why intergenerational debates are going nowhere

Once the novelty of university wears off – the parties (if you went to them), the incredible classes you couldn’t take in high school (if you went to those), and the first taste of freedom– you start to realise your days as a student are numbered. When those good feelings disappear, replaced by the sudden realisation that soon, you’ll graduate with nothing but the arsenal of knowledge and experience you were expected to accumulate by now.

Sometime into the third year of my five-year post-secondary career, I started to pay attention to features, articles, and “new” reports outlining the various ways in which I, and my fellow 18 to 29-year-olds, were ill-equipped for the “real world”, and exactly what that world had in store for us. Unemployment, expensive wars, a higher standard of living, a seemingly endless list of new health concerns, and an even more competitive environment thanks to our increasingly unexceptional degrees. Millennials (also known as Generation Y, the iGeneration, the Entitled Generation, and Generation Me) are also expected to be tech-savvy, increasingly connected and well networked.

Noreen Malone, writing for New York Magazine, delved into the state of twenty-somethings, many of whom are living at home, can’t find work and are ‘apathetic to things outside of the Internet’.

‘A majority of Americans say, for the first time ever, that this generation will not be better off than its parents.’ Though Malone speaks from an American perspective and cites American statistics, the situation around the world is pretty familiar.

In June, Australia’s unemployment rate rose to 5.2 % as the economy continued to stall. Canada’s labour force made an encouraging upswing this summer but simultaneously cut thousands of manufacturing jobs and warned parks and public servant of possible layoffs. Britain’s workforce is aging. Those who would normally be enjoying the unencumbered bliss of retirement are either forced to or choosing to stick around the water cooler. The students in that country are, in the meantime, facing a steep tuition increase, despite riots in 2010 when the plan was proposed.

All of this, of course, says nothing of the dismal situation of many less affluent countries that are never spared in poor economic times.

Despite the intensity of the Occupy Movement last year the global recession continues. Suddenly bright, ambitious college graduates are competing with their parents for jobs. What surprises me more than the grim predictions of my life post-graduation are the responses from the generations before mine.

My parents’ generation, The Boomers, call us coddled, entitled and lazy. Don’t we know how good we have it? Generation X, meanwhile, is ‘sick of [our] bullshit’. Presumably speaking for everyone born after the baby boom of World War II, Gawker site, Gizmodo, published a rant (their classification) in response to Malone:

‘The first generation to do worse than its parents? Please. Been there. Generation X was told that so many times that it can’t even read those words without hearing Winona Ryder’s voice in its heads.’

Generation X-ers, after all, also graduated into a recession. While their parents were busy being fulfilled individuals, they were the sad “latchkey” kids fighting for everything they’ve got, creating Google and Twitter and our shiny, shiny smartphones.

‘Generation X is used to being ignored, stuffed between two much larger, much more vocal, demographics. But whatever! Generation X is self-sufficient.’ This debate and the incessant need to one-up the generations before and after us, is not new or particularly helpful. It may be fun, sure, but it’s definitely not helpful.

Pointing out how bad it used to be doesn’t change the fact that a new demographic has inherited a unique set of problems or, even worse, the same problems that existed before. In that case, why shouldn’t Millennials complain?

The politicians elected by our parents have enacted policies that have lost their lustre. Consider the frustration of the students in Quebec, Canada. On the surface, their protest seems self-indulgent and petulant. Media outlets in the United States, the U.K. and throughout the rest of Canada scoffed at the proposed tuition hike that would still make post-secondary education in that province the most affordable in North America. But the problem isn’t merely with school fees, but also the management of provincial funds and an idealistic system conceived by the preceding generation.

However, as Malone points out, there is a lot that’s worse about growing up as Millennial. The environment for one has never been so fragile. An entire generation understands the concept of terrorism in a way it never has before – whether we remember the moment of awareness or were born into a world constantly on guard. The constant connectedness has bred the new threat of cyber-bullies and cyber-stalkers.

None of this will be new to the un-branded generation that follows this one,

If our frustration seems like whining to our parents, it’s because hindsight is something we have yet to enjoy. The wave of graduates and soon-to-be graduates who are now responsible for the burdens of political, economic and social engagement are experiencing what every other adult on the planet has already conquered: fear, confusion and an overwhelming sense of unpreparedness. All that talk about ‘we are the future’ and the vows we made as teens not to screw things up – it’s time to make good on those promises.

It’s also time to stop perpetuating the idea that each generation is living in their own, alternate realities, particularly when it comes to developing social policies. The mobilisation of young people around the world against oppressive regimes, corporate greed, and bigoted laws, is a reflection of a culture that raised its young people to think independently and to be ambitious. The entitlement, of which we’re so often accused, comes from parents who raised us to believe we could have everything we wanted.

But generalisations are also dangerous. It’s unfair to assume every young-adult has it easy. There are plenty of twenty-year-olds struggling to attain the basics of life in affluent countries, and others who (contrary to popular belief) weren’t just handed the opportunities and luxuries they enjoy. Likewise, there were plenty of Boomers and Gen X-ers who didn’t have to work hard – which will forever make the You-Don’t-Know-How-Easy-You-Have-It argument pointless. Privilege creates too many exceptions.

The constant bickering and finger pointing may be easy, but it’s just a distraction from the issues at hand. Instead of trying to determine who had it worse and who’s to blame, why not devote time and energy to solving the problems, whether that means voting, paying attention to economic trends or, if need be, protesting.

People never learn, problems are relative, and every generation has bred at least one embarrassing band – but we can at least try to make it a little easier for whoever comes next.

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