Author Topic: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy  (Read 15200 times)

nnls

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Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« on: January 11, 2016, 06:56:30 PM »
http://brightside.me/article/why-generation-y-is-unhappy-11105/

I particularly liked this

Social media creates a world for Lucy where
 A) what everyone else is doing is very out in the open,
 B) most people present an inflated version of their own existence, and
C) the people who chime in the most about their careers are usually those whose careers (or relationships) are going the best, while struggling people tend not to broadcast their situation. This leaves Lucy feeling, incorrectly, like everyone else is doing really well, only adding to her misery

arebelspy

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2016, 02:46:01 AM »
Yup, that's a classic.

Wait But Why has a lot of amazing posts.
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alarswilson

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2016, 05:06:10 AM »
Definitely read the stuff by Newport--esp. "So Good They Can't Ignore You" which pops the passion bubble definitively. I found it a tremendous relief and an incentive to make some coherent sense of where I've come from, and how that can shape and support where I'll go professionally, rather than always starting from zero with some artistic or leisure goal.

Miss Prim

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2016, 06:14:02 AM »
My kids are both Gen Y's and they are nothing like this!  They are hard workers, don't feel entitled etc., basically, just like my husband and I.  I will give you that I saw some kids their age whose parents just handed them everything and never taught them how to work hard for what you want.  But, there are a lot of this generation too that was raised right and are doing great.  Most of my kids friends are making good money in careers that they worked hard to get there. 

I also worked with Gen Y kids and they too were hard working, bright and didn't expect things to be handed to them.

I really dislike generalizations.  I'm a boomer and we fall all over the spectrum too.

                                                                                              Miss Prim

use2betrix

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2016, 06:34:01 AM »


I really dislike generalizations.  I'm a boomer and we fall all over the spectrum too.

                                                                                              Miss Prim

This. So many people place far too much emphasis on generations and their character traits that are supposed to define them.

If people stop worrying about others and their excuses or faults or how they got "lucky," and instead placed all the burden of their own success or failure on themselves, it would solve a lot of problems. I'm a millennial, and the amount of millennials I see whining on forums is pathetic. I understand why millenniums have earned a negative reputation in some lights.

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2016, 06:44:47 AM »
So are we back to calling it Gen Y?  That's nice. The "millennial" thing drives me crazy; why did it change?


Also- not unhappy here. I work hard and am doing well.  Most of the people I went to school with are too. Even those who are not wealthy seem to be doing okay.

arebelspy

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2016, 07:08:25 AM »
So are we back to calling it Gen Y?  That's nice. The "millennial" thing drives me crazy; why did it change?

No.  Millennial is still the much more popular term.  They're interchangeable though.  Millennial makes sense, as most came of age right around the millennium.  Not sure why it bothers you, but hey, some people here are bothered by the term "Mustachian."  To each his own.  I don't worry about labels too much, so using "Gen Y" or "Millennial" or "Generation @" or whatever you want to use is all the same to me.   :)
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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2016, 07:16:55 AM »
So are we back to calling it Gen Y?  That's nice. The "millennial" thing drives me crazy; why did it change?

No.  Millennial is still the much more popular term.  They're interchangeable though.  Millennial makes sense, as most came of age right around the millennium.  Not sure why it bothers you, but hey, some people here are bothered by the term "Mustachian."  To each his own.  I don't worry about labels too much, so using "Gen Y" or "Millennial" or "Generation @" or whatever you want to use is all the same to me.   :)

It bothers me because I'm bothered by silly things and because I grew up being called Gen Y, and then suddenly it changed.  It took me awhile to figure out millenial was the same thing, because it always seemed to refer to people much younger than me.

arebelspy

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2016, 07:26:14 AM »
So are we back to calling it Gen Y?  That's nice. The "millennial" thing drives me crazy; why did it change?

No.  Millennial is still the much more popular term.  They're interchangeable though.  Millennial makes sense, as most came of age right around the millennium.  Not sure why it bothers you, but hey, some people here are bothered by the term "Mustachian."  To each his own.  I don't worry about labels too much, so using "Gen Y" or "Millennial" or "Generation @" or whatever you want to use is all the same to me.   :)

It bothers me because I'm bothered by silly things and because I grew up being called Gen Y, and then suddenly it changed.  It took me awhile to figure out millenial was the same thing, because it always seemed to refer to people much younger than me.

Oh yeah, I think that totally happened.  Gen Y it seemed was immediately after Gen X and was for like the late 80s/early 90s, and then Millennial was after that, they used the term to refer to new people being born, but then they merged the two terms at some point.

I noticed the same thing, though few of us did. 

You're totally right, I remember being confused for a bit too.  :)
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use2betrix

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2016, 07:41:20 AM »
I wasn't aware they were interchangeable. I always thought Gen Y was older. Like, Gen Y might be 30-40, while millennials may be 20-30.

