The New Greatest Generation Why Millennials Will Save Us All Summary

In a world where technology is portrayed as the key ingredient of the common millennial life, I sometimes wonder what would happen if we were to quit technology for one week. For most people, it would be chaos. Even though I am technically considered Generation Z, I feel as if I have fallen into the millennial trap of consuming most of my life on my pc and phone. We live in the world where we show our dream life through social media instead of showing our real unfiltered life. Don’t get me wrong, social media is fun, but what about life? Some people would argue that social media is their life. Simon Sinek is an emphatic and humorous person who teaches people things that no one else really has the guts to say. During an interview entitled “Millennials in the Workplace” with Be Inspired he addresses the millennial trap, specifically in the workplace environment. Not only does he state that millennials are having a tough time coping with the real world, he also mentions a probable reason for why this is. The parents of the millennials glorified their child with love and compassion, giving them high self-esteem and no real chance to learn. As a cause of this, “...we’re seeing an increase in suicide rates in this generation, we’re seeing an increase in accidental deaths due to drug overdoses, we’re seeing more and more kids drop out of school or take a leave of absence due to depression…” (2017) This is true even within my school. You have no idea how many kids suffer from

Millennials have been changing the “norm” of the American Dream for years now and they will continue to challenge the expectations put on them by the previous generations. Millennials are moving out later, getting married later, having children later, and buying homes later. It could be for any number of reasons like new career options for women, how hard it is to get well-paying jobs regardless of going to college or not, or how expensive taxes and homes have gotten over the years. Millennials have many reservations about owning a home probably because of the large financial responsibility it comes with and the lack of money available for them. In this essay the questions that will be talked about are the pros and cons of owning a home,

Adults of older generations have put a label on the millennials as being “entitled” to everything that we have. They believe we expect things to be handed to us and we don’t have to put the work in to get it. “The “Lost Generation,” a term thought to be coined by Gertrude Stein, was the generation that came of age during WWI, and referred to young people whose prospects in life looked dim.” Are we starting to become known as that? This generation has received more help from the previous generation than that generation had received when they were our age. Our elders did not have things handed to them, but instead they had to work hard to earn what they wanted. By experiencing that, they want to make things easier for us, their kids. They provide us with the best in order for us to not experience the same struggles they did. With that being said, the previous generation is complaining that society today is “lazy” or

From the silent generation, to the baby boomers, and now to the millennials/ Generation X, the never ending question that has always been asked and that is still being asked is, “what is wrong with the younger generation?” In Joel Stein (2013) and Emily Matcher (2012), works on millennials, both writers share their perspectives on millennials and discuss the issues that many find with the young generation. Of course the conclusions that Stein (2013) and Matcher (2012) come to are very different, but they both address the question, are millennials the horrible generation that will amount to nothing like the older generation thinks, or will millennials surprise us all and become the best generation. On one side of this discussion, Matcher (2013) holds fast to the idea that millennials are lazy, entitled, and one of the most narcissistic generations. On the other side, Stein (2013) consents that millennials might be all of those things but that many of the other generations also had all of those bad habits without any of the extraordinary things that millennials bring to the table. My own view is that all the people that were born from 1982 to 2000 are being generalized into this one big generation called millennials. Millennials do not have any worse traits then that of the generations that came before them, but these traits are simply easier to show in this day and age. In fact, I believe that millennials have one of the biggest potentials for good in our world.

Johnny Oleksinski, a millennial himself, claims that his own generation is the “lousiest generation” due to things as simple as their laughter origins and living quarters. Characteristics that often define this generation of “couch potatoes” are entitlement, dependency, nonstop complaining, and laziness. New York City, a place populated by plenty of millennials, holds a feasting ground for Oleksinski’s pessimistic feelings towards these characteristics. As he has observed millennials, Oleksinski has realized

Although millennials are often perceived as being lazy, unmotivated workers, the reality is actually quite the opposite. Luke Blanchart of Odyssey claims that the drive and work ethic of today’s youth has disappeared. However, he kind of misses the mark, misinterpreting change and development of work ethic for absence. Every new generation has been used as a scapegoat by previous generations. A quote by Socrates in 400 A.D. states, “Children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, disrespect their elders, and love talking instead of exercise” (forbes.com). The unfair blaming of younger generations for problems afflicting society is nothing new. It happened in 400 A.D. and continues to happen today. Although Blanchart makes some good observations, he is ultimately misguided. It’s not that millennials have no work ethic, but rather that they are misunderstood, having a different type of work ethic than previous generations.

Everyone has the right to enjoy being in the workforce. The millennial generation is now reaching the age that they can enter the workforce. This is causing an issue because multiple generations are clashing and the millennials entitled mindset is causing multiple problems. People do not like changes and when different things come into one’s life, they do not accept the new changes. Millennials are the change and eventually older generations will have to accept them. However, millennials are stubborn and refuse to change for the better. Millennials are unprepared for the changes needed in order to be successful in the workforce. Millennials are not prepared for the workforce due to their lack of education and their entitled mindsets; however, it is not all their fault.

