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Generation Y, aka the Millennials_

Empirica

~Transcend~
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I am Generation Y and so are you if you are age 9yrs thru 30yrs_

Strauss and Howe have labeled us the Millennials, born 1983 to 2004_

A theory of Strauss & Howe from their book, Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation predicts that the Millennial Generation will become more like the "civic-minded" G.I. Generation_(parents to the Baby Boomer Generation)

Although others believe we are products of our use and familiarity with communication, media, and digital technologies, less concerned with the environment and politics than previous generations and are narcissists who believe wealth is of great importance_

What some of the so-called experts? believe and disagree about Millennials;

Several alternative names have been proposed by various people: Generation We, Global Generation, Generation Next, and the Net Generation.

Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe wrote about the Millennials in Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 in 1991. In 2000, they released an entire book devoted to them, titled Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation. According to Bruce Horovitz writing in USA Today Strauss and Howe are "widely credited with naming the Millennials". Strauss and Howe use 1982 as the Millennials' starting birth year and 2004 as the last birth year.

Jean Twenge, the author of the 2006 book Generation Me, considers Millennials along with younger Gen Xers to be part of a generation called Generation Me. This is based on personality surveys that showed increasing narcissism among Millennials compared to preceding generations when they were teens and in their twenties.[citation needed] She questions the predictions of Strauss & Howe that this generation will come out civic-minded, citing the fact that when the War on Iraq began military enlistments went down instead. Though it should be understood that for Strauss & Howe, civic-minded pertains to a strong sense of community, both global and local. Civic in this sense means cosmopolitan, in direct opposition to nationalism.[citation needed] Twenge attributes confidence and tolerance to the Millennials, as well as a sense of entitlement, narcissism and rejection of social conventions.

William A. Draves and Julie Coates, authors of Nine Shift: Work, Life and Education in the 21st Century, write that Millennials have distinctly different behaviors, values and attitudes from previous generations as a response to the technological and economic implications of the World Wide Web.

Surveys by the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future study of high school seniors (conducted continuously since 1975) and the American Freshman survey, conducted by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute of entering college students since 1966 showed the proportion of students who said being wealthy was very important to them increased from 45% for Baby Boomers (surveyed between 1966 and 1982) to 70% for Gen X and 75% for Millennials. The percentage who said it was important to keep up to date with political affairs fell, from 50% for Boomers to 39% for Gen X and 35% for Millennials.

Strauss & Howe believe that each generation has common characteristics that give it a specific character, with four basic generational archetypes, repeating in a cycle. According to their theory, they predicted Millennials will become more like the "civic-minded" G.I. generation. Strauss and Howe's research has been influential, but also has critics.

"Developing a meaningful philosophy of life" decreased the most, across generations, from 73% for Boomers to 45% for Millennials. "Becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment" dropped from 33% for Boomers to 21% for Millennials.

Fred Bonner believes that much of the commentary on the Millennial Generation may be partially accurate, but overly general and that many of the traits they describe apply primarily to "white, affluent teenagers who accomplish great things as they grow up in the suburbs, who confront anxiety when applying to super-selective colleges, and who multitask with ease as their helicopter parents hover reassuringly above them." Other socio-economic groups often do not display the same attributes commonly attributed to Generation Y. During class discussions, he has listened to black and Hispanic students describe how some or all of the so-called seven core traits did not apply to them. They often say the "special" trait, in particular, is unrecognizable. "It's not that many diverse parents don't want to treat their kids as special," he says, "but they often don't have the social and cultural capital, the time and resources, to do that."

Millennial characteristics vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions. There's a marked increase in use and familiarity with communication, media, and digital technologies. In most parts of the world its upbringing was marked by an increase in a neoliberal approach to politics and economics; the effects of this environment are disputed.
Generation Y - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I rather like Strauss & Howe's prediction that Millennials will become the next "civic-minded" generation_
 
I tend to agree, although I think it will be born of necessity, which will be the result of our declining culture and its relationship to excessive consumerism. Iow, I think we have a tough row to hoe ahead of us.
 
I read the Fourth Turning by those authors some years ago, and it was thought-provoking. They called the four stages of civilization: 1. High 2. Awakening 3. Unraveling 4. Crisis

Today I am shocked to see that what they predicted then is happening now, right before my eyes. It is not thought-provoking any longer..... it's darn right scary! :(

Excellent book!
 
I tend to agree, although I think it will be born of necessity, which will be the result of our declining culture and its relationship to excessive consumerism. Iow, I think we have a tough row to hoe ahead of us.