Give or take some numbers, I may be wrong, however.

I just used millennial as a different example.

As to the OP, I would take fault with any article stating my whole "generation" is unhappy. I'm perfectly happy as are many of my friends, thanks.

StetsTerhune

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2016, 07:49:46 AM »
Not sure why it bothers you, but hey, some people here are bothered by the term "Mustachian."  To each his own.  I don't worry about labels too much, so using "Gen Y" or "Millennial" or "Generation @" or whatever you want to use is all the same to me.   :)

Yup, "Millennial" and "Mustachian" both bother me. Not because there's anything wrong with them as conceived, but because of the way people use them. 90% of the things you hear about "millennials" are actually just talking about "young people." Millennials are entitled little ass*****, is something that has been written about every generation ever. (And I know the linked article is actually talking about the difference between the experience of the generations... and it uses Gen Y instead of Millennials... coincidence?) Seriously, have you ever seen a positive, or even understanding, article about Millennials?

With 'Mustachian,' people people seem to put some mystical meaning to it.  Nothing annoys me more on this site than topic titles like "Is baking bread mustachian?!?!"  Let's talk about whether things are reasonable to do, not argue  about a philosophy (religion?) that no one seems to have any agreement of what its precepts are.

And on the original topic -- "social media" to the extent that I follow it, doesn't have that effect at all. People's inflated social media existence doesn't seem close to as nice as my day to day life.

Reynold

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2016, 07:55:46 AM »
Well, at least they are not as useless and entitled as those darned 17th century kids, can you believe them?    :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_Doodle

arebelspy

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2016, 07:58:50 AM »
Not sure why it bothers you, but hey, some people here are bothered by the term "Mustachian."  To each his own.  I don't worry about labels too much, so using "Gen Y" or "Millennial" or "Generation @" or whatever you want to use is all the same to me.   :)

Yup, "Millennial" and "Mustachian" both bother me. Not because there's anything wrong with them as conceived, but because of the way people use them. 90% of the things you hear about "millennials" are actually just talking about "young people." Millennials are entitled little ass*****, is something that has been written about every generation ever. (And I know the linked article is actually talking about the difference between the experience of the generations... and it uses Gen Y instead of Millennials... coincidence?) Seriously, have you ever seen a positive, or even understanding, article about Millennials?

With 'Mustachian,' people people seem to put some mystical meaning to it.  Nothing annoys me more on this site than topic titles like "Is baking bread mustachian?!?!"  Let's talk about whether things are reasonable to do, not argue  about a philosophy (religion?) that no one seems to have any agreement of what its precepts are.

And on the original topic -- "social media" to the extent that I follow it, doesn't have that effect at all. People's inflated social media existence doesn't seem close to as nice as my day to day life.

Hah.  Funny.  :)
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The Guru

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2016, 02:06:27 PM »
I just turned 60. I could never keep all those titles straight- Gen X, Gen Y, Millenials- so I just call them all Generation Y. The Y stands for Younger than Me.

Now get the hell off my lawn!

RetiredAt63

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2016, 04:30:27 PM »
I just turned 60. I could never keep all those titles straight- Gen X, Gen Y, Millenials- so I just call them all Generation Y. The Y stands for Younger than Me.

Now get the hell off my lawn!

Or AB - after boomers.

What lawn?  Isn't it a field of snow right now?  Get one of those young sprouts to shovel your driveway.  With a shovel, like we used to before our backs went.   ;-)
Seriously, nice to see someone a teeny tiny bit older than me on here.  We are the 1%.

MrsPete

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #15 on: January 12, 2016, 04:38:24 PM »
My kids are both Gen Y's and they are nothing like this!  They are hard workers, don't feel entitled etc., basically, just like my husband and I.
My kids aren't like this either, but I know a whole bunch of students who fit the bill -- and a bunch of them are the "best and the brightest", the ones who feel quite sure they're going to rule the world by age 30. 

One of my younger co-workers described this feeling to me -- she says she definitely has it, even though she knows it's stupid.  Essentially she said:  I am a winner.  I always win.  Always.  All my friends are winners.  Always.  When someone tells me I'm wrong, I tend to think that person is wrong or biased or that something knocked me off my game -- it simply can't be that I'm second best.  Even though I know logically that every one cannot win all the time at everything, somehow I expect it to happen -- at least to my friends because we are special, unique, and different.  She laughed at herself and her generation as she said it. 
« Last Edit: January 12, 2016, 04:45:45 PM by MrsPete »

mathlete

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #16 on: January 12, 2016, 04:44:51 PM »
Saw this a while back and never really found it to be all that substantive.

Like all click-baity articles about millennials, it is meant to feed into the reader's preconceived notions about "young people these days".

