Today I was working with alot of Gen Y related media and issues.
I think that sentence itself will probably sum up what kind of day it's been. It's certainly an enlightening experience, but it's also a bit of a humbling one. For every article I find on the strangeness of Gen Y, there's another that seems to affirm it as modern. Contradiction is the key term, here...
My personal experiences with Gen Y, unfortunately, aren't the greatest - if I'm looking at it as a whole. As a member of Gen Y, I want to stear clear of bashing my "Class of Y"...but it seems whenever I observe people that fill this demographic, it tends to be a messy experience.
The information I was digging up today didn't seem to deconstruct the problem either. Gen Y is apparently going to run future society into the ground, by not taking care of ourselves to begin with. We're all too loose with our money, too loose with our morals and too loose in our decisions.
But, again, "Contradiction" is the key term...
I could easily pick out a swag of Gen Yers who seem to burn down these constructions of lazy, greedy, vagabonds. These folk are proactive in their communities, they're (arguably) fanatical workers, and none of them take themselves so seriously that they can't go without indy bands and particular fashion labels. They seem, in every way, to kick the nagging speeches directed at Gen Y, square in the teeth.
I've noticed in the media lately, that the anger and the disappointed concerning the lifestyles of Gen Yers has fallen to the wayside. But still, it is a topical issue for many folk, to various degrees. Though the argument, article or report might not announce Gen Y, by name, as being at the heart of the problem - the figures people give "affects people between 18-26" for example - is still relevant to Gen Y concerns.
Soooo...what do we make of this?
Being a Post Modernist wannabe, I figure everything to be constructed, but not entirely original. The attack of Gen Y isn't really that different, in my opinion, than the cultural/moral panics centered around the Hippy or the Punk movement. Granted, there is alot in this modern world that needs to be fixed, but this can be said to apply to EVERYONE. Not just Generation Y.
As for the monicker, Generation Y, i've read up on several sources that state it to be a purely marketing based name. That is to say, Generation Y was designed by the marketers of various companies and firms, to encapsulate a new population of consumers. So, there's another reason to just ignore the damn phrase...
I think it all boils down to context. We, that is to say: the children of this modern world, can never truly understand what it was like to live in the days of our mothers, fathers, and ancestors. Similarly, those who were born in a different time to us are naturally confused and somewhat unable to connect with how we live today. People want to connect, personally, in communities and with things larger than themselves...and in some circumstances the need to connect leads us to creating factions and cliques.
In these groups we feel safe and accepted. We are surrounded by people with whom we share things in common. Unfortunately, it's become a passing trend to find that one thing you have in common, is hatred or discomfort with people from OTHER "cliques".
How do we remedy that? Well I guess that's what I was looking for today...the answer is still convoluted...if not entirely non-existant. If there's anything that WILL help us get to a better level of understanding and camaradarie, it's doing little things to help involve others in this wonderfully complex existance we call "Life".
ENTER: the Inspire Foundation and ActNow!
...see what I did there? *winks*
Stay tuned!
~Anthony
