# Is it time to stop calling the under-30 set "over-pampered, self-indulgent, spoiled brat babies"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 13, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833 "2011-11-13T21:29:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/61 "2011-11-15T01:28:14Z")
> [@Toffe](#): > > People who refuse to lower their standards to apply for menial or low-prestige jobs once reality sets in need to get their shit together, there’s no question about that. > > But I think there’s a real grievance here, IMO especially regarding #4 & 5 above. For example: My father went to university – one of my grandfather’s great aims in life – and before even sitting his exams was hired for a government job by a recruiter, without ever having sent an application for it; they even sweetened the deal by giving him a full scholarship for a one-year postgraduate study at one of the world’s top universities overseas. He had that job, which he loved, until he retired last year. My mother got a high school diploma – which was also considered unusual for the time in her family – and on graduation could essentially pick any job out of the newspapers. To them and their generation, it was natural that one went straight from university to a good job, and that’s what they expected of their children. > > So I had a conversation about this issue with a colleague the other day; I’m 27, she’s about the same. All through school, we’re told by our parents and all our teachers that we just need to get a bachelor’s degree and we can get a decent job – maybe not a dream job, but something that’ll pay all the bills if we live on a sensible budget. Then we got our BAs, but whoops, now a BA is a requirement even for menial jobs. Even with my BA from one of the world’s top 5 universities, I can’t get a “real” job. So we do our MAs, since that’s now what we need for a (1) job in our field (2) job paying more than minimum wage and/or (3) job that can lead to an actual career path. Again, this is what we’re told by family, teachers, and now recruiters and the press. Thank the maker that we’re both Europeans and our studies are free. Well, I got my first MA at age 21 and still couldn’t get a “real” job. The place I was living in had virtually no jobs at all within a 100km radius; I applied for a position as a cleaner, and the rejection letter said they had got more than 200 applications for a single position. So I managed to scrape by on part-time jobs such as driving a delivery van (wouldn’t have paid the rent in a subsidised, shared apartment even; thankfully I lived with my parents); teaching scuba diving (net loss for me); and working security in a country with laws such that the only thing security guards can do is lower the insurance premium for the contractor (actually decent money during the summer; would have been a net loss over the winter. I also got a guarantee that even though I was one of their best, most conscientious workers, there was no chance in hell I could ever get a full-time position or any chance of advancement – the firm just wasn’t creating those sorts of positions, even though the business was immensely profitable). In the meantime I worked on learning more languages and other skills, just to pass the free time. Now I’m doing a second MA, and like my colleague, doing an unpaid internship on the far side of the world, because that’s the apparent new standard for getting a job after studies. This time, thankfully, I get a small scholarship. My wife and I’s combined income is around US$2000/month; we survive. > > So in essence, everything I’ve been told about how to prepare for reality has been wrong. I’ve gladly taken any jobs that I could get, but these days European countries have youth unemployment rates above 25%. Before I moved to Brazil, I looked at all the options I could think of; trade jobs (plumbing, carpentry, etc.) simply didn’t have any apprenticeships available unless you knew somebody, and even then the waiting list was years-long. Niche jobs with special qualifications were oversaturated already. Banking, well, we saw how that worked out – recently HSBC made record profits IIRC and still laid off thousands of low-level employees. > > Now, I have a few aces up my sleeve and a handful of real prospects for a stable, if not prosperous, future. But I do believe that, despite the image of the current youth as spoiled slackers, my generation has been screwed over, compared to that of my parents. Pointing that out is fair, and rectifying it is an absolute necessity if the industrialised world is to maintain its standard of living. Furthermore, I think that the focus often directed at displaying my generation as spoiled slackers too good to take menial jobs is putting blinders on society against seeing and rectifying the genuine underlying problems. > > To be fair, the OWS movement is doing a pretty poor job at airing grievances too… That mirrors the experiences of a lot of people I know. As far as they could tell, they did everything right: worked hard enough to get decent A-levels, then went to good universities and got good degrees, and most of them worked at least part-time throughout their degrees too, so they all have qualifications _and_ work experience. There just aren’t enough jobs. And that goes for all sorts of jobs. Lots of my friends, and lots of my adult students, all in the age group this thread is about, have applied for the most basic entry-level jobs (cleaning, telesales, McD’s imitators) repeatedly and never got anywhere. The ones with good professional experience tend to wait about three-to-six months before applying for such jobs; lower-level jobs can look (really) bad on the CV and working them can leave you less time for those professional job applications, which often