My Generation

[KotOD]

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but perhaps being among the first generations to grow up with both parents working and little supervision, you've had to figure more stuff out on your own.

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Hm, that's an interesting take on the flexible/adaptable idea.

[AceLuby]

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Hard to answer this question. I think it varies greatly regionally. 20 yr olds in the East Coast are very different from 20 yr olds in the Midwest and so on.

One of the things i hope from our generation is better racial harmony.

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I think you put too much emphasis on geographic location. I went to school where people are from the west coast, deep south, east coast, midwest, Canada, South America, Africa, Europe, India, East Asia... pretty much everywhere and I can say for certain that 18-25 yr olds are pretty much the same everywhere. Just because your from east coast doesn't mean you're better than anyone else, because someone from pretty much everywhere else is doing the exact same thing as you are.

In all honesty I don't think my generation is much different than the generation before us, except that we are MUCH more spoiled. Personally, I'm not, but I know soooo many people that were handed a silver platter of life, even when it meant the parents livelyhood would suffer. This includes getting a cell phone, ipod, laptop, car and many more extra's that this generation thinks is mandatory. I just got my first ipod and laptop after getting my first career like job, got a cell phone when I moved out, and bought my first car because my parents wouldn't. I'm a better person for it. This generation would think I'm crazy though.

Oh yeah, this spews bad work ethic for the generation. I feel sorry for like 99% of the children born from this generation.

[daveT]

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When a 27 year old and a 29 year old write their observations about "younger adults" as if they are geezers I risk getting very depressed at age 53 participating in this thread.



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Uh, 28, dude. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

It is odd to write perspective at my age. You also need to know that my generation was brought up in an odd age. Computer's were not popular yet. In fact, I didn't go on the internet until I was 20 years old. In HS, we were given typing classes. When I was a senior, they just started giving computer literacy classes and I continued my typing classes on a computer for the first time.

When I was 19, I was working at a restaurant with a few under-age kids. They were very promiscuous. To think someone five years younger than me already had more sex than I did, and he was ashamed that he didn't have more.

Many changes happened around the end of last century that were very extreme, and I was brought up right after "gen x" and "y," but right before the "sexually insensitive" group. I think that that tension was bad for my generation. That younger kids are more successful than us on average, etc.

[Blarg]

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You are also much more specialized. My parents had little say in what path I took in college. I started out pre med and switched majors twice after that. My nephew, a junior at Providence College, had parental supervision and input for everything from whether to take more math or humanities and even whether to play soccer or football. Even his extracurricular activities were geared to building an academic resume. I don't know if it's good or bad, but from an early age you are forced to realize that the choices you make have impact down the road.

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I think it is much more common these days that parents, including males, are expected to play a more active part in their children's lives, above and beyond food and shelter. This is great for keeping parents more centered and human, and tremendously positive in helping give kids direction and perspective in life, and making clear to them that parents are involved in their lives and actually give a damn. It shows them that parents can actually have and live values, not just talk about them or only bring them out to display when they're sure someone is looking.

One hopeful thing about that is that perhaps we will see less parents winding up in old age homes in the future. Strengthening family ties through the generations could be a very positive thing that your generation does much better than the ones before it. It will have a huge economic impact on the future of the kids, that's for sure, tending to greatly improve the prospects of the entire family.

In the 60's and 70's, many parents wanted to kill or jail their kids or send them off to a war -- pretty much any war would have been good enough -- or at least do the same to someone else's. There was real intergenerational warfare and anger, and it was a terribly stupid and selfish way to live and think. If at least we are taking better care of the family unit, even simply to the extent of being more interested in it and acknowledging each other's humanity, we'll be taking a huge step up from the past.

[Conspire]

Is it pretty much true that for the most part people my age, no matter what generation are just not going to care about politics? I can say I have never voted for anything before, a few years ago I thought that my vote doesnt matter, im just one person. I dont feel like that anymore but it has not motivated me to get more involved in my community and country.

People my age tend to make fun of people learning when they dont have to, its almost like its not cool to be educated. Why read a book, when you can be watching the latest celebrity drama or reality T.V. show? Like every generation it is the peer pressure that drives a lot of people away from bettering themselves. My generation just seems to always want to be accepted with the cool people. We follow way too many trends and we are influenced by all the wrong things.

[daveT]

Nothing uncommon about a generation looking down on an "edumacation."

Blarg, good point about the family unit. It wasn't until the 90's that "soccer mom" became a common word, vans rose in popularity, that a kid was able to be found wearing a bike helmet while riding one.

[Blarg]

In the 60's, kids were very political and it was a big point of pride, and thought pretty important and virtuous. It was an incredibly socially and intellectually active time compared to today.

[entertainme]

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I think this is in line with my "entitlement" answer. You want it fixed, but don't want to do it and you expect someone else to do it for you.

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This is something I run into in the younger generation. "It's not right" that some guy is on the street and the government should do something."

My response is; then volunteer, get involved, make peoples lives better. But no, they want <u>someone else</u> to do something.

Our advice to younger relatives with limited social contact has been to travel, find hobbies, etc. It broadens your horizons and makes you a more interesting person when you do have social contact with others.

[Blarg]

I guess most of us have heard that John Mayer song, with the refrain that he's "keeping on waiting/Waiting for the world to change."

WT holy F is that??? Talk about weak. I remember hearing him talking about how he was so proud of the song and its message, and it was like I had gone through the looking glass or something. The guy is proud that he is resolved to see that there are problems in the world and do nothing? This is an attitude to be embraced? It used to be met with a guilty snicker and rolled eyes.

It definitely seems communicative of the attitude of a generation in an unflattering way.

[KotOD]

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I guess most of us have heard that John Mayer song, with the refrain that he's "keeping on waiting/Waiting for the world to change."

WT holy F is that??? Talk about weak. I remember hearing him talking about how he was so proud of the song and its message, and it was like I had gone through the looking glass or something. The guy is proud that he is resolved to see that there are problems in the world and do nothing? This is an attitude to be embraced? It used to be met with a guilty snicker and rolled eyes.

It definitely seems communicative of the attitude of a generation in an unflattering way.

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Holy crap. I'd not heard of this song before and your post made me look it up. I read the lyrics and they make me want to change the world by strangling this person.

That does seem reflective of his generation and it's pathetic.

Compare:

Douche

Non-douche