Millennials: Downtrodden or Just Dumb?

Bob Herbert in the NYT today:

"The landscape is changing before our eyes. Younger voters struggling with the enormous costs of a college education, or trying to raise families in a bleak employment environment, or using their credit cards to cover everyday expenses like food or energy costs are not much interested in hearing that the government to which they pay taxes can do little or nothing to help them."

Research shows that this is the most progressive generation in decades. We want nothing less than a new New Deal--and along with rebuilding the middle class, we're going to need a new WPA to rebuild our transportation and energy infrastructure in a post-fossil fuel world.

On the other hand, maybe a wholesale transformation of government and American seems too difficult or out of reach. Instead, you can indulge in a nice round of Blame the Victim.

Some scoldy English prof in the Boston Globe:

"The ignorance is hard to believe ... It isn't enough to say that these young people are uninterested in world realities. They are actively cut off from them."

Would that it were true! Many of the young people I talk to would love to be cut off from realities like the war in Iraq (who do you think is fighting over there, John McCain?), student loan and credit card debt, low-wage jobs, lack of access to health care, & high housing costs.

Unfortunately, it's a pretty common pattern to label an economically disadvantaged, politically disenfranchised group as dumb. You can see it in racism, sexism, and this time, ageism.

Follow Anya Kamenetz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Anya1anya

Comments

[midwestdoc]

Grown-ups have felt that the educational system and the younger generation are degenerating for some time. The first extant example of that lament is from a Sumerian tablet from about 4400 years ago.

[SolarPowerGuy]

Dear Ms. Kamenetz:

I was born in 1968. I came of age with the Reagan Youth. I attended a fairly well-regarded university and, to my great surprise, found myself surrounded by people whose political opinions were pure jingoism. "My" people have been voting for longer than yours, and have played a significant role in building the Republican Party.

In short, most of my generation is pretty dumb too. Try not to take it personally.

[holyhandgrenaid]

HuffPost's Pick

As a Millennial (born 1984), I ask; whose fault is it that there is a certain degree of ignorance in my generation? Were we the ones who gave us a third rate education? Are we the ones who have grown up in a nation who (for example) airs ABC World News Tonight with only 90 seconds of actual world news (this has bugged me since the age of 12). Are we the ones who have systematically ensured that teachers are the third most educated workforce, yet are paid worse than most non-college graduates? Are we the ones who voted for the politicians that pass No Child Left Behind (more appropriately called 'Lets bring them all down to the lowest common denominator'

I ask you all; why is it that my generation is considered ignorant and apathetic? Could it be the result of the systematic decimation of our capacity to learn and care?

Now that you've thought about that; ask yourselves, why is this generation so much more politically motivated that the last several generations? Could it be because we have been systematically trampled underfoot by the establishment, and now, that same establishment has the gall to accuse us of being ignorant, at a time when finally, we see a politician who can restore light to our future, and are being told by some that we don't matter.

[em0199]

Thank you. I was born in 1980 and feel the same way. I can tell you that the majority of people my age I know are very interested in this election and really do want to see some change brought to this country. They are also very informed. Now I know this may have more to do with the fact that many times you surround yourself with people who are like-minded, but I am telling you I have seen it first hand people who I never dreamed would start caring about politics and what is happening in the world are now. We understand that it is up to us to try and fix what has happened to this country in the last 25 years. No one is going to do it for us. So we are done listening to those who got us where we are and we are ready to listen to new ideas. We will be the generation that has less than our parents and we will be the generation that doesn't have Social Security if things keep going the way they are. We see this and we know that something has got to give and if the people of parents generation aren't going to help us then we will do it ourselves. They certainly have not done a whole lot to help us in the last 25 years.

[LeeAlex]

Dear Holyhandgrenaid (that right there makes me grin):

This tail-end baby boomer respectfully asks that you consider running for president in, oh, about twenty years. You understand balance, actions and consequences, my friend, and I find that incredibly appealing and refreshing.

I felt the same way in 1984, in my mid-twenties. All anybody cared about was being a yuppie and having money and it didn't matter who they stepped on as long as they got the prize. I read, I questioned, and was also told that I just didn't care about the right things and would never be a success.

Now I read, I write, I still question and I also preach, literally, on what we need to do to find balance again. Have I been a success? I suppose so, despite predictions to the contrary. But if someone asked me what I'd value more, a $100 bill or seeing your post -- seeing your post, hands down! You do matter, way more than you'd think!

[holyhandgrenaid]

Thank you, the encouragement means a lot coming from someone my parent's age. I look forward to your vote in 2028 or 2032... haha

[SaltySaltillo]

My greatest pet peeve - generational politics.
If (and this is an "if") Millennials are "dumb" we can point the finger right back at the baby boomers and their fascination with the intoxicating politics of Kemp-Laffe­r-Reaganom­ics. The American government investment in education has been taking a hit for as long as baby boomers have been old enough to vote. Second, we cannot blame any single president but the slow institutional pressure on the middle class to transform itself from a class of one-income households to two-income households is to blame: all studies indicate that having a parent at home with the kids makes a fundamental difference in the intellectual development of the kinds; Third, blame the parents (yes you baby boomers) - children inevitably learn their values and behaviors from their parents... even something as simple as reading ... Is reading a family value in these homes? there are upper middle class suburbs across the country where baby boomer parents are disconnected from their millenial children all day every day.