In Joel Stein's “The New Greatest Generation” he develops an idea of both opposing sides of millennials talking about the positive sides and the negative sides that millennials have towards their progression in their life’s.Talking about all the generations and their characteristics putting together many facts to prove how the generations act differently upon each other, whether its growth of self-esteem or being lazy. Relating these characteristics to how these generations were raised and how they want to live the rest of their life. In addition in many ways that’s the reason why millennials have evolved into achieving their goals more than past generations. Making them more aware of what they have to focus on educational wise . Of course their narcissism attitudes might get in the way but it also helps them because their always aware of themselves and what theirs goals are and what their achieving to go for. Making it more prompt to many millennials to succeed in many ways or what they want to succeed. Even though that might get in the way but it also helps a person do better in a way. considering that many millennials have been judged in so many ways from the old generations that have come in the past because of the narcissistic attitudes they imply and for looking lazy. Yet it hasn't stop them in the sense that they have become for

The overarching assumption in today’s society seems to be that the Millennial generation is doomed or maybe even worse than that. The topic has become so paramount that now not only concerned parents are disputing over the issue, but scholars and highly esteemed authors are announcing their professional opinions in various articles. The debate on whether or not the Millennial generation is equipped to take on the real, responsibility demanding, society of today is becoming a prodigiously larger. In the articles “Hunting for Hope in Modern America”, “Preparing Students for The New Reality” and “The Beat (Up) Generation” all three authors argue that there is no hope for the Millennial generation, they are doomed due to the fact that the education system is failing and that these Generation Y’ers are feeling more and more entitled.

In the article, Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation, Joel Stein (2013) advocates that millennials can help create a better society. He gives his experience on how he went from writing about how millennials are the utmost narcissistic, entitled, and lazy generation to acknowledging that but seeing that they are working to be a greater generation. This is shown when he states, “so, yes, we have all that data about narcissism and laziness and entitlement. But a generation’s greatness isn’t determined by data; it’s

Americans today tend to believe millennials are the failed generation when compared to past generations. However, this is incorrect due to how much they are affecting the world by adapting to a new era that revolves around using technology. The world has changed drastically since generation X and The Boomer generation dominated it; now it’s not about who can work harder, but who can advance faster. This is exactly what the millennials are doing, they are advancing by finding the easiest and quickest way to complete tasks. Therefore, millennials are not the failed generation since they are technologically advanced, more outgoing, and adapting to a different way of working.

Recently, the debate about Millennials in the workplace has been on the rise due to the concern that the habits associated with Millennials will creep into the workplace and change the industry forever. In their recent works, Joel Stein (2013) of Time Magazine and John Crist (2017) of YouTube offer their opinion in this hot topic debate about Millennials and whether or not their habits benefit the workplace. The recent discussion about Millennials focuses on their habits and how they will affect the workplace while also focusing on the effect these habits hae in everyday life. Stein (2013) suggests that the habits of Millennial’s are continuation habits of previous generations that are going to bring positive changes to the workplace. On the other hand, Crist (2017) suggests that the habits of Millennials cause them to be lazy, entitled, and spoiled therefore bringing bad ideals to the workplace. My view is that the habits of Millennials will bring positive impacts to the workplace and change the workplace in a way that shapes it to not only fit the ideals of this generation, but also the ideals of the next generation.

The challenges of how the young adults in today's society differ from my own generation what very nicely putten into a sentence done by Hayden Shaw on a TED Talk. “We didn’t have the freedom, choice, or charge to do what the millennial have today” (Shaw, 2016). Which is something that was bitterly true. The baby boomer generation began in 1946, after War World 2, and ended in 1964. Living at home with your parents is a huge known stereotype for the millennial, also with quitting jobs easily and not staying motivated, but this isn’t known as an issue for the other generations. Which is the reason why freedom of choice is the biggest difference between millennial and the other generations. Going into adulthood as a baby boomer was not easy, as it is today, but we didn’t have many different paths to take. After getting out of highschool the choices were to go to college or to get a job, even at times trade schools. If you decided to do neither it would result in being homeless because most parents wouldn’t let their children live at home anymore. The early born of the baby boomer generation would already have children, and

Over the years, parents, educators, coaches, and other authority figures have tried to boost children’s self-confidence in school by rewarding them for everything they participate in from school to sports and clubs. Whether it be receiving awards to words of encouragement, today’s Millennial generation is corrupted due to the reception of constant praises from their elders. These “good jobs,” smiley face stickers, and participation certificates created little monsters which turned into the entitled and selfish millennial generation complained about today. Seventy-one percent of American adults think of eighteen to twenty-nine year-olds, Millennials, basically, as "selfish," and 65% of adults think of them as "entitled." That information is according to the latest Reason-Rupe Poll, a quarterly survey of 1,000 representative adult Americans (Nick Gillespie). The older generations who complain about the sense of entitlement and excessive amount of self-esteem do not take into account that many of them played a part in destroying the work ethic of today’s Millennial generation. These praises given to innocent children destroyed the hard-working personality traits associated with success the generations before the Millennials sought to create in their children and grandchildren.

Millennials reshaping the future for good or bad? With the passing of the torch from generation to generation, each previous generation has believed that the next generation will be the inevitable down fall civilization. Is the millennial generation going to bring about that downfall or is it just simply different? Whatever your thoughts on it are, they are here and they are not going away. Either you can be part of the solution or you can fade out. I, for one, believe that this “Millennial Dilemma” can be a positive change for the army, and America as a whole.