Also it expects us to take as a given that Gen Y is unhappy. Are they? I'm not.

arebelspy

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #17 on: January 12, 2016, 05:29:07 PM »

My kids aren't like this either, but I know a whole bunch of students who fit the bill -- and a bunch of them are the "best and the brightest", the ones who feel quite sure they're going to rule the world by age 30. 

Are you sure they didn't?

;)
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runningthroughFIRE

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #18 on: January 12, 2016, 05:45:40 PM »
My kids are both Gen Y's and they are nothing like this!  They are hard workers, don't feel entitled etc., basically, just like my husband and I.
My kids aren't like this either, but I know a whole bunch of students who fit the bill -- and a bunch of them are the "best and the brightest", the ones who feel quite sure they're going to rule the world by age 30. 

One of my younger co-workers described this feeling to me -- she says she definitely has it, even though she knows it's stupid.  Essentially she said:  I am a winner.  I always win.  Always.  All my friends are winners.  Always.  When someone tells me I'm wrong, I tend to think that person is wrong or biased or that something knocked me off my game -- it simply can't be that I'm second best.  Even though I know logically that every one cannot win all the time at everything, somehow I expect it to happen -- at least to my friends because we are special, unique, and different.  She laughed at herself and her generation as she said it.
I'm planning on being FI shortly after 30, which I'm sure will feel like ruling the world =p.  It's less about the generation than it is about how parents raise their kids.  I don't know too many students myself anymore, but my mother and sister are both teachers and it seems like the brattiest kids from their stories usually have parents who either don't give a shit about their kid, or think the sun shines out of their little spawn's ass.  If you raise your children "well" (whatever that means, and as I'm sure you both have), then they're much less likely to have the symptoms old-man journalism attributes to millenials.

I thought about rephrasing that more gently, but frankly after how some of these kids have treated my mom I'm leaving it as is. /rant

Kitsunegari

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #19 on: January 12, 2016, 06:14:21 PM »

C) the people who chime in the most about their careers are usually those whose careers (or relationships) are going the best, while struggling people tend not to broadcast their situation. This leaves Lucy feeling, incorrectly, like everyone else is doing really well, only adding to her misery

As a rather active Facebook user, i disagree; the people more boasting about their awesome life are the ones doing worse. Especially when it comes to relationships: the more they go on about how much they love each other in public, the more they're fighting behind closed doors.

The Guru

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #20 on: January 12, 2016, 06:20:06 PM »
I just turned 60. I could never keep all those titles straight- Gen X, Gen Y, Millenials- so I just call them all Generation Y. The Y stands for Younger than Me.

Now get the hell off my lawn!

Or AB - after boomers.

What lawn?  Isn't it a field of snow right now?  Get one of those young sprouts to shovel your driveway.  With a shovel, like we used to before our backs went.   ;-)
Seriously, nice to see someone a teeny tiny bit older than me on here.  We are the 1%.

You had a shovel? Huh!  You were lucky! Why, when I was a boy....

tobitonic

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #21 on: January 12, 2016, 08:35:48 PM »
Saw this a while back and never really found it to be all that substantive.

Like all click-baity articles about millennials, it is meant to feed into the reader's preconceived notions about "young people these days".

Also it expects us to take as a given that Gen Y is unhappy. Are they? I'm not.

+1. More nonsense designed to drive wedges between folks in society instead of uniting us toward the need to reduce inequalities (locally and globally).

arebelspy

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #22 on: January 12, 2016, 11:40:03 PM »
Saw this a while back and never really found it to be all that substantive.

Like all click-baity articles about millennials, it is meant to feed into the reader's preconceived notions about "young people these days".

Also it expects us to take as a given that Gen Y is unhappy. Are they? I'm not.

+1. More nonsense designed to drive wedges between folks in society instead of uniting us toward the need to reduce inequalities (locally and globally).

Did you actually read it?

I agree that your sentence describes the majority of articles complaining about, or even just generalizing about, a while generation.

I don't think this one did.  I don't think it complained about Millennials, and I don't think it was "designed to drive wedges between folks in society."  What parts of the article do you think did that?
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Bertram

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #23 on: January 13, 2016, 05:13:07 AM »
I am always surprised when the comments to an article about social groups/trends feel it worth to point out that there exists people that are not like that.

Generational trends/characteristics are never an accurate description of every individual of a big group, it's kind of silly to assume it works that way. Yet it seems unless it spelled out, most people seem to work from this assumption when they hear something about this or that generation. Rather compare it to music charts - Yes, in the years around 2.000 the most sold artist was Britney Spears, so obviously a lot of people bought her records... however this doesn't mean that everybody who was a record-buyer in 2000 was a fan of Britney Spears and pondered how many records of her he/she should buy. Is it really changing anything if I point out that there exist people that did not buy any records from Britney Spears?

