So, lately—and by lately I mean literally all the time—I’ve been seeing articles, news stories, blogs, everything talking about how terrible millennials are.
In case you didn’t know, the “millennial” generation is typically defined as those born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s. The term “millennial” was coined in 1987, and referred to the Generation Y group that was coming of age around the turn of the century—a new millennium.
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What many people actually don’t know is that as of 2015, the millennial generation actually outnumbered the Baby Boomers, with 75.4 million people, making us the largest, and most influential, generation to date. Basically, the millennial generation is large and in charge, and people are starting to take notice.
Whether it’s how millennials are spending money, current fashion trends, current wedding trends, current Gen Y anything, people are writing about us, focusing on us, inspecting us, and criticizing us for every move the generation makes. Talk about obsessive.
And here’s the thing: millennials are making some waves. There’s no way around it, we are doing things differently than any other generation before us has done. And apparently, people really, really, don’t like us for it.
I mean, we’ve been called “The Me Me Me Generation,” “The Lamest Generation,” and “Idle Trophy Kids,” not to mention much worse.
Despite all this, here’s my opinion on the topic: millennials are actually really freaking awesome.
Don’t get me wrong, there is some entitlement in our generation, there is some laziness, there is some not so great stuff going on. But that is literally with every generation. Just think of what the Baby Boomers were called: hippies, lazies, potheads, crazy civil rights people amiright? Every generation is going to have some negatives, some people outside that hate those young folks for trying to make waves. That’s just how it goes.
So, in defense of my generation and in promotion of all the completely awesome things we’ve done and are doing, here’s a list of reasons why millennials rock.
1. Millennials care, a lot. The Generation Y has made huge advances in civil rights causes. Whether it’s the Black Lives Matter movement, awareness for LGBTQ rights, or promoting women’s rights, one thing millennials cannot be called is inactive. And whether you agree with these movements or not, it can be agreed upon that when millennials see a need, they care enough to try and fix it.
And just as the last Civil Rights Movement (much of which was lead by young people) was denigrated, so have the millennials been who are trying to fight current injustices. The fact is Gen Y cares about everyone’s voices being heard, and are working to balance out power differences that have been held since the founding of the United States.
2. Millennials are innovative. A lot of what I’ve read on millennials claims we aren’t very intelligent. Technology has ruined us, we don’t have to do anything for ourselves, “back in my day I had to handwrite my math problems,” blah, blah, blah. But, here’s the thing: just because technology has made learning different, doesn’t mean that it isn’t still learning.
There is more information out there than ever before. For goodness sakes, millennials graduating college with engineering and medical degrees are already outdated by the time they start working. Gen Y is learning more than any other generation before us at a faster rate because of the accessibility of technology.
But just because millennials didn’t have to take a pen and paper to everything doesn’t mean they’re not smart. We’re innovative, solving problems through unique ways and thinking solutions through. Gen Y is inventing more ways of working than the typical 9-5. They’re asking questions about why the system works the way it does, and how we can better it. We’re working through problems rather than accepting what they say.
3. Millennials are strong. Let’s be real: millennials are facing some serious shit. Thanks to the national debt that previous generations left us in, millennials are graduating college with more debt than ever before. The job market is still down, and our chances of getting a career in the area we studied are slim. And while our generation is more educated than others before us, we have the highest poverty rate than ever before, at about 20% after graduating college.
Despite all this, millennials are still hopeful. We’re facing more challenges than our parents did and dealing with more economic crisis, but we’re still working towards achieving our goals, even if they’re different than generations before us.
So, yes, the millennial generation has some negatives, but don’t they all? With new innovations in technology, Generation Y is dealing with issues that previous generations never could have dreamed of, and we’re working to overcome them in different and creative ways.
We’re fighting injustices, we’re building across cultural divides, we’re expanding our global citizenship, we’re inventing new technologies, and we’re doing it all from the comfort of our parents’ basement because we can’t afford to move out.
So I say, screw you news stations, articles, and blog posts that hate on my generation. I’m proud to be a millennial, and you should be too.
