Up@dawn 2.0

Monday, April 24, 2017

Hayden Wadell - Section 9 - Installment 1

The Possible Resurgence of Existentialism Amongst the Millennial Generation

In our brief existence, Millennials have developed quite the negative reputation. We're lazy, self-centered, irresponsible, and disrespectful. We refuse to get real jobs and seem to stir up trouble wherever we go. Which I guess, in the rapidly fading astigmatism stricken perspective of some Baby Boomers, could hold some truth; yet they unsurprisingly put their cynical and hypocritical twist on the scenario. Also, who is to say this is a bad thing? 

We are "the generation of the participation trophy", as some might put it. The generation of egocentric brats that all believe they're special in their own special way. Yet we didn't unanimously create this superiority complex on our own, we have our parents to thank for that. I might be mistaken, but I don't recall my fellow toddler teammates and I handing out these cheap plastic trophies at the end of our t-ball games. This mentality has been ingrained in us since the minute we were born by our parents who all believed that their sweet little Cody or Kelsey was going to grow up and do great things. Shielding us from the realities of the world and feeding us the idea that as long as we believe in ourselves, anything is possible. Then 18 years later, these same parents can't seem to figure out why all of their kids want to start bands and be professional athletes. We were bred to believe in this propaganda. 

Yet the thing that parents can't seem to realize is that this mentality is not a handicap, but an advantage over our predecessors. It was the seed planted at our births that could bring the revival of Existentialism, and in direct consequence, a social revolution. It reinstalled the idea that skipped over our parent's generation that the individual matters, that we are responsible for our own destiny. It gave us the courage to stand up to the old guard and demand justice and change in the face of adversity. We aren't afraid to ask why when told to do something, we don't want to fit in the mold of society; we want to stand out. Because despite our parents' change in tone, we are special, our lives do matter, and we can be whatever we want to be; and we're not going to let anyone stand in our way. 

We aren't lazy, we're just not going to waste our time doing what you want us to do, just for the sake of doing it. We aren't self-centered, we are humanitarians that believe that our lives hold purpose and that it's up to us to decide what that purpose is. We aren't irresponsible, far from it, we want to take control of our lives and no longer let other people make our decisions for us. We are not disrespectful, we just aren't afraid to question authority. We aren't the "me" generation, we are the "we" generation. We aren't going to submit traditions, because we write our own story.

4 comments:

  1. I agree! It's especially crazy how our parent's generation calls us crazy and selfish but who are the ones who raised us? Haha

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  2. Well it is true some of the people in our generation are lazy and get away more. As the years pass we can more and more people expressing how they feel, and what they want. Which can be a good thing and bad thing because it can make people believe they are entitled to something.

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  3. A Millennial Manifesto!

    Speaking as a Baby Boomer parent of millennials, I say more power to you... and on behalf of my cohort, I say we're not all conformists and anti-individualists who mistrust your generation's existential independence. We want you to be all you can be.

    I do think it would be nice if we could all get away from over-identifying with our particular generational niches, stop labeling and castigating one another. Funny thing, too, is how the older we get the smarter and more generous our parents seem to get.

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    Replies
    1. On further review it appears you ended with enough runs to qualify for exemption from a 2d installment. Congrats!

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