship at CMI she was grateful to

At every turn there are talks about millennials. Whether it be a meme on the internet mocking them or a serious article addressing possible issues that involve their futures. As David Brooks argues in his article, ‘It’s Not About You’, if millennials are going to be successful in life then they have to realize that not everything is about them. Brooks’ claim effectively appeals to the audience’s emotions, yet he fails to explain the logic in his argument and build his credibility. Pointing out the many problems that millennials may face as they start life on their own, Brooks elicits many emotions from his audience.

Joel Kotkin does not eschew controversy in the title of his essay "Are the Millennials the Screwed Generation." The author postulates that the post-war generation of Baby Boomers has ruined the American dream for the current twenty-somethings, the Millennials. Boomers came of age in a golden economy, with good housing and job markets, yet Millennials have had dismal outlooks in both. Kotkin explores polarities like these in the experiences of the two generations. Millennials may not have had the advantages of Boomers, but they are the future of the country. The author uses compelling evidence to argue that Generation Y is, as he indelicately phrases it, "screwed."

Growing up, most Millennials butt heads with their parents like every generation before us. Although a vast majority of Millennials have generation X parents. Growing up as a Millennial, technology became more advanced which seems to be the root of the disliking for us from every generation before us. Our parents are “America 's neglected middle child” and we the Millennials are the future of today. We excel with technology, but struggle with our income, causing us to push back commitments other generations would have already done. Millennials want access not ownership. A growing percent of us are putting off buying houses, marriage, children, and buying cars. Being so technologically advanced we look for convenience over hard work, even in our purchases, “57% of Millennials who compare prices in stores. (AIMIA Inc. “Born this Way: US Millennial Loyalty Survey” ©2012)” Online purchases are happening more than ever, with taking in the factor of good quality and prices. “Millennials have come of age during a time of technological change, globalization and economic disruption. That’s given them a different set of behaviors and experiences than their parents (© 2016 Goldman Sachs).” As I explore the differences and similarities of our two generations I will be discussing power distance, uncertainty avoidance, in group collectivism, institutional collectivism, gender egalitarianism, assertiveness, performance orientation, future orientation, and humane orientation.

Nearly 3.7 million American babies born in 1982 were the first members of the new Generation Y, or more affectionately known as millenials (Thompson, par. 1). Many things play into whether a generation is considered to be faring ‘better’ than another one; job opportunities, the state of the environment, whether the U.S. is at peace or at war, income vs. living expenses, the general happiness of the people, and the list goes on. Millenials are part of a special generation because

Millennials, a group of people who were born in the year 1984 and after. There are millions of them and they are our future. According to Simon Sinek, millennials “are accused of being entitled and narcissistic, self interested, unfocused and lazy.” Even though Millennials lack in some aspects, he believes that parenting, technology, impatience and environment is to blame. As a millennial, I totally agree with Sinek’s point because I am affected by all the variables that he listed ever since birth. Millennials did not do anything wrong but, the way they were raised affected their attitudes.