In the same way we say baby boomers had stable jobs, good pensions and lots of buying power - but obviously that's only true for some members of that generation (e.g. worked at a big corporation; had unions, etc.). There were always people that earned bad, didn't have (great) pensions and did different jobs over their career. "Trends" simply mean we get a little bit less of people like this, and a little bit more people like that.

I feel like when discussion these kinds of things the focus should really be on
- what are the reasons for the changes
- is it an improvement or is it worse
- what are the type of structural changes in society that could be made to decrease the negative aspects and improve the situation

Rather than saying "I didn't buy Britney Spears records, therefore I doubt she was popular".
« Last Edit: January 13, 2016, 06:59:56 AM by Bertram »

Malaysia41

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #24 on: January 13, 2016, 05:48:53 AM »
Not sure why it bothers you, but hey, some people here are bothered by the term "Mustachian."  To each his own.  I don't worry about labels too much, so using "Gen Y" or "Millennial" or "Generation @" or whatever you want to use is all the same to me.   :)

Yup, "Millennial" and "Mustachian" both bother me. Not because there's anything wrong with them as conceived, but because of the way people use them. 90% of the things you hear about "millennials" are actually just talking about "young people." Millennials are entitled little ass*****, is something that has been written about every generation ever. (And I know the linked article is actually talking about the difference between the experience of the generations... and it uses Gen Y instead of Millennials... coincidence?) Seriously, have you ever seen a positive, or even understanding, article about Millennials?

With 'Mustachian,' people people seem to put some mystical meaning to it.  Nothing annoys me more on this site than topic titles like "Is baking bread mustachian?!?!"  Let's talk about whether things are reasonable to do, not argue  about a philosophy (religion?) that no one seems to have any agreement of what its precepts are.

And on the original topic -- "social media" to the extent that I follow it, doesn't have that effect at all. People's inflated social media existence doesn't seem close to as nice as my day to day life.

I agree - the millenial bashing is the same old "youth is going to hell in a handbasket shit." Personally, I find millenials are more likely to call out negging, bullshit male 'manning up' advice, and language that divides. Sure, maybe their parents didn't do the best job of making them understand personal responsibility, but they'll get the hang of it. Society and time will beat it into them. Meanwhile, it's our job to help them think right. So let's quit bemoaning how shitty they are and start helping giving them a hand up in learning how to contribute positively to a world that is getting smaller and smaller.

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #25 on: January 13, 2016, 06:02:08 AM »

C) the people who chime in the most about their careers are usually those whose careers (or relationships) are going the best, while struggling people tend not to broadcast their situation. This leaves Lucy feeling, incorrectly, like everyone else is doing really well, only adding to her misery

As a rather active Facebook user, i disagree; the people more boasting about their awesome life are the ones doing worse. Especially when it comes to relationships: the more they go on about how much they love each other in public, the more they're fighting behind closed doors.

I'm fairly certain there have been studies done that show a correlation between how much "happy awesome relationship" stuff you post of Facebook and the likelihood of divorce/breaking up.  I'm too lazy to google and find any though.  It's like the people going downhill need to post the most outwardly positive things and get likes so they reassure themselves that they're in a positive relationship.  Everyone likes to post good things about their relationships and lives on facebook, but when people start doing it excessively they're usually covering up deeper issues.

arebelspy

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #26 on: January 13, 2016, 06:23:29 AM »
Not sure why it bothers you, but hey, some people here are bothered by the term "Mustachian."  To each his own.  I don't worry about labels too much, so using "Gen Y" or "Millennial" or "Generation @" or whatever you want to use is all the same to me.   :)

Yup, "Millennial" and "Mustachian" both bother me. Not because there's anything wrong with them as conceived, but because of the way people use them. 90% of the things you hear about "millennials" are actually just talking about "young people." Millennials are entitled little ass*****, is something that has been written about every generation ever. (And I know the linked article is actually talking about the difference between the experience of the generations... and it uses Gen Y instead of Millennials... coincidence?) Seriously, have you ever seen a positive, or even understanding, article about Millennials?

With 'Mustachian,' people people seem to put some mystical meaning to it.  Nothing annoys me more on this site than topic titles like "Is baking bread mustachian?!?!"  Let's talk about whether things are reasonable to do, not argue  about a philosophy (religion?) that no one seems to have any agreement of what its precepts are.

And on the original topic -- "social media" to the extent that I follow it, doesn't have that effect at all. People's inflated social media existence doesn't seem close to as nice as my day to day life.

I agree - the millenial bashing is the same old "youth is going to hell in a handbasket shit." Personally, I find millenials are more likely to call out negging, bullshit male 'manning up' advice, and language that divides. Sure, maybe their parents didn't do the best job of making them understand personal responsibility, but they'll get the hang of it. Society and time will beat it into them. Meanwhile, it's our job to help them think right. So let's quit bemoaning how shitty they are and start helping giving them a hand up in learning how to contribute positively to a world that is getting smaller and smaller.

