Gen-X vs Millennials

In My Humble Opinion
21

I’m in a couple fiction writing groups (on and offline) and the younger people are so resistant to anyone criticizing their work. If you point out something wrong with it they’ll catastrophize and be like “I’m a terrible writer, I’m so unoriginal, I better hang up my dreams and go back to the basement.” Sure, there’s exceptions (the whiniest dude I know in any of these groups is in his forties), but it’s definitely a trend I’ve noticed. Older writers tend to take criticism better. They are also far less likely to rip off the Whedonverse.

Where are all these stable relationships Gen Mers are finding? I want a piece of that.

22

Oh, yeah. My HR magazine recently had an article about Gen Y in the workplace. It described things like people’s parents showing up at the office to help them argue for a better performance appraisal. As a Gen Xer, my gut feeling on that is there aren’t enough rolleyes in the world…

23

A couple disjointed and only mildly related points:

As to grade inflation, its not simply a matter of college giving grades out easier at it is that college students are coming to college more prepared than ever before. Take me for example, I started school at a Big 10 university a couple years ago. Before I set foot on campus I earned credit for an entire years worth of study from AP and language classes in high school. I essentially took 5 college level classes my Senior year of highschool and two during my Junior year. To be honest, the classes I took my senior year of highschool were a bit more difficult than most of the classes I have taken in college.

I might be at the top end of the curve but it seems like every college bound student from my school had taken at least one or two AP classes. 20 years ago that certainly wasn’t the case. College freshman that are entering school today are much more prepared. So much so that my University is restructuring their GEC requirements becuase for many students its redundant with what they do in highschool. In essence your average student today would wipe the floor academically with an average student 20 years ago.

Gen Mers seem to be more disillusioned than Gen Xers. Gen Xers in generally think they have the world by the balls. They had the tail end of the civil rights movement and the brunt of the feminist movement. They saw injustice, did something about it and succeeded in changing it. Today? There is no such movement. The closest thing we have is the Gay rights movement but thats not really the same. Gays are ~5% of the population depending on your definition. They don’t have a unified image or front like the civil rights movement did (skin color) or the feminists did (being women).

If I were to put an adjective to Gen M I would call them the Nirvana (ok its a band not an adjective) Generation. Life sucks, love hurts, society sucks, evertything sucks. I also think there is a lot of concern about the future of the economy and what this upcoming generations place in it will be. The days of getting a good job at the local factory and everyone living a fairly comfortable life are fading quickly. Sure, certain generations have dealt with recessions and such but recessions end. Globalization is not going to end. Its going to become even bigger as the future goes on. Even professional jobs are being sent overseas.

It used to be (or at least my perception is) that you get a good degree (Engineering, Hard science, Business etc. not L.A. degrees like Art or Philosophy) and you are basically set for life with a job. Now even those jobs are being sent overseas. Almost all of your major industry corporations have set up or are setting up their R&D in India or Mexico. As communication technology increases and the infrastructure improves in those countries why are any companies going to hire me over an Indian engineer that is just as good but make 1/4 of what I would? I still think that I can get a good job here in America but I am acutely aware that I might not. Its not that I believe globalization is a bad thing nor do I think competition is bad. But we are talking about a generation here. Its impossible for a generation to compete and win against itself. There has to be losers and winners. It seems like Gen M. will have proportionally more losers than before.

I think the idea of Gen. M as being the generation that was ferried around by their sococer mom is wrong. It may be increasing but its still the domain of rich, white suburban kids. Working class kids, poor kids and even middle class kids aren’t like that. They might be involved in more organized sports that preceding generations but they are still left with plenty of time to devise their own entertainment. There are a few trends that I think will negatively affect Gen. M. One is the increasing gap between the rich and the poor. I think there will be more losers out of Gen M. and those that lose will lose hard.

Two, college prices are increasing dramatically. The cost for a year of my education (room+board) will probably have increased by 20% in the 4 years I was in college. In 15 years when the last of Gen M. is coming through college how much more will they be paying than I did? Twice as much? Three times as much? More? With the downward trend in wages for unskilled jobs thats a pretty big double edged sword.

Third, healthwise this could be the first generation that does not see an increase in life expectancy. Diabetes and obesity could do a number on this generation in terms of long-term disease and early death.

Lastly, it seems that the number of, for lack of a better word, deficient families is going to be a large factor in Gen M. What effectt that will have remains to be seen.

24

I think thats just as big of an indictment on the Gen. Xer that would go to their off-springs workplace as it is on Gen Y.