Agreed! Where are our true heroes? You know, the ones that will tell us the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us? The government always uses the cop-out "we don't want to panic the people." Well, a little panic now might get people moving to prepare for what is undoubtedly coming! Is it wise to ignore what is happening all over the world simultaneously, and then panic when it's too late to do anything about it? I don't think so. I have read that we should look at Greece, and other parts of Europe to see what is going to wash up on our shores soon. There are going to be millions of people who are going to be shocked and very angry that they weren't warned, IMO, and that alarms me.
 
Agreed! Where are our true heroes? You know, the ones that will tell us the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us? The government always uses the cop-out "we don't want to panic the people." Well, a little panic now might get people moving to prepare for what is undoubtedly coming! Is it wise to ignore what is happening all over the world simultaneously, and then panic when it's too late to do anything about it? I don't think so. I have read that we should look at Greece, and other parts of Europe to see what is going to wash up on our shores soon. There are going to be millions of people who are going to be shocked and very angry that they weren't warned, IMO, and that alarms me.

Frankly, I don't believe that a good portion of the populace can handle the truth. They are little more than children who are busy being occupied with electronic gadgets, and buying the latest fad in garments and shoes. It doesn't really alarm me, as I think it is a necessary result of what we have collectively become. It won't be pretty, but it will be survivable for those who can think on their feet.
 
Frankly, I don't believe that a good portion of the populace can handle the truth. They are little more than children who are busy being occupied with electronic gadgets, and buying the latest fad in garments and shoes. It doesn't really alarm me, as I think it is a necessary result of what we have collectively become. It won't be pretty, but it will be survivable for those who can think on their feet.

Lizzie, I really hope you are right. But what happens to all the "currently unaware?" Angry mobs are destructive! Look at what is currently happening in Paris...a supposedly cosmopolitan city. If this were a backwater in Asia or Africa, I could believe it, but not in France!
 
Of course they are going to paint a generation is a way that the generation wants to be true so they will adopt their book and the author will have street cred. I completely disagree though. I think this generation will see the most stark divide between the have and have nots yet seen in mainstream society that we have had yet and I do not see the civic mindedness of those who have enlisted in a time of war countering the massive self-indulgence and sense of entitlement to what other people have that they themselves have not earned. To each their own opinions though.
 
Generation "why"? :)

And if you excuse me, "generation next" is my generation. At least that's what Gloria Estefan and Pepsi were tryng to convince us 20 or so years ago. ;)
 
A generation interested in succeeding within the system rather than trying to change the system is what I gathered from these stats.

Young people are so cynical about any ideology providing answers and reigning in what they can't control that they only care about what's immediately within their control, them and theirs. It's a centrist generation, or perhaps a politically apathetic one, not interested in any level of political activism. Occupy's and Tea Party's are jokes to them, the Internet guaranteeing any movement becomes a parody of itself within weeks.

How that leads to a civic minded generation is anyone's guess.
 
Agreed! Where are our true heroes? You know, the ones that will tell us the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us? The government always uses the cop-out "we don't want to panic the people." Well, a little panic now might get people moving to prepare for what is undoubtedly coming! Is it wise to ignore what is happening all over the world simultaneously, and then panic when it's too late to do anything about it? I don't think so. I have read that we should look at Greece, and other parts of Europe to see what is going to wash up on our shores soon. There are going to be millions of people who are going to be shocked and very angry that they weren't warned, IMO, and that alarms me.
They're still out there and still doing their best to warn us of the coming disaster_

Unfortunately every time they speak they are viciously attacked by the status quo_

The people now prefer to hear the feel good party line rather than the painful truth_

I don't see this changing until after the reality of our situation reaches critical mass_

Then we will need those true heroes to step up and lead us in the rebuilding process_
 
Lizzie, I really hope you are right. But what happens to all the "currently unaware?" Angry mobs are destructive! Look at what is currently happening in Paris...a supposedly cosmopolitan city. If this were a backwater in Asia or Africa, I could believe it, but not in France!

Yes, in France. One of the primary reasons we are (so far) passive and civil, is because we aren't starving, and our livelihoods are still at an acceptable level, much of that because of government subsidization. This is why government should not be involved in the livelihood support of its citizens, except in that it pays a wage to direct employees. Our civility is shallow and only skin-deep. It's the same rationalization that many who support welfare programs give to justify the spending: it keeps the natives pacified and from rising up against their fellow man. Imo, this is a bull**** reason to pay welfare, as I don't believe that responding to coercion is a sound policy.
 
I tend to agree, although I think it will be born of necessity, which will be the result of our declining culture and its relationship to excessive consumerism. Iow, I think we have a tough row to hoe ahead of us.
This may be a little off-topic Lizzie, but I noticed your Jung signature and it reminded me of this_

"I have frequently seen people become neurotic when they content themselves with inadequate or wrong answers to the questions of life" ~ CG Jung

I always believed this observation of Jung's perfectly described the unique neuroticism associated with liberals?!
 
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