Millennials are the future of the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, they are now the nation’s largest living generation with 75.4 million people. Because of this, Millennials will play a huge role in what direction we, as a country, choose to go. This includes, but is not limited to, presidential elections, creation and revision of laws, and technological advances. Is this the generation that will lead the United States back to the top on the world stage, or will it lead to the destruction of the country as we know it?

Let me be clear; the following examples are my personal opinions based on my personal experiences being a white, Catholic Conservative who is from a declining area of Cincinnati. It is not my intention to offend anyone nor spread hate among any particular groups of people. However, the following examples are the reasons why I believe the Millennials are the worst generation in America’s recent history.

To be fair, the Millennials have had limited time to provide any benefit to society because of their youth and inexperience (ages ranging from 18-35 when this article was written). However, it is the negatives that I see that causes reason for concern. Let’s start with the idea of patriotism. Patriotism among our younger generation seems to be the lowest it has been since the Vietnam War. This is a hard concept to gauge because it really cannot be measured. However, from what I have seen and heard, it seems to be steadily declining every day.

Some young adults disgrace our flag, the symbol of freedom and democracy, by standing on it and burning it. There are also people who sit and kneel for our national anthem, another symbol of liberty and democracy, just because an overpaid, overrated, want-a-be professional football quarterback thinks he is an expert on social issues. I do not care what your views of America or the social problems are, if you live in this country, you should respect the symbols of this country.

Whenever you “protest” the national anthem or flag, you are hypocritical. You are saying that you do not need and are unhappy with what that country is providing you, however, it is also that country that is giving you that right to be unhappy, disagree and protest. Just because it is your right to protest or disrespect something, does not mean that you should and I believe that the national anthem and American flag are some of those things.

Let us now take a look at the young adult male. The male is supposed to be the robust and steady member of the family, it has always been that way and always should. However, recently, feminist groups have emasculated the male. They attempt to close the gap between differences of women and men with rallies and campaigns such as Free the Nipple Campaign (which is also one of those campaigns that I just do not understand). Do not get me wrong; I do not hate women, transgenders, or cross-dressers. However, I do hate this decrease in the value of men.

Men are ridiculed if they are masculine but celebrated for being more feminine that females. Masculine men do not necessarily have a voice any longer because if they use it, they are bigots, or sexist, or transphobes. That is not how our society should act. Let me be clear, I am all for equal rights of women and equality for all as a whole, but I believe that can be achieved without emasculating men.

Let us examine the Millennials’ overwhelming sense of entitlement. Millennials, for whatever reason, have a sense of entitlement. This is evident with the growing popularity of free college tuition. Free college tuition is simply unrealistic. Many countries around the world offer free college tuition, and it is proven to increase taxes which would monetarily benefit the upper case and hurt the middle and lower classes.

The United States cannot afford to make college tuition free; it would add too much money to the national debt. However, many Millennials refuse to believe that this is a fact and continue to push for the idea of a tuition-free college education. This carelessness for the national debt and, ultimately, the economic future of the United States shows the sense of selfishness and entitlement among many Millennials. Many Millennials believe that they deserve to have a good job with a good pay and to own a nice house, all with minimal effort. Why? Because they are entitled to it.

This generation is so incredibly lazy and expect more in return because of that laziness. Take the “American Dream” for example. The “American Dream” is just that, a dream. It says that here, in the United States, you will have the opportunity to raise a family in a house that you worked for with a job that you earned. This dream is not an entitlement. However, many Millennials see it as something that they deserve without putting in the work to earn it.

Now, let us get to my number one reason as to why Millennials are the worst generation in America’s recent history. To be blunt, we are a generation of oversensitive sissies. We do not want to take any criticism from anyone, and when we do, we feel “triggered” and in need of finding a “safe space.” These “safe spaces” are areas set aside on college campuses where anyone who feels offended can go and not have their opinions challenged.

We, as a generation, should not be so easily offended. Just because someone does not agree with your views, does not mean you should be offended. That is just absolutely insane. That is what makes this country great, the swapping of opinions to find common ground, but Millennials have a tough time understanding this. There is no common ground; there is just their way or no way. Opinions are opinions, nothing more, and the millennial generation needs to realize that it is okay to disagree with people on opinions.

There are many more reasons that I could touch on, but I believe these are the main reasons to why I think the Millennials are the worst generation in America’s recent history and will ultimately lead to the destruction of the United States of America as we know it.