The Problem With Kids These Days
When people say, “Kids these days”, and “Back in our time”, what do they mean? Who are these “Baby Boomers”, “Gen X-ers” and Millennials”? How have generations interacted with each other and how does that alter the human existence? Why do our parents and grandparents always think their generations were better and children always disagree? Why is it important to understand how generations interact with each other? Let’s dissect this one at a time.
What is a generation?
A generation is the collective identity of people born and living in a particular locus in time. For example Millennial is an overarching term used to signify the people born between 1982–2001 with early Millennials born between ’82 and ’95, and late Millennials from ’95 to 2001. Each generation, according to sociologists, share experiences that define their character traits. Thus, individuals who belong to the same generation, who share the same year of birth, are endowed, to that extent, with a common location in the historical dimension of the social process. (Mannheim, 1952)
When we talk about generations, we are generally talking about the Western generations, especially that of the United States. This makes the idea that people of the same generation experience the same historical processes highly disputable. Further, many scholars not only disagree on the geo-centricity of the idea of generation but also of the division of generations within the US. One of the commonly accepted notions of generation is shown below.
But before we get to the nitty-gritties of that, let’s see how the idea of generations has evolved.
Kids these days:
Popular media has taken upon itself to constantly remind us that Millennials are under-motivated and entitled, that they can not take criticism, that they hold no respect for tradition, that they are foolish and selfish and that the Millennials are the worst generation (ever!). Does that have any substance?
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that at any point in time, there are three defining characteristics that exist among people based on their age. There are the youth who are fickle and changeable, the elderly who are distrustful of the future and those in the middle who are free from extremities and influence the dominant discourse. Though times have changed, the way that young people behave has not. Are Millennials the worst generation ever?Nope, they’re just young.
However, that does not mean that generation is just a biological construct as Aristotle believed. Since societies are never stable and change is a part of human nature, generational behavior occurs as a result of socio-cultural change.
It’s all about the timing:
History or the unfolding of time is an agent of change. A generational experience is a result of paradigms or events in history that seem to impose themselves on the thought processes of a generation; they are anchors or reference points to which members of a generation continually return as they struggle to make sense of the changing world. (Jasinski, 266)
Take the 60’s for example, the generational paradigms were two-fold. On one hand, there was the dominant older generation who had faced death and starvation of the World War. Barely out of the World War, their leaders set stage for another possible war: The Cold War and the space race. When Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon in 1969, the Vietnam War had already begun, both Martin Luther King and JFK had been assassinated and the Russians had put a satellite in space. On the other hand, in the midst of brutality and paranoia, the swinging 60’s was in full steam talking about ‘mary jane’ and ‘having a gas grooving to psychedelic music’. The 60’s hippies were post world war generation kids who grew up in relative luxury and looked back at history and believed that the older generations had caused irreparable damage to society, with this idea came a sense of moral righteousness and a certain level of narcissism. As humankind ventured into space, on the earth, the Hippies decided that enough was enough, they wanted peace and the way to that was self-indulgence: psychedelic drugs, Bob Dylan and John Lennon, sexual exploration and freedom riding was what they cared about.
Was that all there was? No. As the first generation that grew up with the television, the ‘hippies’ were more aware of the world. All of this altered the socio-political fabric itself. For instance, Greenpeace was started by a bunch of ‘hippies’. They protested against the state’s regime of war. A significant part of their struggle was against the rising nuclear armament: Greenpeace gathered momentum from being seen as a bunch of hippies to serious activists by protesting against the Amitchka nuclear testing, drawing media and global attention to the idea of nukes. What was started by a bunch of hippies is now one of the most important organizations lobbying for world peace.
This brings us to the heart of the matter: Generational Argument.
War of words?
As we’ve seen with the case of Greenpeace, over the years, the idea that the youth are fickle has changed vastly. Some scholars like Marias and Thomas Goodnight redefined generations in terms of historical change. According to them, there are four generations co-existing in a certain temporal location: the “survivors” of a time that is quickly passing away, the dominant generation that is in power, the rising generation that is beginning to challenge the dominant generation, and the new generation that has not yet entered the world stage (Marias, 1968). Each of these generations are affected by certain animating sentiments that functions as the central theme of their argument in their struggle with the previous generation. For the Baby Boomers, it was the Vietnam War and the space race; for the Millennials, it is the 2008 economic crisis, the income inequality and the looming threat of terrorism.
Since most generational studies are focused on the American generations, take a look at how a Millennial challenges the dominant discourse head-on.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has over the last two months become the most popular politician on the internet with her video critiquing US campaign finances garnering over 40 million views, and get this, she’s only 29 years old — a Millennial. What adds an interesting angle to this discourse is also that for the first time, the Millennials are set to trump the Baby Boomers in size of population this year.
The video above also explores the similarity between Trump (a Baby Boomer) and Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest Congresswoman ever, besides the stylistic similarities, there is an ideological similarity(challenging the system) despite the byproduct of both their discourses being vastly different.
How is this relevant? Thomas Goodnight’s theory on generational arguments says the struggle with generational arguments is to make arguments that create continuity among generations and are yet authentic to the unique experiences of one’s time.
Unlike with Ocasio-Cortez and Trump, often the continuity lies in the intent of each generation even if the form changes. In the 60’s, the peak of Black rights movement had the face of Martin Luther King and his I have A Dream Speech. The relevance of the Black Movement is still fresh in the lives of Black-Americans with police violence and ghettoisation that continue till today. The face of the Black Movement is not so much the political leaders as much as the popular artists of the time. Tupac and the Harlem rappers fought for the same dream that MLK had. So does Kendrick Lamar when he sings ‘we gonna be alright’.
The problem with generational thinking:
Every single theory on generation and generational discourse exclusively deals with the American cultural turnings. The problem is that the evolution of American cultural discourse has very little to do with how generational discourses in different cultures, say in India or Kenya works. When you were born affects your attitudes, values, and behaviors; but not only does it have to do with temporal location, but also with geographic location and affluence based on the strata of society one belongs to.
“There are some people back in my city who are younger than I am, but belong to my parents generation in mindset and behavior”
-Anunaya Rajhans
Why is it important to understand Generational Argument despite this?
In a continually changing world, members of different generations use generational paradigms as a way to interpret the world as they interact with each other at a particular temporal location.
In a process of action and reaction there are cyclical processes that influence the times and thereby the discourse one indulges in based on which generation they belong to. Often, the cultural and linguistic communication between successive generations might seem aggressive and even unhealthy, but each of these turnings in time influence the heuristic potential of humankind in plurality. It also has power over how history is interpreted.
This makes societal discourse of any point of time a bridge between the dead, the living and the ones who are yet to be born, our grandparents, parents as well as our children and grandchildren.
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
-William Faulkner
Not only do we owe a duty to the past which taught us the wisdom we use today but we owe a duty to the future which will be affected by our decisions today.
If you found this interesting and want to read more on generations and generational argument:
- Millennials are doomed to face an existential crisis that will shape the rest of their lives
- Generation Zero
- LifeCourse Assocciates
- Strauss-Howe Generational Theory
- Greenpeace: From hippies to lobbyists
- Against generations
- Millennial desperation — a tale told in memes
- James L Jasinski — Sourcebook on Rhetoric
