I was born in 1995. That makes me a “millennial,” aka a member of the 18-25 age group.
That means that I get blamed for pretty much all of the world’s problems. You’ve probably read all the articles about how terrible this generation is, the majority of which are written by people in their 50s, happily blaming millennials for destroying the economy or climate change or the current political situation. Millennials are, according to majority of these articles, the root of all evil! The laziest, most promiscuous demographic!
As millennial queen Taylor Swift would say, “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009.”
There’s actually a name for this, when old people blame young people for things: “old fogeyism.” Old people love to blame the generation below them for things, even though things realistically haven’t changed that much. The economy ebbs and flows, and society ebbs and flows, and crazy people start wars–none of this is new.
I’ve had enough of the millennial shaming. I’m sick and tired of blamed for things because of my age, or because a few people in my age bracket are lazy.
I’m in my fourth year of university. I work my tail off everyday, as do most of the people that I know and consider my friends. I’m one of thousands, perhaps even millions, who know that after they graduate college with their Bachelor’s degrees, there won’t be jobs in their fields. My debt, sleepless nights, and stress of the past four years will be all for naught. I know this, and at this point, it’s just a big laugh. Should we play “Why Won’t I Have a Job When I Graduate?” It’s because old people are staying in jobs longer, because they don’t have enough money to retire, because the government squandered their pensions. But then those same old people also expect young people to support them when they finally do retire. How do you expect me to support you if I barely have enough money to support myself? But yeah, blame the generation that is paying your pension for all of your problems.
At the end of the day, I know that my generation will be blaming the next generation for their problems. The “kids these days” rhetoric will go on for generations to come. Maybe when I’m old I’ll be blaming my kids for their hoverboards and they’ll be blaming me for ruining the country. Who knows.