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November 10, 2002
Gen-Whycare
I've observed (in previous blogs), that my generation has come to disagree with out parents notion of getting a job, whether you like it or not, and working hard now so that you can do what you want later in life. We've come to this conclusion for a number of pragmatic reasons. Firstly, jobs just aren't secure anymore. You can be laid off at any time for any reason. Secondly, life is short and tomorrow may never come, so a balance is needed between work to survive and having fun. These are thoughts I've had for a long time, but I made a new observation today about the new generation of youth.This is just a theory mind you, I haven't flushed it out. It appears to me that today's youth share my generations feeling that there's no reason to devote your whole life to an unfulfilling job. Both our generations are willing to take lower paying jobs that we enjoy than a higher paying job which is unfullfilling. The difference is that it appears as though the new young generation, after having decided that devoting oneself to unfulfilling work is not an option they have to take, didn't then go on to FIND something fullfulling. Instead, they seem to be content in apathy. They began with the right premise, but did not come to the right conclusion. Now I'm being presumptuous in saying that obviously, but what I mean is. Once you realize that making money isn't the end game, you should then try and figure out what DOES fulfill you and/or contributes to society in general and apply oneself to it. Instead Gen Y appears to have decided that doing as little as possible is in fact the ultimate goal. The question is why are they so apathetic.
It could be many things, but I think the root of it is cynicism, and they have every right to be cynical. They are mostly fed lies by the media, the news, their schools. The difference is that they KNOW they are being lied too. Maybe its because of the Internet and the information it makes available. Because of the Internet, The Truth really is out there. Maybe its because the lies have just kept getting more and more unbelievable. Who really trusts the media anymore? Each generation has some defining beliefs that drive it, but they often change as the generation ages. It will be interesting to see if this new generation changes.
Some have argued that the trend towards apathy is not a new one and furthermore is continuous. A story I heard recently backs up that theory. Sun City is a retirement community in AZ. Only people over 65 live there and run the city. Most of the city is run by volunteers, such as the fire department, police department, etc... In the past the majority of the people in SC were from the depression era. SC never had a difficult time finding volunteers. People would just call in and say volunteer for any position that was open, any time during the week. Well, that generation of retirees are slowly being replaced by retired baby boomers. As the number of baby boomers have increased, the number of volunteers have decreased, and the ones that do volunteer are much more demanding. They will only do the things they want, when they want. SC officials have had to start calling and searching desperately for volunteers, where in the past, they would just wait for volunteers to call. People have said that Gen X is even more apathetic than the baby boomers. It appears to me that Gen Y is more apathetic than Gen X. The only positive possible prediction I can give is that we are nearing the end of a downward slope, where at the bottom of the curve, the apathy will backfire, forcing people to realize that the only way we'll survive is by working together.
Posted by wonko at November 10, 2002 07:38 AM
Comments
I'm curious where you draw the line between Gen Y and Gen X, and where you see this evidence of this apathy?
I'd contest the position that Gen Y knows they are being lied to. I am constantly shocked to see youth shocked when they discover what is for me an obvious case of being misled.
Also, in terms of "both generations willing to take lower paying jobs that we enjoy [rather] than a higher paying job which is unfullfilling," this shouldn't be surprising. Marx was predicting this sort of thing over 150 years ago.
Posted by: kasei at November 10, 2002 08:43 AM
Sociologists, in an attempt to normalize their studies, pick specific years to deliminate between generations. This is obviously an oversimplification. First of all, its usally within a span of years that attitudes change and furthermore, just because you are born within a labeled generation doesn't mean you really align oneself with that generation. Given this, these generational labels are more about trends.
As to my theory that Gen Y knows they are being lied to. I confused myself even as I was writing it. On one hand, you have a group of people that still bows to popular coulture, just as much as previous generations. So, in that way, they are just as believing as the previous generation. If anything, the only difference is how much more bold the media has become in their lies and attempt to control our minds (for profit).
In your reply you didn't deny that there is a new generation of people more apathetic than their parents (who you could argue are more apathetic than their parents). Do you agree? I'm hesitant, but wanted to go further in saying that my generation seems to care somewhat about issues like the environment and other social issues, but does not care much about government. I'd like to believe that my generation, after realizing that life should be lived fulfilling, IS trying to make a difference by taking jobs or hobbies which are socially conceous. I do not see this trend in the youngest generation. It almost seems like they feel burned and have no compulsion to give back or help the system that handed them a world in such bad shape. Do you see that as well?
As for Marx's prediction. It does make sense, but it has always made sense. After generations of people trying to make money to make them happy, eventually people had to realize that money wasn't the answer. Why it took thousands of years is another matter, I sure having to do with our evolution into a leisure society. So, agreeing that Marx is right, what is the logical conclusion? Once people realize money isn't the answer, what next? It doesn't logically follow that they become socialy/community conceous. They could just become apathetic.
Science can be flawed in that observations are immediately tainted by the observer. Theres always the possability that my opinions are tainted by my understanding of the world.
Posted by: wonko at November 10, 2002 07:47 PM
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