I had to read this for my English class and thought some of you might find it interesting. It is a few years old, but still relevant The Narcissistic Millennials - The New York Sun
LOL. (are there more LGBT narcissist than straight?) This is interesting.. I feel like I want to blame the baby boomer generation even though my parents weren't one...
In my opinion, we actually are morally superior to the generations that precede us, but that's just because we learned from their horrific mistakes.
These kinds of studies irk me. Because it's always happened. I'm sure you've seen that Socrates quote about how the new generation is lame. Yes, maybe our generation is more narcissistic than those born in the 1900's. But they were racist. You'll always have tradeoffs. Besides, we should really be blaming this on our "You're special and unique!" society and the newfound prevalence of the only child, which is entirely the fault of the parents. Blaming our generation for being self-absorbed is like blaming 80 year-olds for being less attractive than 20 year-olds.
As I've heard said before, the next time your parents or their peers complain about how self-centered your generation is, remind them who raised you. What irks me about this article is how it underplays how important being civic-minded really is to our generation. Sure, they might not admit it, but we're a generation that's more connected and more in tune with the world around us than ever, and we can share ideas faster than ever before. Being engaged is so natural to us that many of us don't even realize we're doing it, which I think is why the percentages in the study were as low as they were. What I'm intrigued to see is what kind of kids we'll end up raising: what deep psychological flaws we'll pass on to the next generation and in what ways they'll surpass us morally.
I'd like to note that the demographics of this study are skewed; it looks like only college students were surveyed.
well, it's true. society has made people in our generation self centered. a bitter pill to swallow but it's true.
Okay, now I actual read the article, and I think it's kind of interesting that we're getting criticized by a generation which is statistically more bigoted than ours. So I guess that when I read that one of their "narcissistic" statements was "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place," I gave a hearty laugh. Yes, if younger people had more power, the world would be a better place. Also, it's entertaining that we're being criticized for wanting to be rich despite the fact that we're also the most saddled with college debt. And I guess finally, I was unsurprised by but disappointed in the fact that there was no help offered for how we're going to become "less" narcissistic. The message is just "young people are self-centered, and that sucks." Well, okay, what now, wise sage?
Honestly I think that still remains to be seen, but the indications are good. So I'm on that cusp between generations. I didn't have many peers my age as a kid, so I tend to identify more with Generation X than with Millennial generation. One thing I have noticed is that couple of generations before mine, had what I call a fire in the belly. They had this strong internal drive to do great things. Generation X had this, but the fire started to die down about half way through the Generation. It is gone with Millennial generation. From my casual observation of the past, it is natural for it to wax and wane. It seems that what is going in the world seems to drive it. In the early part of the 20th century there were lots of big events which drove it. The invention of flight, WWI, the great depression, WWII, the rise of communism. It will be interesting to see what will happen with the latest generation. The Millennial's are pushing their kids to always be doing something, and I think the fall out of the latest economic crisis will encourage them to change things. So from where I sit it is easy to sit here and find faults of the Millennial's but they look to be pushing the next generation forward. I would argue that enabling the next generation is just as import as doing stuff now.
Sorry, here's something random: Fixed; communism was crushed in Russia when the soviets/worker councils were dissolved. Stalinism and Leninism were compleletely different beasts, but if you'd like to continue that discussion, I'd advise to do so over my wall. I don't want to derail this thread. You're also correct about the wax and wane. I mean, there was the sexual revolution of the 60s, but the 70s and 80s saw the Thatcher-Reagan counterrevolution. That particular foible was the same generation. I think that you're right that we can and should be criticized as a generation. I just felt that the author chose every single wrong reason. The real reason we should be criticized is insufficient engagement. I really and truly believe that we have higher ideals, even if not well-developed moral character, if that makes any sense. Perhaps we might not be willing to work or risk much for the future we want, but we want a good future, whereas the Baby Boomers want direct democracy, oppression of minorities, and destruction of the social safety nets, while at the same time continuing to push supply-side economics, which can't possibly work correctly because we don't have a pure capitalist economic system.
i think that's exactly the problem i've seen most highlighted re: the millenial generation - wanting a good future but not being willing to work for it. i'm on the cusp of millenial and gen x too, and identify as millenial in some ways (i'm far more technologically inclined than most gen x-ers, for instance), but not in that way. wanting something but not being willing to work for it is meaningless, in my opinion. it's not going to come to you by magic.
I think that's to be expected given what we've been through as a generation. There's a piece that I like called "Generation Y" that I think puts it well.
This looks like right off of Notalwaysright. WHERE DID YOU FIND IT? and IMHO, our generation is a bit more diverse than the old people.
I found it on Tumblr, so who knows where it's from originally. I did a Google search for lines from it, but all the results are Tumblr blogs that have reblogged it. Here's the blog that posted it first. I sense a runner in the garden., Generation Y.