25

treis, Gen Y are primarily the children of the late Boomers, not Gen X. With Gen X marrying and starting families in general later, it is unlikely for them to have kids in the workforce yet.

You sound like a late Gen Y (or M). The early ones were **not ** bitter. They were graduating in years like '99, with the dot-com boom in full swing. Gen X was graduating in years like '92, massive layoffs. If you keep up the bitterness, you’ll be ok in my book! :slight_smile:

I actually think 9/11, and as you mention, offshoring of white-collar jobs, are going to have a major effect on Millennials. Because up until that point, they were being primed to have a great life. I get sort of a sense of being all dressed up and wondering where the party is.

26

Are you serious?!! :eek: I’ve read about that mostly at the high school and college level, but I never in my wildest imagination could picture someone’s mom showing up at my office to lobby for a better performance evaluation.

I’m afraid I would have to have the person fired and their mom escorted off the premises by security. They obviously don’t have the maturity to work in a serious business environment.

That’s totally bizarre to me. By freshman year I barely wanted my parents around, much less showing up at my office at 24 years old like I was a child.
You know, I was looking forward to a Gen-X distopian Blade Runner/Mad Max future. Now it seems more likely were headed for a future of soft 40 year old virgins like in Demolition Man.

27

I was born in '85 so I am probably one of the first M generations. Probably the best delineating point is the fall of the Berlin Wall which pretty much ended the Cold War in '89. Kids old enough to sort of know what was going on should be the beginning marker for Gen. M.

28

LOL. We never thought we were going to shake up the world. We just wanted to be left alone and not get yelled at for being slackers and bums. (Or money-grubbing sharks.)

29

I’m a 1986 baby, and that’s the exact sentiment I was looking for!

My attempt to explain was that “I feel like we’re being to told to set up camp on a beach where the tide is coming in”.

My generation really strive to be mature. I think maturity and wealth/power have got crossed in our minds. There is no greater insult for a Gen M-er than “immature”. This has positive effects (good work ethic, more health conscious), but also negative ones (less imaginative, too trusting of authority, teen pregnancies). However, it’s not enough to emulate adults – you’ve got to think like one. We can only copy for so long.

I think Anakin Skywalker might be a better comparison than Luke. By god, we want to be in the Jedi council. We think we’re doing exactly what you’re doing, but you’re not giving us the money! Why!?

Furthermore, between 9-11 paranoia, globalisation and the awakening of China and India, I don’t think anyone really knows where western society is heading. But we’re going to have to deal with it. I hate to milk the Star Wars thing, but I think things could genuinely turn to the dark side if society starts changing too drastically.

Finally, these rankings from facebook might give an insight into what my generation is up to. Since facebook is college orientated, it’s safe to say that most users will be Millenial. The rankings are simply made by counting how many people mention the item in their profile.

Top Bands

  1. DMB
  2. Coldplay
  3. Jack Johnson
  4. The Beatles
  5. Green Day

Top Movies:

  1. The Notebook
  2. Wedding Crashers
  3. Old School
  4. Anchorman
  5. Fight Club

Top TV Shows:

  1. Family Guy
  2. Grey’s Anatomy
  3. The OC
  4. Friends
  5. Simpsons

Top Books:

  1. The Da Vinci Code
  2. Harry Potter
  3. The Bible
  4. Catcher in the Rye
  5. Angels and Demons

Top Societies:

  1. Lifeguard
  2. College Republicans (College Democrats are at #8)
  3. NSCS
  4. Habitat for Humanity
  5. Babysitting
30

These are both good analogies. I like the beach analogy a bit better but I would modify it. Its not as though we are being told to set up camp on the beach rather its that the previous generations have set up camp on the beach. Now that the camp is being handed over to the next generation there are rumblings that the tide is rolling in.

31

Treis, you really sound more like one of the last Gen-X than one of the first Mel Gen. Millenials are only now starting to enter the workforce. It’s too early for them to hand anything over.

Another thing is that there aren’t really any hard cutoffs. Looking at my coworkers in the 25-45 range, the Gen-X guys at the older range are more Boomer like. Many of them have kind of a bit of an ageing hippy vibe, like they just missed the 60s. The guys at the younger end are more Mel-ish. They watch Southpark and tend to want to do everything in little groups.

32

How do I sound like one of the last Gen-Xs?

Again, I was born in 1985 and am (at least) a year and a half away from entering the full-time work force.