But, personally, I think the youth are much more alive and energized and in tune than the older folks realize.

[LizzyTish]

Am I a "Millenial"? I have no clue.

What I do know is that I came of age at precisely the wrong time. I went to a "prestigious", overpriced school where I was bombarded by predatory lenders in their heydey.

As a young mother, I feel fortunate to have a flexible work environment, however as a nonprofit manager my salary is low. I struggle with costs of energy and food and my loan/credit deb. A salary raise priced me out of state healthcare (I paid a premium), so my child is without insurance. I would be thrilled about the plummeting costs of housing, as we look to buy the house we rent...but my budget and credit score are probably too shaky to finance our tiny $150,000-ish townhome.

We get by because we live in a walkable city (where no one else walks) and own no vehicles (how else would we afford childcare?). I bike my daughter to soccer games. To keep the lights on, we'll be canceling digital cable this week.

So I suppose I am "downtrodden". But the less I can stretch my dollar, the more I consider our lifestyle, and in some ways my quality of life has vastly improved..­.but I do want to see a new New Deal and an Obama-led Americorps "army" of service.

I hope my fellow Gen Xer/Yer/Millenials will learn to make the most of the Boomerized wasteland we've been living in.

[SaltySaltillo]

From one GenXer to LizzyTish my younger brothers and sisters - I am ready ... let's do this.

[flacon]

So you went to a school you couldn't afford, had a child before your finances allowed and currently live above your means. And somehow this is my fault?

I did exactly the same. Married as a college junior. Three sons before I figured out what was causing them. A hefty student loan. Oh my!

What I did was easy. I worked. Started a career in an industry that would pay me what I needed-eventually. I wanted to smell the roses but I couldn't. I had a wife and children and responsibilities.

Don't blame others for your decisions. Get off your ass and get to work. When you succeed it will be that much sweeter.

[InDaZone]

If the Millennials are dumb or uncaring..­. who's fault is that?

[Desiderata]

"The young have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things—and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather do noble deeds than useful ones: Their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning.­... All their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdo everything; they love too much, hate too much, and the same with everything else."__Ar­istotle

Even back then the elders fretted about the young.

[mbjesq]

Just Dumb

The college classes to which I've lectured are striking both for their stunning ignorance of the world and their seeming disinterest. These are people whose chief mission at this time of their lives is to indulge their curiosity and learn. By any measure, these kids are failures.

But to the extent that the Millennial generation is being singled-out to wear the dunce cap, I'd agree that there is a degree of unfairness. I challenge anyone to demonstrate that the Millennials are any dumber than any other post-television American generation.

MBJ
www.memestream.org

[KillTheMessenger]

It's a two step: the parents took the first and then pushed their kids down the dark stairs of a basement filled with the religious trash of centuries.

Don't worry kids. There are about one billion Chinese and Indian kids who are eager to get the best possible education and who won't let mind numbing tv and little Jesus get between them and the future.

[danceswithyids]

Just Dumb
I am 34 and have had the opportunity to witness the differences first hand.
I used to run a summer camp and there was a clear delineation between these Millennials and those campers that were from the prior generation.
Intelligence is almost looked at as some kind of curse

[YuryGetsin]

That's because all the old people pocketed the money that should have gone to giving my generation a decent education system. The baby-boomers screwed us out of a future.

[danceswithyids]

No
Your generation lacks the intellectual curiosity that the generations before them had
It is possible that this is due to everything being at ones fingertips rather than having to put forth effort to get information, accurate info at that.

[RedKnuckles]

Got news for you...we *had* a wonderful education system. This has been gradually eroded by the conservatives who, as Grover Norquist says, want to weaken govt enough to drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the tub. The govt funded education system we had worked beautifully since the end of WW2 through the 1970s. The neocons want to completely destroy public education, and the insidious way of doing it is with vouchers, another way of further weakening the fiscal strength of our schools. It was not just old people who kept the money, but the newer neocons who greedily take theirs and screw the rest. be careful about making blanket statements about the baby boomers...­many of us have been very liberal and progressive all along and want every succeeding generation to have prospertiy and opportunity. This does not come from the myth of "free market" ideology, which only enriches an increasingly smaller percent of the population.

[Cathexis]

Singling out one generation of young people to criticize -- especially when too few of any generation appear to be doing anything -- seems like scapegoating.

[mexamerican]

HuffPost's Pick

i'm a college professor and i think that young people get a bum rap. yes, there are some who don't exhibit any real curiosity and don't want to work very hard. but for the most part, my students are intelligent, curious, creative, and idealistic. if we want the next generation to rise to the occasion, then we have have to take an active role in educating and advising them. quit feeding them television and video games and empty diversion. give them a sense of social awareness, of historical context, of civic responsibility. it takes a great deal of work to train a young person. and if we aren't up to the task, neither will our young people. for one thing, we could stop indulging the idea that experts and scholars are "elitist eggheads" who are "out of touch" and love to drink lattes. what idiocy.

[mbh78213]

I am also a college professor, and I have noticed that my students become very interested and engaged when they are actually challenged. Once they wake up from their high school-induced coma, they are actually rather bright.

[wolfgangmo]

Speaking as a Gen-Xer who used to teach y'all I would say that calling someone that age uninformed and uncaring is not any more true than it was for the accusers.

Welcome to the fight. Now let's go take our country back.