Pass the baton
MILLENNIALS are without a doubt the default scapegoat the minute anything is out of kilter.
“Bloody Millennials” is a catchall for anyone who receives bad service, is delayed on their journey or is forced to listen to music they don’t like.
Despite their poor reputation, Millennials should not be blamed for turning out the way they did.
They have inherited a sick society, and their behaviour is simply a reaction to their world.
It’s important to note Millennials are now in their mid30s and not the young upstarts we think them to be. Those slackjawed young folk are probably the digital natives who were born with a mobile phone in their hands.
Millennials arrived in the early ’80s and hit adulthood at the turn of the 21st century. Their teen years were notable for the strong economy and absence of recession, and this boom period — coupled with overprotective, coddling parents — helped shape the kind of adults they would become: often cocky, entitled, lazy and impatient.
They’re the first real “I’m offended” and “I’m triggered” generation who discovered that if you disagreed with someone it was easy to get a law enacted to make the behaviour illegal.
There is no munching on a bag of concrete with this selfie cohort whose arrogance is often matched by its apathy.
This isn’t surprising given their teachers probably spent more time banging their heads against a wall than anything else.
Millennials also expect you to like what they like. If you don’t, then what you do like simply isn’t any good.
I experienced this recently when I posted on a Facebook community page and was inundated with abuse from people who disagreed with me.
I started to argue but then checked out their profile, realised they were typical keyboard warrior Millennials, perhaps minus the requisite number of brain cells for a well-mannered human.
You can’t argue with sheeple like that, so I just popped love hearts by their comments instead.
I don’t blame the poor sods for being the way they are. Millennials are not to blame for a lot of things.
They certainly can’t be blamed for their apathy because they have been handed a world so completely bleak and ravaged there is likely nothing they can do about it. Because the Baby Boomers, who created many of our economic, political, social and psychological problems, remain in charge.
Middle-aged white folk run this world, and the Millennials, who are much smarter, sharper and savvier than their elderly counterparts, know this and feel disempowered.
This is probably why the environment is the number one concern for Millennials, as revealed in a global Deloitte survey of 16,000 people born between 1982 and 1994, and Gen Zers (1995-2002).
The environment matters to them because, unlike the Boomers and those who came next, Millennials don’t want to hand down a ruined world to their children.
The survey also revealed a declining faith in economy and leadership. They “were disappointed with traditional institutions like government, sceptical of business’s motives, and pessimistic about economic and social progress”. No surprises there.
They have big aspirations but their life satisfaction rating is quite low. Only about 29 per cent said they were happy with their life.
They acknowledge that social media wreaks havoc with their anxiety and most likely contributes to mental health deterioration.
They face higher debt and unemployment, lower wages, and are less likely to be homeowners.
So, society needs to stop hacking on Millennials and instead look at what it can learn from them.
We might not approve of their clothes, hair, attitudes or work ethic, but who are we to judge?
We literally have no right. And we certainly are no experts. I mean, look at this place. It’s a cesspit of despair and degradation. And the Millennials know it.
Old (or out of touch) people have had an issue with youth since the dawn of time.
This time it’s the younger generations who should be looking up the stream and seeing how they can stem the tide of flotsam and jetsam that flows down and has a devastating impact on their lives.