But this article DIDN'T bemoan how shitty they were, and instead gave them some positive tips, exactly as you suggest!

Again, I feel like people are taking generic complaints about "millennial articles" and applying it to this one, without even necessarily reading it.

Also: Great Britney Spears analogy, bertram!
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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #27 on: January 13, 2016, 06:34:15 AM »
Generational differences are very real for many employers.  Supervising Millennials, for a wide variety of reasons, is generally(yes, there are exceptions to every rule), a lot different than supervising Gen X'ers.  And employers take note of this (mine offers training on it every year), as it affects their bottom line.

Malaysia41

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #28 on: January 13, 2016, 06:35:25 AM »
I'll admit- I only glanced at the article. I get annoyed with people bemoaning the younger generation.  Don't they see themselves? Don't they understand they're capable of comprehending reality?

Okay, you ARSE, I'll go re-read the article. I've clearly become the trope I despise: those who comment without reading the linked article. Guilty. Reading commencing.

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #29 on: January 13, 2016, 07:46:52 AM »
You know, when I first saw this thread, I wasn't particularly interested in reading the article. Like some have pointed out, most Gen Y/Millennial articles just repeat the same old story of how the whole generation is going to self-destruct, back in MY day, we did it right, blah blah blah.

I ended up loving the illustrations and thought the grassy field of flowers and unicorns surprisingly apt.

And the conclusion was spot-on:
Here’s my advice for Lucy:
Stay wildly ambitious. The current world is bubbling with opportunity for an ambitious person to find flowery, fulfilling success. The specific direction may be unclear, but it’ll work itself out—just dive in somewhere.
Stop thinking that you’re special. The fact is, right now, you’re not special. You’re another completely inexperienced young person who doesn’t have all that much to offer yet. You can become special by working really hard for a long time.
Ignore everyone else. Other people’s grass seeming greener is no new concept, but in today’s image crafting world, other people’s grass looks like a glorious meadow. The truth is that everyone else is just as indecisive, self-doubting, and frustrated as you are, and if you just do your thing, you’ll never have any reason to envy others.

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #30 on: January 13, 2016, 08:41:04 AM »

You know, when I first saw this thread, I wasn't particularly interested in reading the article. Like some have pointed out, most Gen Y/Millennial articles just repeat the same old story of how the whole generation is going to self-destruct, back in MY day, we did it right, blah blah blah.

I ended up loving the illustrations and thought the grassy field of flowers and unicorns surprisingly apt.

And the conclusion was spot-on

Glad you gave it a chance, and that you enjoyed/agreed with it. :)

It's okay if the people complaining end up not liking it. It just seems that a lot of complaints are about articles of these types, but not about this one, which is an exception.  If you still want to argue we shouldn't generalize at all, that's fine, but I think there's a decent message and some ideas in this one, not just complaining or generalizing, IMO. :)
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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #31 on: January 13, 2016, 08:45:32 AM »
I have met quite a few Lucys.

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #32 on: January 13, 2016, 11:57:31 AM »
Yeah I agree with that article and now I feel like an ass-hat. 

I was operating from a place of being tired of reading people bitching and moaning about kids these days.

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #33 on: January 13, 2016, 12:54:26 PM »
There are Lucys in GenX as well.  And in Boomers.  I think in all of them.  They build some sort of batshit crazy fairy-tale in their head about how *everything* is going to happen, how everyone is going to act, and then become massively disappointed when it doesn't.  They've got a script  the world is supposed to follow and we're all actors in their play.  ...Only we weren't given the script. Almost all disappointment comes from this.

I've met people disappointed in Paris--because instead of showing up and enjoying it for what it was, they had some lunatic expectations in their head about roses, meeting a handsome stranger, quiet walks along the Seine with the place to themselves, a spaghetti dinner like "Lady and the Tramp"...  They see crowds of tourists and it ruins everything. 

Their heads are filled with silly string dreams.

You ever gone out for dinner with somebody to a place they really, really, wanted to go to and once you get there they don't properly enjoy it because they're already thinking about what/where they're going to go next?  Instead of appreciating the moment and surroundings?  THAT is the issue.  Craziness.  Silly string.   

The only problem with Millennials is they're generally too nice.  ...And they invented hipsters.  Gelled hair, plaid shirt, trimmed-beard, Buddy Holly glasses, gourmet coffee, craft beer, man-purse...  Those lemmings are just plain annoying and in the way.

