So, I believe I am qualified to write about this topic. Attached to this document will be a 3 page list of all the degrees I have received whilst on full scholarship exclusively at Ivy League schools.
No, sorry I do not have any of those I am afraid, unless high school counts, yay? I am a member of Generation Y. Born in the sterling year of 1994, South Africa reached full democracy, Forrest Gump won Best Picture at the Oscars and Justin Bieber was born. Wait, scrap that, 1994 wasn't such a great year.
On a more serious note though, we as Generation Y have received quite a great deal of flak as many Generation Y kids are entering the labour force of their respective countries. Laziness, disloyalty, lack of commitment, disrespectfulness, etc. fill up the ever growing clamour cloud above disgruntled CEO's heads. We are known as the entitled generation, the generation that won a trophy at a sporting event even if you finished dead stone last, the generation that fills in bubbles in school instead of writing something profound. Anti-intellectualism runs rampant in mainstream media where we glorify people for doing unlawful deeds for a fleeting moment of light on CNN's headlines, whilst great inventions such as 3-d printing is still unknown to many people.
"We are the middle children of history, man, no purpose or place" as Tyler Durden said well in the movie that must not be named. It seems almost as though the period where a child learns to fly has extended well beyond the historical 18 (or 21) when you suddenly became an adult. Record numbers of young adults still live with their parents at 25. Youth unemployment is high across the whole world. A culture of entitlement, procrastination and ignorance plagues my brethren and sisters. Older generations like to point to this dark triad as the reason for Generation Y's struggle to adapt to society. You can't really blame them, because for many Generation Y kids the dark triad is a reality. Older generations need to realise, however, that the dark triad is not the cause of Generation Y's struggle, but rather the symptoms of far deeper and wide reaching problems.
To address the issue of entitlement, Generation Y was born into the probably the greatest era mind kind has ever been in. Wealth and prosperity is possible for any person regardless of your background, every living person on earth is guaranteed unalienable human rights, universal social justice has been as close to realised as it has ever been in human history, literacy is almost universal, life expectancies are through the roof and our connectivity to other people is faster and more convenient than ever before. All the technological, scientific, engineering and societal advances that mankind has made to this point was basically presented to Generation Y on a silver platter. We were born knowing that all the societal safety nets are in place in case we stumble. We live in a day and age where few things we do truly is risky. If we break our leg, a doctor can fix it. If we miss rent payments, we can live in a homeless shelter. Civilisation has grown so mighty that people have nothing to drive them. As far as human motivation goes, fear is the absolute strongest form of motivation. If you know that mommy and daddy will indefinitely care for you, what reason do you really have to go out and discover the world for yourself? This is why a disproportionate amount of startup businesses in the US are established by foreign immigrants. A child that faced a life of struggling to till the land for survival in Kenya has far stronger motivation and reason to rise from his/her bedstead than one who never had to work a day in his/her life. Our educators, parents, governments and society failed miserably to give us reason to get up out of our comfortable beds to endure the grind. We must give purpose and reason to the lives of Generation 2K and younger Generation Y members. "We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives." once again Durden highlights the issue.
As far as procrastination goes every generation must have struggled with this. In the society of today the issue is possibly stronger. From the day we are born we are placed in a culture of quick-access. Fast food, fast cars, fast internet, fast entertainment, fast relationships. Instant gratification is the only way for some people. The wonderful value of delayed gratification may have been a weapon in our parents' child rearing arsenal, but society's message runs contrary to this. In the media we are shown people that are already successful, never told the decades of hardship and failure they had to endure to be where they are now. We see these successful people and think our own success should come quickly. A little bit of effort and we'll be rock stars! We end up procrastinating on the real grind that gets you to a place of success and are perplexed by the lack of progress. We give up and seek the next fad that might bring a passing moment of adrenaline. Stronger emphasis needs to be put on teaching youths the glory of the grind. Crashing your car into a tree whilst high on hallucinogens should not be the stories that litter CNN's headlines. Stories of struggle and overcoming those hurdles should be what drives media. Children will then realise that purposeful living is what makes you esteemed in the eyes of others, not temporary vainglories.
The final edge of the dark triad ignorance is the one that moves me the most. It would be unreasonable to suggest that every person know the names of all the dictators in South America, Asia and Africa and know the reasons why we consider them dictators. It is unacceptable however that someone knows not that the Syrian people are in great pain at the moment. It is unacceptable that someone knows not that Global Warming threatens the survival of the human race. If all that two people are able to converse about is other people and quote catch phrases out of movies, then our human race is doomed. Eleanor Roosevelt said "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people" . Sure we can gossip as it is human nature and relieves stress, but woe the day if all we can do is gossip. The destruction of ignorance starts with educators and the media. We must value knowledge of history, the arts and current events. We must encourage deep and creative thought amongst our youth and certainly greatly reward novelty.
I am an optimist. I believe in the power of the human spirit to overcome challenges. History has evidenced this countless times. Generation Y is not lost, we are asleep; waiting for our rude awakening to unleash the heroes inside each and every one of us.
Waiting
TheLonelyman
No comments:
Post a Comment