Generational Dynamics Forum - New Site

There's a lot of talk about Boomers and Xers and who's to blame and why. That's all well and good, but as a Millennial, I'm more worried about how my generational cohorts and I will survive (or not, as the case may be).
The Millennials are supposedly the current 'Hero' archetype, and thus will face a significant portion of the Crisis. Current events seem to be making that more and more painfully clear.

Like most college students, I have to work to help pay for school and living, and will graduate in 4 years. By current standards, I'm a lucky one. With the economy in jeopardy, some of my colleagues have to hold multiple jobs alongside their schoolwork just to help make ends meet. Many of my friends have had to drop out of school because of expenses or for their health/family. For the rest of us, our tuition and fees keep rising while financial aid shrinks, and many students need at least 5 years to graduate. Almost all of us are wondering if we'll have a future. Will there be any jobs left when we graduate (or, will we still have our jobs in the future)? Will we be able to support ourselves and still pay off our dizzying school debts? What about the wars elsewhere? Will our friends and family be okay? These are just some of the concerns, and don't take into account a huge impending Clash of Civilizations.

I'm not sure if I or my generation have had a major hand in the current situation, no one's mentioned it. We are all involved, so in that case it would be a 'reap-what-you-sow' deal. Though it's hard not to feel like we've been handed this, in which case there's mixed emotions for me when considering the legacy we're getting. On one hand, there's been great leaps in civil rights for many, better diversity, and huge technological advancements. My generation is lucky to be able to take these things for granted.
Yet we're also left with a collapsing economy, wars (and impending war), and an abused environment. It's daunting and disappointing. How am I suppose to feel when my elders have committed mass fraudulence, perpetuate wasteful habits, and send us off to fight each other for them?

I've heard my generation called a lot of things, from "intelligent youth that could save the world" to "idiot progeny forming warm-and-fuzzy-land." We're either seen as amazingly bright, cooperative people, or narcissistic, lazy fools. The truth is, from where I stand, there's a truth to both. Most of us were encouraged to do everything we aspired to, always pushed to do more, and were doted on by the infamous 'helicopter parents.' For some, they never had to work a day in their lives and never learned responsibility. We have our idiots, sad but true. Yet a majority of Millennials I know and encounter not only work, but over-achieve on a regular basis. Many are involved in numerous extracurricular (or extra-work) organizations to help make some things better.
I guess the biggest issue is the lack of direction a lot of Millennials tend to fall in. The Crisis and regeneracy probably provide that in the end. It's just a shame that it takes a form that requires such suffering.

Anyway, those are more or less some things to chew on. Thoughts and ideas?

Stop generalizing. You're not supposed to put everyone born in 1 time-period into 1 group, and put another into another group, and then treat each group as one entity. You have to realise that everyone is different and just blindly saying Generation X is this and this and Generation Y is this and this will not explain a whole lot of pretty significant stuff.

Centuron wrote: > There's a lot of talk about Boomers and Xers and who's to blame
> and why. That's all well and good, but as a Millenial, I'm more
> worried about how my generational cohorts and I will survive (or
> not, as the case may be). ...

> I've heard my generation called a lot of things, from "intelligent
> youth that could save the world" to "idiot progeny forming
> warm-and-fuzzy-land."

I wrote about this at length a couple of years ago:

** Why aren't college students protesting against the Iraq war?
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi ... 601antiwar

Your generation is the next "Greatest Generation." And yes, you're
going to save the world. My thoughts will be with you.

Sincerely,

John

Stop generalizing. You're not supposed to put everyone born in 1 time-period into 1 group, and put another into another group, and then treat each group as one entity. You have to realise that everyone is different and just blindly saying Generation X is this and this and Generation Y is this and this will not explain a whole lot of pretty significant stuff.