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #34 on: January 13, 2016, 02:02:25 PM »
I read this article a few days ago. One thing I noticed is that they present "Facebook Imaging Crafting" as some totally new phenomenon that Boomers didn't have to contend with. But to my recollection, at least some Boomers did plenty of "image crafting" in their yuppie days --only instead of public postings of staged vacation pictures, it was done through highly visible material goods like big houses and luxury cars. "Oh man, Brad just bought a new Porsche, and I'm still stuck with this lousy old BMW. I'm so jealous!" etc.

tobitonic

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #35 on: January 13, 2016, 07:06:36 PM »
Saw this a while back and never really found it to be all that substantive.

Like all click-baity articles about millennials, it is meant to feed into the reader's preconceived notions about "young people these days".

Also it expects us to take as a given that Gen Y is unhappy. Are they? I'm not.

+1. More nonsense designed to drive wedges between folks in society instead of uniting us toward the need to reduce inequalities (locally and globally).

Did you actually read it?

I agree that your sentence describes the majority of articles complaining about, or even just generalizing about, a while generation.

I don't think this one did.  I don't think it complained about Millennials, and I don't think it was "designed to drive wedges between folks in society."  What parts of the article do you think did that?

Yeah. I read it several months ago, popped back in, and saw it was the same article. Skimmed it again and reaffirmed my opinion.

The overall focus of the article on millenials being unhappy (a generalization in itself) due to overly high expectations is part of a song and dance I've read too many times through pop sociology articles. There are far greater societal factors present, and generational discontent isn't a particularly new phenomenon; making up more acronyms to describe it doesn't bring the conversation to where it needs to be: on reducing the various inequalities in our society by putting people ahead of corporations and profits.

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #36 on: January 13, 2016, 10:02:03 PM »

C) the people who chime in the most about their careers are usually those whose careers (or relationships) are going the best, while struggling people tend not to broadcast their situation. This leaves Lucy feeling, incorrectly, like everyone else is doing really well, only adding to her misery

As a rather active Facebook user, i disagree; the people more boasting about their awesome life are the ones doing worse. Especially when it comes to relationships: the more they go on about how much they love each other in public, the more they're fighting behind closed doors.

I think there have been studies that show that to be true. If people feel the need to show how good their life is, then it probably isn't.

but most people do just show the best bits of their lives, happy or not. For example I know if I am on holiday or something I will post about it, if I am having a bad day I do not mention it. Not because I want people to think my life is awesome but just because I don't like to share my negativity around.


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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #37 on: January 14, 2016, 01:39:47 AM »
Saw this a while back and never really found it to be all that substantive.

Like all click-baity articles about millennials, it is meant to feed into the reader's preconceived notions about "young people these days".

Also it expects us to take as a given that Gen Y is unhappy. Are they? I'm not.

+1. More nonsense designed to drive wedges between folks in society instead of uniting us toward the need to reduce inequalities (locally and globally).

Did you actually read it?

I agree that your sentence describes the majority of articles complaining about, or even just generalizing about, a while generation.

I don't think this one did.  I don't think it complained about Millennials, and I don't think it was "designed to drive wedges between folks in society."  What parts of the article do you think did that?

Yeah. I read it several months ago, popped back in, and saw it was the same article. Skimmed it again and reaffirmed my opinion.

The overall focus of the article on millenials being unhappy (a generalization in itself) due to overly high expectations is part of a song and dance I've read too many times through pop sociology articles. There are far greater societal factors present, and generational discontent isn't a particularly new phenomenon; making up more acronyms to describe it doesn't bring the conversation to where it needs to be: on reducing the various inequalities in our society by putting people ahead of corporations and profits.

I don't believe they're mutually exclusive.

most people do just show the best bits of their lives, happy or not. For example I know if I am on holiday or something I will post about it, if I am having a bad day I do not mention it. Not because I want people to think my life is awesome but just because I don't like to share my negativity around.

Good point.  One doesn't even have to purposefully be trying to "show off" for this effect to happen.
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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #38 on: January 14, 2016, 05:17:55 AM »
My kids are both Gen Y's and they are nothing like this!  They are hard workers, don't feel entitled etc., basically, just like my husband and I.
One of my younger co-workers described this feeling to me -- she says she definitely has it, even though she knows it's stupid.  Essentially she said:  I am a winner.  I always win.  Always.  All my friends are winners.  Always.  When someone tells me I'm wrong, I tend to think that person is wrong or biased or that something knocked me off my game -- it simply can't be that I'm second best.  Even though I know logically that every one cannot win all the time at everything, somehow I expect it to happen -- at least to my friends because we are special, unique, and different.  She laughed at herself and her generation as she said it.

And THIS is what we breed when we give everyone a trophy, quit keeping score, and eliminate the "honor roll" because of hurt feelings!  Everyone (at least a lot of them) grow up thinking they are "special (everyone is 'unique') and always right" and everyone else is the problem. 

