Article: Has Generation Y overdosed on self-esteem?

The Christian Science Monitor

March 2, 2007

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0302/p01s01-ussc.html

Excerpt:

A little smug self-absorption might be a time-honored trait of at least some subsets of the under-30 crowd. But over the past few decades the prevailing disposition among college students - today labeled Generation Y or Millenials - has slid into full-blown narcissism, according to a study released this week. The "all about me" shift means much more than lots of traffic at self-revelatory websites such as YouTube and Facebook. It points, says the study's author, to a generation's lack of empathy, its inability to form relationships- and worse. 

[...] For some, the study validates their suspicions of educational and parenting techniques that put undue emphasis on the positive: tot-level self-esteem boosterism, luxury-as-necessity entitlement, and what one calls "instant fame-ification."

"I can't imagine you can do a study on Gen-X, Gen-Y, Gen-Z and not have the takeaway be an inappropriate application of self-esteem," says James Twitchell, an English professor at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and an author of books on cultural shifts in the US. The trend is apparent even in student grading. "Grade inflation is just [another] adaption of the Lake Wobegon to everyday life. Everyone is 'above average,'" he says.

Mixed race relationships

I found this link to a MSNBC special "Multiracial in America."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24765917

There are several videos to watch with personal stories from people that are married to another person not of their own race. This would be great to explore for our RT.

What do you think about mixed race marriages?

I didn't see a mixed raced marriage growing up and in my own town it is still not well accepted especially if the marriage is between a white person and a black person. Although I did not see mixed race marriages growing up, I did see a lot of mixed race marriages in the military.

These marriages have been becoming more accepted in the United States especially if we look back 30, 20, or even 10 years ago. Why are they becoming more accepted? Why has it taken so long for these marriages to become a more acceptable option in the United States when we are considered the melting pot of the world?

We can also keep this information in mind for the minorites forum in Los Angeles!

In Consideration of Generation- X

Many thanks to Jon-Michael Durkin for recommending the Business Week article entitled, "Ten Reasons Gen Xers Are Unhappy At Work: Corporations really need folks in their 30s and early 40s, but there is a tentative relationship at best between that cohort and Corporate America."

www.businessweek.com/managing/content/may2008/ca20080515_250308.htm

While we, as JASC delegates and executive committee members, are for the most part of the Millenial Generation it is also important to consider the previous generation. Generation X. Originally referred to as the "baby bust" generation because of the smaller number of births after the Post-WWII baby boom. Birth years of this generation range from 1965 to 1982, and according to the book by William Strauss and Neil Howe entitled Generations (1991), main influences which affected the development of this generation are the following:

- Disaffectation with governance, a lack of trust in leadership, particularly institutional leadership

- Rampant political apathy

- Increase in divorce

- Increase in mothers in the workplace

- The zero population growth movement

- Availability of birth control pills

- Increase in educational variance

- Decrease in educational funding and loan availability

- Changed career options require more academic requirements and intellectual skill

- Concerns on environmental destruction and ecological issues

- Inception of the internet

- End of the Cold War

(Note: Guilty as charged, I used wikipedia) 

But what catches my eye most from this list is the "rampant political apathy" which isn't quite difficult to understand. If you consider the lack of success which was (grudgingly) inherent in the student revolutions of the late 1960s and early 1970s, wouldn't it be quite natural for that disillusion to sink into the generation born during that time? You might even consider it to be something of a quiet, collective trauma. For my part, I think one of the most encouraging characteristics of Generation Y (state side) is their curious optimism and the belief that change is possible. But at the same time it appears that this generation shrinks away from the previous methods of activism and is more willing to collaborate with institutional leadership in order to bring about positive change. 

I wonder how things developed in Japan, whose institutional presence is much stronger by comparison... 

Of course, I'm generalizing again and I will have to admit right now that one of the main points of caution is this very thing. Nevertheless, it's difficult to talk about generational characteristics without wielding this double edged sword. Standard disclaimer. 

Questions to consider: What socio-economic factors are shaping our own (the Millenials) mentality? What political forces and events? What makes us different from the previous generation and why did this change come about? How would this compare with our generational counterparts in Japan?

Who are the Millenials?

When considering notions of tradition and modernity, I suppose one has to start somewhere. Therefore, let me provide that proverbial somewhere. It's either "now" or "then" and for the sake of beginning close to the familiar, let us start with where we are now, what we know about ourselves and the generation that we are.

The following is a link to a pamphlet published by Deloitte Consulting, outlining the characteristics of "the Millenials," as our generation is called. Other names include Generation Y, the Digital Generation, the i Generation, and the Net Generation. A generation considered as "digital residents" who have enjoyed the luxuries of digital technology from a young age.  

"Although they are better educated, more techno-savvy, and quicker to adapt than those who have come before them, they refuse to blindly conform to traditional standards and time-honored institutions. Instead, they boldly ask 'Why?'" says Eric Chester from his article, "Employing Generation Why?"

http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/us_consulting_millennialfactsheet_080606.pdf

This is the launch point. Read and consider...

Who are we? Is this really who we are? Or does this only represent a select portion of our generation? Does it favor any particular section of society? Any particular group with a certain socio-economic status? Does this only describe American youth or does it encompass our generational counterparts in other countries, particularly Japan?