The Me, Me, Me Generation and Why I have Faith in it

Over the years, a lot has been said about my generation, the Millennials. While I won't deny some positive descriptions have been used, the most notably colloquial description of my generation is that we are the Me, Me, Me generation. Many people, our elders in particular, deem us as overly self-centered, narcissistic, lazy individuals who are selfish and riddled with entitlement. We want, want, want.

Now, I could delve deeper into this claim using research, statistics, articles, etc.  I could, but you also could look that up.  Statistics are and can be good to help aid or detract from an argument. True.  However, this blog thus far has been about deeper, more critically oriented think.  Instead of solely relying on emotion or numbers, I've tried to look at things logically speaking; breaking topics down based on thoughts and experiences.  Thus, I intend to go through with this post without looked at numbers. Instead, I want to write based on people I know or have encountered.  I want to tell you why while many people see my generation in a negative light, I can't help but hold on to hope that we are going to be alright.  Or at the very least, we have more potential than some give us credit for. I believe we have what it takes to move the world forward.

Breakdown

Before I get into why I'm hopeful.  I want to take a closer look at my generation and past generations.  Are we/have we been selfish? Certainly.  I can't honestly deny that fact.  As someone who has really tried to not be selfish, I remember being a kid and wanting certain toys or food or privileges and getting upset when they weren't afforded to me.  I deserved it!  I know people who are still selfish. I'd like to point out that every generation deals with some sort of selfishness.  I don't think we are necessarily an outlier in that aspect. The depth of our selfishness is really what makes us the Me, Me, Me generation.  But seriously, we all have dreams money can buy.  So, before I move on, please note that I understand and accept responsibility for being selfish and am not trying to justify our inherent selfish natures. BUT, and this is a big but, I think maybe we should look at the circumstances more closely because I think it's really important and does play a role.  So, now, follow me on my journey as I travel back in time:

My Grandparents' Generation:

I'm starting here because my great-grandparents came from Poland/Germany/Austria (some mixture of the three, but as my dad delves deeper into our family's history, it seems we are mainly Polish).

My grandparents and their siblings were children of folks who were relatively new to this country and didn't have the education, opportunities, or maybe even abilities to attain jobs that fully-supported their families. The resources weren't available for my grandparents to be truly selfish. They were more worried about trying to survive.  A few tidbits:

My grandma used to tell me about her favorite goat growing up (maybe a lamb but pretty certain it was a goat).  The goat was her pet and she genuinely had feelings for it.  One day after dinner was served, she asked her mother what they were eating.  It was her pet goat.  That's kind of mortifying to think about and I now farm pets face similar fates today, but the fact of the matter is the family needed to eat. Period.  My grandma had no choice or ability to be selfish in keeping the goat.

My great uncle had to drop out of school before reaching high school just to support his family.  Education wasn't on the forefront for him because he knew if he kept going to school, there wouldn't be a future for him to utilize his gained knowledge anyways.  Think about how tough that has to be for a kid.  Dropping out of school and knowing you have to work long, tedious hours for a minimal paycheck that goes straight to your family.  I don't know if my generation could handle that.

Not a real picture of mine, but interesting.

This last tidbit/story always stood out to me:  My great aunt was between the ages of 9 and 13, I believe, when she dropped out of school to help support her family.  She went to work at a factory, but was denied because she was too small.  They actually weighed her and decided she couldn't handle the workload.  What did she do? Did she mope? Nope.  She filled her socks with coins and went back to the factory.  Suddenly, she weighed enough to work there.  Now that's determination!

My grandparents' generation, based on what I know about their lives, was about surviving.  I could go deeper into things, but I think the point has already been made.  Yes, they struggled much more than we do, but it's what was required of the times. They didn't have the resources we have available today.  Their families needed them to be unselfish or they wouldn't have much of a chance to survive. They had to grow up quickly, adapt, and survive.

My Parents' Generation:

As progress was made, my parents' generation had it a little bit easier than my grandparents.  No one in my mom or dad's family had to drop out of school to support the family; however, many did still support the family.  I'm fairly certain my dad and his siblings and my mom and her brother all found some means of income while growing up.  I've heard stories of how siblings in my dad's family would help each other out when they were working. Some tidbits:

My aunt would give my dad a couple bucks to go out every once in a while.

Also interesting to note, car access was limited.  My dad's sister was the first person to drive in his family. My grandma didn't get her license until she was in her sixties.  And even then, they only had one car to share.

My grandma would get sick a lot as my mom was growing up.  Her dad would often work long hours to help support the family and presumably allow my mom and her brother to go to school and not have to endure a similar fate as he and his siblings did (that is, dropping out).  As a consequence, my mom would often have to cook and clean and take on larger responsibilities as a youth.

Another thing to realize is that college wasn't as big of a priority.  Not everyone went to college or could go to college at that point.  Again, they couldn't necessarily be selfish.  I mean they could, yes, but circumstances were different.

While these things happened, though, they did get to have childhoods as well.  My dad will often tell me stories about the adventures he had with his friends growing up. My parents were able to get better educations and better jobs. That generation was afforded new opportunities.

