Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Generation Jerk

I just saw the Sixty Minutes episode on my generation - the Millennial Generation. It makes us out to be a bunch of self-centered a-holes. I can't say I'm offended, since I have met people of my generation and know that some of them are in fact self-centered jerks, however I hate being grouped into some category that a bunch of people who aren't like me are in. It's like being flipped off on the freeway for not letting someone cut you off.
Anyway, here's some info on what people say
the difference between Gen X and Gen Y are in the workplace. It's interesting, less insulting and says (basically) that Gen Y has good workers, but are self centered. I suppose that I do agree with that - but the article also says that Gen Y both works well in groups and is individualistic. Not sure how that makes sense. I'd love to see something that doesn't contradict itself - but so far not so much. The closest I've gotten to a non-contradicting piece is this link to opinions from high school students on their generation. A lot of the in sites here are sad, but true. Families are farther apart, work has become more important then family. Organized religion doesn't appear as important as spirituality, though what spirituality is seems confused. Also, belief in the political system is down. There is a need for change, but no definite direction to change in.
I suppose (and this is from me) that it's because it seems as if our parents and grandparents have done everything already - people rallied for peace in the Sixties and there's still war, people fought the "war to end all wars" in WWI and WWII and there's still war. The government still lies, people still try to make a buck, even if it means the destruction of an entire planet. However, there is a sense of optimism. Maybe we can band together and make it better. The planet isn't the same as it was 40 years ago, there's technology now and maybe that can help us. Things ARE changing in this world.
I can say that personally, I feel that family is incredibly important. I count myself as having amazing parents that, while divorced, still always put aside time to do things with me and help me along in life without coddling me. I never felt they were hanging out with me because they felt it was a duty - I always felt they wanted to spend time with me.
This is a world of change. I hope that my generation can stop looking at their own wants and desires for a just a moment and look at what we can do to change the world.

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