When it comes to young people, old people are confused. I'm not here to point fingers, the blame rests on our shoulders as a nation, but I am here to set the record straight. There are some things that are straight up not our fault. Hear me out.
There are lots of misconceptions about young people, and some are so off base and hilarious that it's almost worth seeing how they play out. It usually includes adjectives like lazy, needy and selfish. It's true we are different than our predecessor generations, but we're none of those things. I like to think this is all just a misunderstanding. Please don't confuse our lack of trust for institutions with entitlement, and don't confuse our disenfranchisement with apathy.
Millennials are not entitled, we just don't trust you, and that is your fault.
The tired old "Millennials are entitled" stereotype comes up most when talking about the workplace. Take the March, 19th, New York Times article, "What Happens When Millennials Run the Workplace?", which follows the Millennial-run Mic.com. It is essentially anecdotes chronicling Millennials' complete lack of professionalism. Not a ringing endorsement, to say the least. Poke around the internet and you'll find countless self-help articles for managers struggling to deal with their needy Millennial employees. There are a few trends people like to talk about within the workplace that many trace to Millennials' weak work ethic or goldfish-like attention span. But the truth of the matter is Millennials have learned from your mistakes, and we're fixing them. There's a reason why 85 percent of Millennials consider the good a company does before making a purchase or recommending a product to a friend. We now know that bad things happen when you don't consider how supporting a company affects your community. In 2007, we all saw what happens when you believe institutions have your best interest. How can you blame us for having trust issues?
Many think Millennials are ruining the workplace because we received too many participation trophies in middle school, or that we need to be coddled in the work place. We don't want to be coddled; we want balance, democracy and common sense. We're reinventing the 40-hour work week because it was developed when work was done at a steel mill. What does it matter if I come to the office at 9:30 a.m. if I'm still doing great work? It's not that we're entitled, we're just asking the questions you never did.
Millennials are not apathetic, we're disenfranchised, and that is your fault.
"Millennial's don't care," might be the single most insulting Millennial stereotype. At least it is to me. We care that we'll be paying back student loans for the rest of our lives and that candidates are chosen by billionaires. We care that we are the first generation forecasted to be worse off than our parents. We care that after decades of talk, deep biases in the criminal justice system have not been righted. Find me one Millennial who thinks those three institutions are peachy and don't need to be talked about or fixed. It's not that we don't care, it's that we have mostly given up. What has caring gotten us in the past, and what might caring get us?
It's true that young people don't vote. In the 2014 Midterm elections, only 23.1 percent of people aged 18-34 voted. Yes its true, we should vote, but can you blame us for passing? There is a reason 82 percent of Millennials distrust Congress. What have they done for us (or anyone really) in the last eight years? The secret is out: politics extends beyond the ballot box. It's a game whose outcome greatly affects our future, but we don't yet have a seat at the table to play. There is a reason $3 billion was spent on lobbying last year -- those companies expect a return from their lobbying investments. There is a reason outside spending in the 2016 election season could pass $6B -- those campaign contributors are expecting a return on their investment.
At the end of the day, trustworthy institutions and a seat at the table is all we want. Is that too much to ask for? I don't think so.