I do realize that everyone is different, and it wasn't my intention to imply everyone is exactly the same.
That said, this is, after all, a discussion relating to generational archetypes (archetype meaning common example). I am a firm believer in the individuality of every single person, but I have learned that different rules apply when considering very large groups of people. Apart from psychological concepts like groupthink, which shows how group interaction can differ from individual, I've noticed that groups of people with a common significant experience generally relate to things distinctly from those that have a different significant experience. Boomers grew up without computers for example. Thus Boomers have generally approached technology in similar ways. Millenials grew up alongside computers, and its very obvious how that's affected how they approach technology.
When talking of generations, the scope is so large that generations do start acting like entities. It would be implied in this kind of discussion that characteristics apply to the cumulative group, not necessarily to the individual players. (This is my understanding, so correct me if I'm way off base).

I was also noting the trends among my peers as they may relate to the archetypes and/or other's views. I can only speak from what I've experienced, so by 'us' I meant the peers I've encountered directly or indirectly. I apologize if this came off as oversimplified, I'll be careful of wording in the future. The intention is offer observations and feelings and see what others make of it. I'm interested in what trends or experiences others may have.

yes, you're going to save the world. My thoughts will be with you.

I hope the world won't need saving from anyone, but thank you nonetheless. And thanks for the link.

protagonist wrote:Stop generalizing. You're not supposed to put everyone born in 1 time-period into 1 group, and put another into another group, and then treat each group as one entity. You have to realise that everyone is different and just blindly saying Generation X is this and this and Generation Y is this and this will not explain a whole lot of pretty significant stuff.

When one is speaking generally, generalizing is quite appropriate.

Matt1989 wrote:

protagonist wrote:Stop generalizing. You're not supposed to put everyone born in 1 time-period into 1 group, and put another into another group, and then treat each group as one entity. You have to realise that everyone is different and just blindly saying Generation X is this and this and Generation Y is this and this will not explain a whole lot of pretty significant stuff.

When one is speaking generally, generalizing is quite appropriate.

So you see one Boomer who's bad with computers and you say "Boomers are bad with technology, I think the cause - I KNOW that the cause for this is definitely blah blah bla" and then someone else sees another Boomer who's good with computers and he says "Boomers are good technology, I think the cause - I KNOW that the cause for this is definitely blah blah blah"

And then you and that person start a debate about Boomers. You say "Boomers are this and this because of this and this", the other guy says "Boomers are this and this because of this and this". Then he asks you where you got your idea from, and you say "from seeing this Boomer who's bad with computers", and then you ask him where he got his idea from, and he says "from seeing this Boomer who's good with computers", and then him and you realise that generalising is a bad idea.

So you see one Boomer who's bad with computers and you say "Boomers are bad with technology, I think the cause - I KNOW that the cause for this is definitely blah blah bla" and then someone else sees another Boomer who's good with computers and he says "Boomers are good technology, I think the cause - I KNOW that the cause for this is definitely blah blah blah"

No one said Boomers were good or bad at anything. No one said every person in a generation is the same.
Obviously this is way off from my original intention, which admittedly I rambled on. I shall try to restart.

The first entry has my observations regarding the situation of Millenials I encounter, as well as relations between those observations and generational archetypes (or stereotypes as the case may be).

Perhaps I should make this more succinct. This is the world Millenials are entering. The current financial crisis and international turmoil has hit at an awkward age for those between (approximately) 8 and 26, the vast majority of whom are still in school. GD predicts that things will get worse before they get better. What can Millenials expect? What/how might we act or prepare for what could be coming? If you know anyone of this age, what have you observed? What are your thoughts on archetypes? What are your thoughts in general?

These questions have probably been answered elsewhere. I just felt compelled to ask since much of what I read thus far centers around Boomers or Xers (reasonably so), and I was just curious as to what others thought in regards to the upcoming generation(s) that will end up inheriting the results of today.

they're going to finish school, get unemployed, then either work in a publics works program, in a munitions factory or get drafted. I'm basing this off the Great Depression, so this time it might be a little different.

Video on "Tragic personal stories from High School Kids about losing jobs, homes, income, parents in southern California (8:39)"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZpKd82h ... re=channel

CA is getting hit harder earlier than the rest of the country and this video of course may not represent a random cross section but I expect almost all know or will know someone in these types of situations. You can see the formation of the attitudes of the new Hero generation, there are even hints at desire for regeneracy discussing community and sacrifice ("not be self absorbed").

I born in 1982. Am I a X-er or Y-er?