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #39 on: January 14, 2016, 05:40:43 AM »
Wow, this is a great article!

Considering tomorrow is my last day at a "secure but unfulfilling" job that I'm changing to a different "less secure but more fulfilling job" I found it particularly interesting.

It is important to realize that, for most of us, our sense of importance to our employer is horribly overblown. They will get by without me, just fine, even though I'm adding a lot of value. In some sense that's actually freeing to realize as it relieves a sense of responsibility for leaving. I might be a good widget maker, but I'm still a widget maker...

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #40 on: January 14, 2016, 06:22:58 AM »
And THIS is what we breed when we give everyone a trophy, quit keeping score, and eliminate the "honor roll" because of hurt feelings!  Everyone (at least a lot of them) grow up thinking they are "special (everyone is 'unique') and always right" and everyone else is the problem.

And generally speaking, the group of people whining about it the most is the same group of people that raised Millennials and gave everyone a trophy, didn't want to keep score, and eliminated the honor roll. 

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #41 on: January 14, 2016, 11:49:10 AM »

My kids aren't like this either, but I know a whole bunch of students who fit the bill -- and a bunch of them are the "best and the brightest", the ones who feel quite sure they're going to rule the world by age 30. 

Are you sure they didn't?

;)
Well, some of the ones who were most cocksure of themselves are still ringing up my groceries at the Food Lion, so I do know about some of them.  I've taught some kids who've genuinely gone on to become stupendously famous:  One NFL player, one minor rock star, one NASCAR driver, and a whole bunch who've become CEO-types in various businesses ... but the vast majority of them are ordinary middle-class adults now.  Of course, I've also taught two murderers and one kid who was sentenced for hate crimes (burning black churches). 

I'm planning on being FI shortly after 30, which I'm sure will feel like ruling the world =p.  It's less about the generation than it is about how parents raise their kids. 
It's also about how society raises kids.  For example, kids raised during Vietnam were affected by that war.  Kids born during the recent recession -- even if their parents' jobs weren't personally affected -- were touched by "downsizing" all over the place.  Technology, art, shifts in public opinion, availability of products, and more -- they all affect kids.  To give one example, today's kids are much less innocent than the ones I taught at the beginning of my career.  They've been watching R-rated movies and googling dirty pictures since they were in elementary school, and it's resulted in a more jaded generation.  Is this true of ALL kids?  Of course not, but the average kid "sees more" than the average kid did a generation ago.  Similarly, I see a whole lot more kids struggling with anxiety problems and/or an inability to socialize with other kids -- again, technology.  Kids are more aware of dangers than a generation ago, and some of them take it very, very personally.  And they don't just plain talk to one another as much as they did a generation ago.  A generation ago "everyone" was raised in the church; today it seems to me that about 25% of my students are active in organized religion.  A generation ago minorities had fewer opportunities than they do today. 

So this is all more than the way parents raise their kids.  Certainly being a member of a certain generation doesn't mold you into a clone of all your same-aged classmates, but every time period leaves its fingerprints on its children. 

+1. More nonsense designed to drive wedges between folks in society instead of uniting us toward the need to reduce inequalities (locally and globally).
Why do you see it as a wedge?  I definitely see that my students feel this way -- to varying degrees, of course.  And, yes, the article made it a bit extreme, but the hyperbole was intended to make a point.  The article is an illustration to help understand how Gen Y thinks, not an insult; however, one thing I've observed about Millennials is that they're quick to imagine an insult where none is intended.  It's not the Millennials' best trait. 




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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #42 on: January 14, 2016, 03:39:31 PM »
I'm planning on being FI shortly after 30, which I'm sure will feel like ruling the world =p.  It's less about the generation than it is about how parents raise their kids. 
It's also about how society raises kids.  For example, kids raised during Vietnam were affected by that war.  Kids born during the recent recession -- even if their parents' jobs weren't personally affected -- were touched by "downsizing" all over the place.  Technology, art, shifts in public opinion, availability of products, and more -- they all affect kids.  To give one example, today's kids are much less innocent than the ones I taught at the beginning of my career.  They've been watching R-rated movies and googling dirty pictures since they were in elementary school, and it's resulted in a more jaded generation.  Is this true of ALL kids?  Of course not, but the average kid "sees more" than the average kid did a generation ago.  Similarly, I see a whole lot more kids struggling with anxiety problems and/or an inability to socialize with other kids -- again, technology.  Kids are more aware of dangers than a generation ago, and some of them take it very, very personally.  And they don't just plain talk to one another as much as they did a generation ago.  A generation ago "everyone" was raised in the church; today it seems to me that about 25% of my students are active in organized religion.  A generation ago minorities had fewer opportunities than they do today. 

So this is all more than the way parents raise their kids.  Certainly being a member of a certain generation doesn't mold you into a clone of all your same-aged classmates, but every time period leaves its fingerprints on its children. 