take several hours to write with multiple interviews during working hours, and six months is short enough to not look too bad or even to half-lie about (studying, travelling). But then they go for anything. Supermarkets, cleaning, telesales. They have tailored CVs focusing on their work experience rather than their qualifications; they have evidence of good customer service skills, often in the very sectors they’re applying to (basically applying for the retail jobs they did while at uni), but they get nowhere. Temping seems to have died a death, too. Not exactly sure why, but temping used to be a way into the employment market and some people even did it for years, but now there’s very little of it around. Oh, and as for moving out of home? Well, unless you live somewhere like Detroit - where there are no jobs anyway - house prices have got ridiculous. For someone to rent a small room in London - pretty much anywhere in London - would require a £1000 outlay for a month’s rent in advance plus a month’s rent as deposit, and that’s a lowball for shared housing. 30 years ago, people were paying that much as a downpayment on their mortgage in many houses in zones 2 and above. That’s more than a month’s salary on minimum wage or even a pound or two above it, and could many people really save over a 12th of their income when they were already living on minimum wage? ---
**Author:** ![forgottenstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/46a35a/32.png) [@forgottenstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/forgottenstar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/62 "2011-11-15T01:29:45Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > it sounds like the response to the article’s description of Gen Y as spoiled, entitled, socially inept, over-educated, physically pathetic, developmentally challenged man-babies is to complain about how it isn’t their fault, the world isn’t fair and life is difficult. > > Honestly, other than a pocket from 1996 through 2001, I remember there always being problems with the economy. And the 90s were really only awesome if you were in something computer related (which fucking sucks by the way). > > And there now seems to be this new meme that everyone goes to college and higher education is an over-priced waste of time because you’ll just graduate with no job and end up working as a bartender or a barista. The fact of the matter is that only about 30% of American adults have a college degree which is a far cry from “everyone”. People who go to college still continue to earn more, are less likely to be laid off and find jobs faster if they are. > > Is there still the concept that if you don’t go to college and get good grades in a useful major, you will end up working in a crappy McJob? You seem like bright people. Are there a lot of you on this board who graduated in the top 25% of their class from a top 50 ranked school and still can’t find jobs? > > Do people really believe that a college degree will automatically confer some sort of nebulous “awesome job” on them when they graduate? What is that “awesome job” anyway? And what “field” are people studying that they can’t find anything even tangentially related to it in the job market? > > Really I think Gen Y and Gen X just seem so much more spoiled, soft and entitled because in previous generations, people our age were overseas fighting Nazi’s and Asian people. I would just like to point out that due to the economy, this has become an employer’s market. Meaning that almost every job which I am qualified for experience wise, I will not get because I do not have a BA or Masters. The companies that are still hiring are requiring degrees of some sort now. No, I don’t think I will get an “awesome job” once I graduate. But I do expect to at least be able to get my foot in the door. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/63 "2011-11-15T02:08:02Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Of course there’s people out there in their 40’s and over trying & willing to find the same work. What is that supposed to prove in this context? . Of course that’s not the point. I don`t know how you could possibly come away thinking that. The point is that there’s thousands of people in their 40-50s who are NOT trying or willing to find the same work. So why single out young people? For every 25 year old with a poli sci degree who thinks he’s too good to work in a warehouse, there’s an unemployed 55 year old dad with 25 years experience as a professional engineer who thinks he’s too good to work in the same warehouse. And that’s if you want to be judgmental about it. I don’t, so I would say that there are lots of 25 and 55 year olds who have been looking for work for a long time and are very downtrodden that, even for work they used to consider beneath them, there’s 900 applicants for 40 positions. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/64 "2011-11-15T02:11:31Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > Of course that’s not the point. I don`t know how you could possibly come away thinking that. The point is that there’s thousands of people in their 40-50s who are NOT trying or willing to find the same work. So why single out young people? Forum Topic sez: > [@](#): > > Is it time to stop calling the under-30 set “over-pampered, self-indulgent, spoiled brat babies”? