Ever since the beginning of history, human beings have looked for scapegoats. The Devil was the initial scapegoat, having fallen from heaven. Mrs. O’Leary’s cow was the poor scapegoat in the Great Chicago fire. Hitler tried to cast away the Jews as scapegoats and in the 21^st century, the scapegoat of choice seems to be millennials.

The exact definition of millennials is fuzzy. Some sources argue over what exactly a millennial is but generally speaking, millennials tend to have been born between 1982 and 2004. I personally think that range is a little broad but the theories and principles are still applicable.

As a millennial myself (1996 baby), I feel personally victimized by the fact that older generations tend to disregard us. Not to be overly dramatic, but it is more difficult to be recognized as a competent human being because I am a millennial. Some people could say that it’s just because I’m young, but I feel as though the undermining runs a bit deeper than just my age.

There have been lots of news stories lately about millennials and it seems as though another one is coming out every day. Do you remember the story about the teen that suffered from “affluenza”? Yes, that’s apparently a thing and is the exact defense that his lawyers used in court. A young man named Ethan Couch killed four people in intoxicated vehicular manslaughter, received a lenient sentence, and then ran away with his mother to Mexico, where they were eventually found.

Reckless people like Couch are the exact reason that our elders don’t hold us in high regards. The blame game has been pointed many different ways with no conclusive answers. However, there are some interesting points that have been brought up regarding millennials.

One of my favorite ones involves the global landscape that millennials were born in to. According to Goldman Sachs, we have a http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/pages/millennials/different set of priorities and expectations because we grew up in a time of rapid technological time. Many of us remember things like pagers, landlines, and film cameras being the norm. In an extremely short amount of time, those things became nearly obsolete and the whole world of technology changed, creating a sense of confusion, even in the subconscious.

The world has shrunk tremendously for millennials. You can speak with someone on the other side of the world or send messages to millions of people all at once. Our priorities are unlike those of previous generations, like the baby boomers. Their main focus was to get a job, marry, and begin a family. But millennials are breaking that tradition. Instead, we want to focus more on improving ourselves, whether it means taking a gap year to travel the world or wait on marriage until they find someone they really love and don’t settle. Millennials want to get married; they just want to do it at their own pace. Don’t hate me because I’m not following the same path that you did.

If you’re going to hate me for being a millennial, then hate me for the right reasons. Hate me because I have the world at my fingertips and the ambition to make my dreams a reality. Don’t hate me because other people my age are poor representations of my age group. Because, in all honesty, I can come up with more bad examples for your age group than you can for mine.

Millennials are gradually being accepted as more than their stereotype but we still face adversity. Many people are blaming us for the downfalls of the society. Obesity epidemic? Blame millennials. Addiction to smartphones? Well how about blaming millennials since they’re always on their phones. Drug abuse? That’s something young people like to do, so I’m sure all millennials are taking part in it.

If you’re going to hate millennials, be sure to remember who raised us. We didn’t grow up alone; we grew up with the help of older generations. Surprise, that includes you! I was fortunate enough to have been raised by caring parents who devoted their lives to ensuring that I was raised thoroughly and properly. Each and every millennial is different; so don’t give all of us the same, demeaning titles.

Don’t hate us simply because we are millennials. Be nice to us because one day, when you’re old, we are going to be the ones taking care of you.