I completely agree.  We're all products of our environments, and while parents/family are a big part of that, they certainly aren't all of it.

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #43 on: January 14, 2016, 04:12:12 PM »
And THIS is what we breed when we give everyone a trophy, quit keeping score, and eliminate the "honor roll" because of hurt feelings!  Everyone (at least a lot of them) grow up thinking they are "special (everyone is 'unique') and always right" and everyone else is the problem.

Millennial here. I'll trade you all my participation trophies for the unprecedented and unfunded benefits that the past generation voted for themselves. =D

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #44 on: January 14, 2016, 04:13:05 PM »
Why do you see it as a wedge?  I definitely see that my students feel this way -- to varying degrees, of course.  And, yes, the article made it a bit extreme, but the hyperbole was intended to make a point.  The article is an illustration to help understand how Gen Y thinks, not an insult; however, one thing I've observed about Millennials is that they're quick to imagine an insult where none is intended.  It's not the Millennials' best trait.

The last two sentences of your post are right in line with the generalizations I find boorish in the article.

mathlete

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #45 on: January 14, 2016, 04:16:18 PM »
This pretty much settles it: http://mentalfloss.com/article/52209/15-historical-complaints-about-young-people-ruining-everything

The problem with millennials/gen Y is the same problem that gen X had, and the boomers had, and the "greatest generation" had, and every generation back to the beginning of time.


tobitonic

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #46 on: January 14, 2016, 04:23:59 PM »
This pretty much settles it: http://mentalfloss.com/article/52209/15-historical-complaints-about-young-people-ruining-everything

The problem with millennials/gen Y is the same problem that gen X had, and the boomers had, and the "greatest generation" had, and every generation back to the beginning of time.

No, no, this time it's different. We've really got (insert generation you feel negatively toward) figured out, and they're entitled. Now back to patting ourselves on the backs, old chaps!

mathlete

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #47 on: January 14, 2016, 04:36:28 PM »
The article is wrought with generalizations and pretty light in substance.

Given that they actually use illustrations of rainbows and unicorns, I'm pretty quick to dismiss what to me seems like pretext.

The one stab at empirical evidence is the Google Ngram stuff but if you do an ngram on "a stable career" instead of "a secure career" like they did, you see that the use of the phrase "a stable career" career is actually on the rise.

So the ngram stuff is suspect at best.

They quote this guy Paul Harvey, who is a professor at the University of New Hampshire, but a quick Google search shows that the quotes were pulled from a media relations website and not from actual research though.

Further Googling of Paul Harvey reveals that he definitely has a hard on for the "entitlement generation". Results in which is is quoted include:

"As College Graduates Hit The Workforce, So Do More Entitlement-Minded Workers" - UNH Media Relations

"Entitlement-Minded Workers More Likely to Claim Bosses Mistreat Them, New UNH Research Shows" - UNH Media Relations

"UNH Prof. Paul Harvey discusses entitlement and Generation Y" - UNH via Vimeo

and my favorite,

"GenY: The Worst Generation Ever?"
- Fox Business

I don't doubt that Paul has his reasons for thinking that today's worker is entitled, but I wonder how that stacks up in light of the fact that today's worker has basically been dealing with stagnant wages and that the share of income taken home by the average laborer has dropped pretty significantly since the 1970s.

Anyway, just my two cents.



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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #48 on: January 17, 2016, 06:49:41 PM »
Why do you see it as a wedge?  I definitely see that my students feel this way -- to varying degrees, of course.  And, yes, the article made it a bit extreme, but the hyperbole was intended to make a point.  The article is an illustration to help understand how Gen Y thinks, not an insult; however, one thing I've observed about Millennials is that they're quick to imagine an insult where none is intended.  It's not the Millennials' best trait.

The last two sentences of your post are right in line with the generalizations I find boorish in the article.
You're proving my point.  At least my generation can say, "Yeah, we have our good and bad traits.  We've had both good and bad luck handed to us." 

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Re: Article - why Gen Y is unhappy
« Reply #49 on: January 17, 2016, 08:47:51 PM »
Why do you see it as a wedge?  I definitely see that my students feel this way -- to varying degrees, of course.  And, yes, the article made it a bit extreme, but the hyperbole was intended to make a point.  The article is an illustration to help understand how Gen Y thinks, not an insult; however, one thing I've observed about Millennials is that they're quick to imagine an insult where none is intended.  It's not the Millennials' best trait.

The last two sentences of your post are right in line with the generalizations I find boorish in the article.
You're proving my point.  At least my generation can say, "Yeah, we have our good and bad traits.  We've had both good and bad luck handed to us."

Your caricaturish generation-bashing speaks for itself. Keep posting; it's good to vent about those Gosh Darned Millenials, isn't it?