33

I’m curious as to which of these generations I belong to.

I think that my generation is in many ways more cynical than previous generations. I was born in 1982; I became politically aware after the Cold War ended but well before the War on Terror began. I was never indoctrinated with any “us vs. them” propaganda. I was never afraid of global thermonuclear war, and virtually everything I’ve heard an american politician or pundit say (especially since 9/11) has been a transparent attempt at manipulating voters. I was raised in a media-saturated world, and I know my way around in it: I’m not part of the MTV generation, I’m part of the generation that realizes that MTV is bullshit.

Am I part of Gen-X or Gen-M?

34

Drawing the line between generations is a fuzzy thing at best – the date I usually see for the GenX/Mil shift is 1981, but other factors can impact the generation one identifies with. 85 is, I would say, close enough to the line (wherever that is) that a person could have a lot of things in common with Gen X. One influence can be siblings – if there are older sibs, there’s a good chance that the youngest child will be more lumped in with them, because the family patterns are already established.

Back to the OP, I saw an interesting presentation about the Mils recently. It looked at learning styles. One thing that Mils are good at is learning from their mistakes – which can certainly be a good thing, but can depend on the situation. The presenter linked this to, of all things, video games. The Mils grew up with video games where the learning curve was based on being able to restart the game from a certain point to redo your work. You can keep playing the same game, and get better and better after each restart. (This is opposed to our Gen X games, where you died three times and it was GAME OVER.)

Now, in a classroom situation, this doesn’t jive with the traditional way of grading. That could be why many Gen X and Boomer instructors are AMAZED when a Mil wants to, or in fact expects to, be able to retake a test or redo an assignment in order to get a better grade. A Gen X-er probably sees this as an attempt at a scam – hey, how about you STUDY for the test and do well the FIRST TIME? But if you take it from the Mil’s point of view, it’s actually learning, not an attempt to avoid learning.

35

I was born in `77 and graduated highschool in 95, so I guess I am classified as a GenXer. In my third year of college now, and reading this thread has definately made me see what I realize was there from the get go. I figured it was a maturity/age thing, but I suppose it may not be. I also notice with me hanging around the younger crowd I tend towards picking up their qualities and losing my old ways. Interesting.

36

Funny, I’ve been thinking about this off and on for a few years now.

I’m dead in the middle of Gen-X. I’ve gotten to know my teenage neighbor kids, cousins, nephews and assorted friends kids. They are growing up doing a lot of stuff different than my teen years.

They sit in front of a computer or do very structured sports or school activities. I know a few sixteen year olds that have no interest in getting a drivers liscense. Me and my friends used to go off in the summer in the morning and come home whenever in the evening. Our parents didn’t worry about us. The parents of these kids would have a stroke at the idea of taking off on a dirtbike riding who knows where doing what with who all day long without the ever present cell phone as a tether.

On the plus side, treis made a great point. These kids are working a hell of a lot harder in school than I ever did. They are pushed to take AP classes and a million other activities like community service.

To a lot of these kids I’m the cool uncle. I’m the last of the grandchildren in my family and am closer in age to a lot of the kids than I am to the parents. We can talk and I trust they are not BSing me. What I’m amazed at is the lack of drugs and silly behaviour. Hell my friends and I smoked pot and got into petty trouble. It seemed normal. These kids are almost dull. Hey good for them, I’m not saying they should be doing drugs and getting arrested, but sneaking some beer and pushing authority isn’t a bad thing.

37

I wanna know as well, as all of the above is true for me also. I don’t really identify with either Gen-X or Gen-M. The whole grunge/slacker thing was just before my time, but I don’t get this nu metal and hippity-hop the young folks are listening to, either. The Lewinsky scandal is the defining political event of my formative years, which only went to show me that all politicians and pundits are hypocritical lying fucks. I grew up with computers, but not the internet. What generation am I?

38

Gen-X. If they’re prepared.

39

Harriet the Spry, are you referring to this article?

40

I was born in 1980, at the tail end of Gen X. People younger than me often irritate the living crap out of me - they can’t take constructive criticism, they’re shocked to death when it doesn’t work out that everybody gets a trophy, they don’t know how to work independantly. They’re hard workers, sure, but they don’t tend to be imaginative, they have to have everything explained to them, and they get so damned anxious sometimes.

I don’t like to generalize with a huge brush like that, but on the whole I feel it’s true. (I’m dating one of them. He doesn’t think he acts like that, but trust me - he does. Can we do this as a group project?)