Millennial Nonsense

Generalizations about Generations

From: “Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation”

Joel Stein, Time, May 20, 2013.

    It is absolutely the case that the words ‘absolutely’ and ‘millennials’ appear rather too often these days, but for now we will only discuss the latter word. While I am not ready this morning to go so far as to look again at any sociological texts, I am willing to be contrarian about cohorts, particularly generational ones such as Gen X and Gen Y (the Millennials). I reluctantly concede that Lost and Beat Generations may have had some sort of ethereal existence, but I am less convinced that there was a “Greatest” one, or that subsuming millions of people born between c1980 and c1995, in many different parts of the world, under the label “Millennial Generation” helps us understand much at all.

  As evidence of overuse, I introduce a few recent article and book titles from the zillions available:

Articles:

“Millennials are the most narcissistic generation ever”

“The Terrible Truth About Hating Millennials That No One Wants To Admit”

“Millennials Are Not Being Rewarded for Job Loyalty”

“U.K. Millennials Are Badly Paid for Staying With Their Jobs”

“Millennials: A Generation in Financial Chaos”

“Why Millennials are better with their money than their parents”

“New Study Shows How Wealthy Millennials Are”

“Millennials, we didn’t eat your lunch, we were in the kitchen making it for you”

“Millennials ruining parents’ retirement”

“Millennials may never get out their parents' homes”

“Millennials will never get to live alone”

Why Millennials Are Lonely

Millennials are killing department stores

How Millennials Are Driving Changes For Retail Stores

Books:

The Millennial Mindset : Unraveling Fact From Fiction

Fast Future : How the Millennial Generation is Shaping Our World

The M-factor : How the Millennial Generation is Rocking the Workplace

Millennials Go to College : Strategies for a New Generation on Campus : Recruiting and Admissions, Campus life, and the Classroom

Millennials Rising : The Next Great Generation

The Millennials on Film and Television : Essays on the Politics of Popular Culture

Condemnation of GenYphobia and the Elimination of Millennials

    That subheading looks rather contradictory so I will be clearer here and say that it is the word ‘Millennials’ that needs to be eliminated not all the people born during that ‘generation’. (Although I guess it would now be possible in the U.S. to, at least,  round up all of them along with the immigrants and deport them).

    My proposal is more modest. In the Canadian House of Commons there has been concern expressed that some Canadians are making some negative generalizations about our fellow Muslim citizens and that such tendencies should be discouraged. To the motion to condemn such “Islamophobia” I suggest that the private member consider adding a Condemnation of GenYphobia along with the recommendation that the plural form of the word ‘Millennial’ be expunged from both official languages.

    In support of my suggestion read “Against Generations” by Rebecca Onions from which this quotation is taken:

“But in real life, I find generational arguments infuriating. Overly schematised and ridiculously reductive, generation theory is a simplistic way of thinking about the relationship between individuals, society, and history. It encourages us to focus on vague ‘generational personalities’, rather than looking at the confusing diversity of social life.” (From the digital magazine, Aeon, n.d.).

 Also consider this remark by William Blake:  “To Generalize is to be an Idiot. To Particularize is the Alone Distinction of Merit.” (as cited by Cass Sunstein in “Why Free Markets Make Fools of Us,” in the NYRB, Oct. 22, 2015).