Dreams of a Millennial
Introducing Generation Y
Millennials are a people of open minds, and of a global conscious. Those two entertained statements are so true it must be a fact that really cannot simply be argued away. Now before I delve into the world of politics, and of my generation, I want to first take a moment to help the reader, (whomever that might be) understand my agony with writing this paper.
I started off writing about three separate topics. My first draft was about ISIS and the political, and un-human events, multiple beheadings, which have taken place. My second and third topics I thought I was going to write about both turned out to be very intricate and yet not fully me. So when I came across the idea and energizing concept of “Being a Millennial” I was taken aback. I had still been in the process of trying to figure out exactly what I was going to write, but I had jumped on being a millennial already. Going so far as to make a Facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/dreamsofamillennial)
So Suddenly I had the answer to my paper. I would use all of the knowledge I had been gaining about Millennialism and wrap that around my expanded knowledge of political science and the information rendered throughout all of the class readings to create a (In my mind) perfect paper. Using Political words, that are “just a lot of mumbo jumbo” the words of my best friend Corban, I am going to compare Millennials to the idea of Hegemony through territoriality whether it be land or media related. As well as understanding the political set up and impact of Millennials in this day and age. Last but not least I will write of the future of Millennials in the upcoming years and beyond.
The Explanatory Tools to Explain the Millennial Thought
Breaching the gap and expanding knowledge of the life surrounding has always been a goal of mankind. So what is different about millennials? To understand that first you have to understand that the segregation of humanity is the cause of differences. In one of the early readings, a reading by Elden, I read this, “If we look at an atlas, we find that it often begins with two maps of the world. [Page 192] The first shows […nature etc.]. The second shows the same land and water, but this time the earth is brightly colored, divided up and with clear lines separating out states from each other, and capital or other major cities marked as signs of human impact.” People segregate the world into areas by “waters and mountains”, or “Political Infrastructure”, yet what if it were to be segregated by generations.
Millennials are all across the world. Having been thrown together from infancy, most have been surrounded by their own kind for forever, such as I have. Segregation is power. As seen through history, for instance, Babel. It was where the whole of the world’s population at that time was assembled and started a project to reach heaven, producing results truly terrific. So imagining the effect Millennials could have on this world, seeing how we are spread across the whole of the planet, truly does blow my mind. I also feel the need to just let you know who Millennials are. To sum it up, we work under the idea of Hegemony, which means that we like to exert control and dominance over everyone and everything, thinking we are better than others. Pretty much a defining characteristic of this generation.
Theoretical Knowledge for the Analysis of Millennialism and Politics
Millennials are affecting the world in ways others cannot. We can effectively change the political tide. We did in 2009 when Obama was rising to Presidency. And now, after all the years in office, millennials are losing faith in Obama and his administration. It doesn’t help that the government (President Obama and his administration) seems intensely caught up in losing all left over millennial support.
The government have intensively pushed aside the parties that put all of those political figures in their places of power. It’s nearly idiotic, but no matter what millennials are going to have their way. We are a democratic group of people. In one of my intense readings (Huggins, Democracy and Democratization) Huggins, a prestigious author of outstanding writing, started talking about the connection of democracy and liberalism. He considered them “Complex problems” (Page 160) which annotates that these topics are intertwine-able, explainable, yet difficult to fully understand. He considers Liberalism “stresses individual freedom, limited government and the rule of law” things admirable from the standpoint of my generation. Freedom being at the forefront. Moving on he brought up the centralized idea of democratization, or democracy. Democracy in his words “Stresses participation and popular sovereignty.” He poses this question soon after asking, “Who, for example, can argue against democracy” It is a thing that’s taken for granted.
For the past thirty years participation in electing political representatives has been sorely taken for granted. In 2008 51% of Millennials turned out to vote. When that is taken a closer look at it’s noticed that there are 75 million millennials in the world today, and 25% of the United States population is made up of Millennials. Democracy, freedom, and libertarianism are battling cries of the millennial population. Choice, control, and doing what we want has been an overwhelming thing for this generation and will continue to be. So politically millennials will most likely keep voting, it may be for selfish reasons, but at least we care about our country and the way it turns out.
Discussion of Millennials for the Future
When I looked up the millennial generation’s future, this single article came up and to be honest it slightly terrified me. It was titled “Forget Millennials, Gen Xers are the Future of Work”. Millennials are considered Generation Y. The article talks about how in 2015 the first “Gen Xers” 50th birthdays will arrive. The article says that they are in the perfect position to jump in roles of leadership. Growing companies are being run by Gen Xers.
Those facts are encouraging for the economy, but for Generation Y “the rise of millennials predicted to be more than 40% of the workforce by 2020”. “Widely dismissed as a lost generation with few job prospects, towering student loans, and a bleak future, the so-called Millennials, most of whom have reached adulthood since 2000, could surprise America and the world in coming years with their economic might and spending power.” I haven’t talked at all about the way millennials are talked about when it comes to distrust, and lack of respect, and the reason I haven’t is because I have full trust on my generation.
We are not seen to be a generation that will actually make a difference, and I believe the problem is that people underestimate and judge us based on our “Addiction to media.” To some it’s a sad dependency to stay updated on social media. For others it is an outlet to be creative and to learn the intricacies of programing. My generation is a generation of computer programmers, artists, performers, builders, imagineers, politicians, environmentalists, feminists and the biggest thinkers for the future.
Concluding the Millennial Tour
Millennials are. Yes, that is a full sentence. It is a sentence that contains among its two words the past, the present and the future. The hope for the future. The learners of the past’s media discrepancies, and/or advances made earlier in history. And for the present… As I have already stated, millennials are a generation whose impact is changing our world for the better. My writing so far has pertained to millennials in comparison to hegemony through territoriality, the political impact of this generation and the future of Millennials. So to end, I was browsing the web and through all of my searching and progression into not only that, but re-reading all of the previous reading assignments I feel as if my knowledge of politics and the generations both in the now, and previously are all topics I am much more affluent in. I am a Millennial, and I am proud to be a Millennial.
Citations:
"Hegemony." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Apr. 2014. Web. 04 Oct. 2014.
Glenn, Joshua. "The Millennials, 1984-1993." Boston.com. The New York Times, 16 Apr. 2008. Web. 04 Oct. 2014.
"Google." Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2014.
N.p., n.d. Web.
"How Millennial Are You?" Pew Research Center RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2014.
