Great Places
Vernise L. Tantuco
vtantuco@theguidon.com
“It’s our party, we can do what we want,” goes the catchy hook of Miley Cyrus’ new summer anthem, “We Can’t Stop.” It’s a song that says a lot about our generation of lazy, immature narcissists—at least, according to the experts that are whining about how our entitled selves are going to destroy the world.
TIME magazine’s May 20 issue dedicated a four-page spread to this very phenomenon. Their cover page screamed, “The ME ME ME Generation,” featuring a redhead taking a selfie on her iPhone. The article details how millennials—those born between the years 1980 and 2000—are less ambitious and more self-obsessed because of the rise of online media and the digital age.
As a millennial myself, I can attest that a lot of the things mentioned in the article are true. As early as the age of 10, for example, I’ve already been a victim of “phantom pocket-vibration syndrome,” constantly checking my cell phone every few minutes—a behavior that apparently reduces anxiety.
I’m also an expert at putting things off. If there were rehab for procrastination, I’d be the first one to check in (eventually). Unfortunately, no such thing exists. In the past two hours, Facebook messages on my smartphone have been a constant distraction. I even put off getting out of bed in the morning by browsing through Instagram.
Nonetheless, I don’t see what the big deal is. Articles that point out that the digital age and the changing habits of our generation are obvious. If anything, all this media attention has made me all the more self-interested: Who else would read about a bunch of narcissistic 20-somethings but themselves?
Likewise, finding fault in the next generation certainly isn’t a new idea. The Baby Boomers, who spent their teenage years steeped in hallucinogens during the ‘70s, were hardly the poster kids for a promising future.
Yet it’s these very people who insist on studying millennial behavior today. In a TEDx talk, Scott Hess, the Vice President of a global youth research firm, said that those in Generation X (1961-1980) are afraid of millennials not only because we are different, but also because we might be better than them.
“[Millennials] are said to be entitled. We think that we deserve something, that the world should hand us something for being here,” editorial cartoonist Matt Bors writes mockingly in a comic strip on CNN’s website. The behavior is reminiscent of the way everyone stereotypes Ateneans as arrogant, expecting to get high paying jobs right out of college.
However, it’s hard to say that many Ateneans even consciously subscribe to this belief today. If we do at all, the blame can’t be entirely on us: Everyday, we are reminded that our university is one of the most prestigious in the country.
On the other hand, international media insists that millennials are going to end up saving the world in spite of our countless flaws. It’s a huge responsibility, a prophesy that, at 20, I can hardly see myself fulfilling.
“We run things, things don’t run we,” sings Miley. Awkward sentence structure aside, her words are ringing with truth: We will be running the world in a couple of years. And while I don’t think the millennials will save the world from the unresolved problems brought about by the past century, we won’t be running the world to the ground either.
So adults, have faith. Or at least, let us take pictures of our food in peace.