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/65 "2011-11-15T03:51:17Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I saw this on Cracked a few days ago and it really struck home for me. This is how the kids born between 1980 and 1990 were treated by their parents and it convinces me more than over that coming back home after college is here to stay and will lose its “loser” label very soon. Hopefully, it’ll even convince some of the douchiest of douchebags that “why don’t you just get a job?” is not helpful advice for a lot of people. > > [5 Ways We Ruined the Occupy Wall Street Generation](http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-we-ruined-occupy-wall-street-generation) > > Granted, #2 and #1 are pretty weak sauce, but I think Cracked has nailed it for once. seems to me a lot of kids today think music is free to copy. And by kids I mean the 30 and under crowd in question. Of course you can’t label everybody under 30 as over-pampered, self-indulgent, spoiled brat babies but it may certainly apply to some of the basement dwelling WOW addicts who get up at noon and say “job hunting is hard” before blazing a doobie for breakfast. It’s hardly a condemnation of the entire age bracket but there are certainly enough of Generation “WTF” to qualify as a demographic group worthy of the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![YoDoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e68b1a/32.png) [@YoDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoDoc)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/66 "2011-11-15T03:53:41Z")
Again, who raised these kids? There’s your culprit. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/67 "2011-11-15T03:57:56Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Of course you can’t label everybody under 30 as over-pampered, self-indulgent, spoiled brat babies but it may certainly apply to some of the basement dwelling WOW addicts who get up at noon and say “job hunting is hard” before blazing a doobie for breakfast. This may certainly be a gigantic load of nonsense, since there are lazy people and losers in any population group. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/68 "2011-11-15T08:14:46Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I know. If _nobody_ in society did anything I disapprove of, it would be a great place to live. \ But what would you do for aggravation? \ ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/69 "2011-11-15T08:17:01Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > seems to me a lot of kids today think music is free to copy. And by kids I mean the 30 and under crowd in question. > > Of course you can’t label everybody under 30 as over-pampered, self-indulgent, spoiled brat babies but it may certainly apply to some of the basement dwelling WOW addicts who get up at noon and say “job hunting is hard” before blazing a doobie for breakfast. > > It’s hardly a condemnation of the entire age bracket but there are certainly enough of Generation “WTF” to qualify as a demographic group worthy of the thread title. And people 30 years older than me thought my generation was a bunch of hippie draft dodgers who spent all day smoking our LSD. And my mother rebelliously went to the Paramount Theater to hear Benny Goodman. ---
**Author:** ![YoDoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e68b1a/32.png) [@YoDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoDoc)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/70 "2011-11-15T08:28:05Z")
Hell, I’m in the under 30 set, barely, and I already can’t stand these stupid kids that are just 10 and 15 years younger than me… ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/71 "2011-11-15T12:42:45Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Forum Topic sez: And since their moms and dads are behaving exactly the same way, I guess we had better stop. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/72 "2011-11-15T13:00:14Z")
I think it’s safe to say that each generation is more spoiled and over-pampered than the next. It’s sort of the flip side of the expectation to do better than their parent’s generation. Working a factory shift is generally easier than farming and working an office cubicle job is easier than that. Most of the complaints about not finding a job aren’t “I’m going to starve to death in some Obamatown in Central Park.” They are more along the lines of wanting to find a job they find meaningful and fullfilling. I mean let’s face it. People who grow up in a typical middle class American suburban community typically are spoiled. They are used to being part of institutions like schools and work and having those institutions take care of them in some way. Most don’t have the wherewithall to “hustle” for work as if their life depended on it because more often than not it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/73 "2011-11-15T13:30:56Z")
I think [this](http://verydemotivational.memebase.com/2011/11/10/demotivational-posters-opportunity-3/)applies to kids just as much as to many others. The idea of tying hard work and achievement together seems foreign to those with a sense of entitlement, whether it’s because mommy and daddy gave you everything or you think your seniority in the organization gives you the right to slack off. Personally, I’d hate to have to work retail or food service, but if it was the only way to pay my bills, I’d slap on a plastic smile and go at it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/74 "2011-11-15T16:41:13Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I think [this](http://verydemotivational.memebase.com/2011/11/10/demotivational-posters-opportunity-3/)applies to kids just as much as to many others. The idea of tying hard work and achievement together seems foreign to those with a sense of entitlement, whether it’s because mommy and daddy gave you everything or you think your seniority in the organization gives you the right to slack off. Personally, I’d hate to have to work retail or food service, but if it was the only way to pay my bills, I’d slap on a plastic smile and go at it. There’s that. There is also the fact that we ingrain into people since birth that “hard work” means studying hard in school so you can “succeed” by becomming another interchangable carbon blob in some large well-known corporation while “failures” are people who end up with jobs in construction or low-level services. As if being a middle manager at Proctor & Gamble or a pharma sales rep at Pfizer is the height of achievement. So it’s not surprising that any kid whose parents have enough money to send them to college looks down on working and sort of blue collar working class job. It does back to the who being spoiled thing. We’ve gone beyond the point where most people think about work as a means of survival and instead view it as an extension of their identity and a source of fullfillment. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/75 "2011-11-15T17:50:51Z")