My generation:

I think what's really cool about looking at one generation to the next is how kids become parents and parent based on their childhoods. What I mean is, even in this small scale sample size you can see that when kids grow up and become parents they are obviously trying to give their kids a better life than they had.  It doesn't always work out that way, but I truly believe the intention is there.  I'd even venture to say that my great-grandparents leaving Poland, Germany, or Austria did so to give their kids better opportunities.

Some things to think about for my generation:
While this is not true for everyone, most kids didn't have to worry about getting jobs early.  Some got jobs babysitting, mowing lawns, etc. but parents often made enough money so that we didn't have to even consider getting a job at a young age.

On top of that, many gives enjoyed the privilege of receiving a magical, mystical word called allowance.

My generation has been privileged with great and growing technology.  We've grown up with it and it's become part of us.

Our parents didn't necessarily have a ton growing of things up and many, I'd venture, didn't want us to grow up in a similar fashion.  Maybe it's compensating; maybe is living vicariously. I don't know, but what I do know is that we've been pampered with gifts since we are little kids.

Most families have multiple cars.

Education is at the forefront.  Kids need to and are expected to go to college.  It is no longer become a delicacy, of sorts.  Instead, that's what's important.

Our parents want us to have better lives so our future kids can have better lives.  I think with the way technology, jobs, education, etc. has progressed we've become more susceptible to being selfish.

Instead of playing baseball in the street, it's playing travel to make us better.  Instead of doing chores to help the family, we started getting paid to make our beds.  Instead of trying to survive, we are trying to live luxuriously. Face the facts, the resources we have today are above and beyond what our grandparents dealt with and our parents as well.  Yes, we are a generation about me, but we were also born into it.  We didn't miraculously create it.

I have and I know others who have faced certain struggles, but I don't think anyone has had to deal with those struggles like they did in the past because of technology, resources, etc.  Our parents have tried to take that burden off of us (for the most part). Unfortunately, without that burden we can sometime think innately we must be entitled to the constant attention.  I mean, think about it, kids are getting cell phones, smart phones, before they turn ten years old.  I'll tell you this much, they surely aren't buying the phones!

So, can we be selfish? You bet. But can we please think about the circumstances?  Every generation is going to be mixed with good and questionable characters.  Please try not to pile us all into one group.  I really believe our generation can continue this trend of improvement.

My faith/hope in my generation

I tend to believe that much of this debate comes down to maturity.  Think about it (based on my examples): Our grandparents had to be mature as young children; our parents had be mature as young teens; and us? Well, we really aren't forced to be mature until either some tragedy hits or college.  It isn't the norm now to need to be mature at a young age.  We don't have that sense of responsibility, truly, until college now.  Why? I think that's the first time our independence is truly test (Yes, people get tested early and face difficulties, but I'm fighting against a generalization so I'm using a generalization). Once that maturation hits, I think people really are turning for the better.

Obviously, not everyone will mature in the same sense.  Some people will continue to leach off of their parents' funds, think selfishly, or just be poisonous viruses to the world. But I think my generation has a lot more potential than you think.

Note:  For the purpose of displaying examples, I have pulled four 'tweets' from four people I follow on twitter.  I didn't include their names, but I assure you they're all "Millennials."

I'd like you to consider these four tweets as evidence.  While we grow up thinking about me, I see more and more people my age instead thinking about we or you.  While I know of people who are taking on careers to accrue money and become affluent (which could be beneficial to giving both them and their future kin better living conditions), I see just as many if not more people looking to help others.  Yes, the country is struggling economically, but I see people looking to do more than get money.  I think we're at a point were money is nice, but people are beginning to understand they can live fulfilling lives and make enough to survive on.  

I think my grandparents' and my parents' generations laid a financial foundation for us and while it took us and takes us awhile to realize what they did, we are starting to walk through the doors they've opened and create our own paths.  I think what is particularly neat and interesting about my generation is that they are trying to make a better world.  

Again, consider the above tweets.  Finding fulfillment in teaching and coaching others, questioning what is really important in life, helping others, moving society forward.  

I know many people who have recently graduated and instead of beginning their careers have pursued opportunities to volunteer and teach and serve throughout the country.

I know people who just want to help others and show them how great life can be.

I know many people who want to be successful so they can help give their parent(s) things they could never afford because they realize the sacrifices that were made.

I know many people who want to lay down the foundation for their future children to grow up in a world that tolerates opinions and people, that loves more and hates less, that's open to dreaming big.

We have the technology, education, and drive to make a real difference.

Are we perfect? No way.  We still struggle with racism, sexism, prejudices, stubbornness, entitlement, etc. You name it, we got it.  But I think you can see a certain progression from generation to generation, and I'd argue that my generation understands this and wants to take it to the next level.  We want to and are willing to make this world a better place.  It won't be perfect but maybe we can lay the foundation down so that our future kin can take it a step further. 

At the end of the day, what I'm trying to say is don't count us out.  We may do things differently from previous generations and our methods may seem unorthodox, but I do think we are figuring things out.  For the older generations, think about when you were in our spot.  I can't believe that your parents thought you were wrong in some of your beliefs too.  Didn't that teach you anything? I hope we can learn and move forward like you did in certain respects.  I know we aren't perfect and we can be self-centered, but I also know too many good people who are destined for great things.  It may take us longer to realize our purposes and potentials, but when we do, watch out.