Why Bashing Millennials Is Wrong

Yo. Well, I have to say, reading Noel Ignatiev's work has given me a lot to think about. It's cracked my brain and helped to deprogram my whiteness. I'm not some magic racism fighter, but I have a lot of thoughts that I'll put together once I get over my cold.

In the meantime, here's someone sticking up for 20's-and-under of any color (or so I presume; she seems to know more about white Gen Y-ers than any other demographic):

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/149/do-something-in-defense-of-millennials.html

I'm in the "entitlement" generation. We think the word owes us everything and we won't work for anything (and this is somehow the product of some inscrutable generation-ness, possibly caused by all the brand new technology we have at our disposal (remember, kids, television will rot your minds!). And not, say, because middle-class white people are reaping the effects of raising middle-class white kids. Here are your toys, kid; your college education is already paid for. Just get your degree and you'll be set in a high-paying job for the rest of your life.

Me, I prefer to think of us as the "breakout" generation. I broke out of my parents' extremely oppressive religious ideals, and then my inability to perceive systemic discrimination against anyone who wasn't like me. Kids who get their college degrees are finding that they're not getting them the high-paying jobs their parents hoped for, so they're breaking out into other fields (including the working class - what's an entitled kid to do?) Many of us are breaking out of our parents' silly ideas, including heteronormativity, willful ignorance, and the value of a suit-and-tie job. They're not all good breakouts. But really, what makes the older generations afraid of us isn't our entitlement - it's our refusal to play the game they set up for us.

Of course, the lady is offering some bullshit about self-confidence, like being full of ourselves is any substitute for being awesome people. I wholeheartedly disagree with that and will criticize any unduly self-opinionated millennial with gusto... just as I will criticize any unduly self-opinionated parent who believes that all of us are full of ourselves and are going to murder society.

On second thought, I'm going to have to revoke my support of this lady. She's not doing anything to fight the stereotypes about millennials - she just argues that these stereotypes are actually good for the future, then expresses her wish to be more like us. A for effort, D for results.