I think a lack of practical ambition is the issue. A person needs a place to live, and a job to pay for it. My wifes family are very ambitious, and dont have the privleges many others have. Yet none of them have ever been unemployed, and frequently juggle two jobs as a hedge against layoffs. But they achieve this by working harder than their peers, and living frugally. A lot of people arent motivated enough or willing to make sacrifices. Hard work is relative, and often someones version of hard work is relatively lazy in comparison. What i’ve learned in this day and age is you need to push yourself very hard and exhaust every resource, because there are no free lunches. There are jobs out there, but the problem I see is people dont want to do them or dont know how to sell themselves. If the only job out there is picking strawberries, how many privleged white 20 year olds are gonna sign up? And of those that do, how many are gonna look like they will bounce the second something better comes along? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/76 "2011-11-15T17:51:37Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > We’ve gone beyond the point where most people think about work as a means of survival and instead view it as an extension of their identity and a source of fullfillment. You think there is something wrong with that? Would you rather work in a job where you put in the hours and split as soon as possible, or in a job where you love what you do, think about it happily at home, and are often eager to go to work? And I’m not talking about artsy-fartsy jobs here either. Most of the really good engineers I know love their work. Not everyone can do this, but it is a good goal. It distinguishes those who work from those who go to the office and thoroughly enjoy themselves while contributing. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/77 "2011-11-15T17:58:31Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > You think there is something wrong with that? I think there is when it’s so ingrained in the culture that people feel like complete failures if they have to take a job to survive because jobs in their field are scarce. It’s putting their self-worth in the hands of something they don’t really have that much control over. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/78 "2011-11-15T18:04:09Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > Yet none of them have ever been unemployed, and frequently juggle two jobs as a hedge against layoffs. But they achieve this by working harder than their peers, and living frugally. A lot of people arent motivated enough or willing to make sacrifices. Hard work is relative, and often someones version of hard work is relatively lazy in comparison. What i’ve learned in this day and age is you need to push yourself very hard and exhaust every resource, because there are no free lunches. God, that sounds like a shitty existence. I’m all for working hard, but there has to be balance. If you have to kill yourself to live, what’s the fucking point? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/79 "2011-11-15T18:21:00Z")
> [@Vihaga](#): > > I think there is when it’s so ingrained in the culture that people feel like complete failures if they have to take a job to survive because jobs in their field are scarce. > > It’s putting their self-worth in the hands of something they don’t really have that much control over. Well, I agree that there is something wrong when kids who work hard and play by the rules get screwed, and are then told it is all their fault because they are lazy bums who shouldn’t have reached so high. But I don’t agree that there is anything wrong with kids having a dream. Maybe you can adjust to a horrible job, but if my only dream of the future was spending 1/3 of my waking hours doing something I hated I’d have blown my brains out. BTW this dream can be of any kind of job. The guy who painted our house used to work in IT but then started a handyman service, and appears to love it, and is really good at it. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833/80 "2011-11-15T20:21:13Z")
This is just the circle of life. My generation is a [Hero generation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss-Howe_generational_theory#Hero). We’re supposed to “come of age as team-oriented young optimists during a Crisis.” That matches perfectly with what the Millenials are doing these days. I’ll be interested to see if the Generation 9/11 kids, the Homelanders, fit the mold of the Artists. They certainly are “grow[ing] up overprotected by adults preoccupied with the Crisis.” > [@Toffe](#): > > now a BA is a requirement even for menial jobs…Thank the maker that we’re both Europeans and our studies are free. See the connection? It’s amazing how many people think supply and demand don’t apply to things like education. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-stop-calling-the-under-30-set-over-pampered-self-indulgent-spoiled-brat-babies/602833.md?page=5)