“The Only Thing Millennials Are Guilty Of Is Their Youth”

As far back as 1952, the American politician and Democrat leader Adlai Stevenson remarked that “nothing so dates a man as to decry the younger generation”.

Yet as I sat eating my avocado on toast this weekend (at home Bernard Salt, and my feta is from Aldi), another post popped up on my Linkedin feed criticizing Millennials, decrying their ‘laziness & lack of commitment’.

Millennials have long come in for constant bashing. Even Simon Sinek has jumped in on the debate, on one side defending Millenials by blaming their parents, yet still generalizing an entire generation as insecure and narcissistic.

So are Millennials really hugely different to other generations of youngsters?

Are they really the ‘Me, Me, Me’ Generation?

Alas, it appears that those criticizing Millennials have short – or perhaps selective – memories.

From The Mods to Britpop, What Can We Learn From Rock ‘n Roll?

The 1979 classic film Quadrophenia told the tale of a young Londoner, bored of his job, seeking ‘the meaning of life’, desperate to be a ‘somebody’. As Jimmy famously said, “I don’t wanna be the same as everybody else, that’s why I’m a mod”.

It appealed to me greatly as I entered adulthood back in the Big Smoke . It raised questions about life, politics, love and what was it all really about.

As I searched for ‘me’, the movie and album lyrics didn’t have the answers, yet it told me others were asking the same questions. As Daltrey sang “can you see the real me, can you, can you?” Alas, it appears being misunderstood and having what could be labeled as narcissistic tendencies aren’t simply a Millennial phenomenon.

Perhaps the only real difference was that generations before us couldn’t express these feelings through Instagram & Facebook.

“Perhaps the only real difference was that generations before us couldn’t express these feelings through Instagram & Facebook.”

Although this movie came out during my fathers teenage years, not my own, the appeal remained, perhaps because generations as not as different as some may like to suggest. Indeed, as I entered adulthood in the 90's, young Britain was swept away by the optimism of New Labour, while Oasis told us that cigarettes and alcohol were all we needed – “ is it worth the aggravation, to find yourself a job when there’s nothing worth working for? It’s a crazy situation, but all I need are cigarettes and alcohol”.

Both Oasis and The Who represented the thoughts of the youth of the time – whether it was the 70's of the 90's, saving money and careers were far from the most important thing on the minds of the younger generations – spending money on partying and ‘dressing the part’ was far more important than ‘saving for a mortgage’.

Generation Yawn

So what’s true? Ironically, contrary to many commentators views, Millennials are actually more sensible financially than those generations that have gone before them. Indeed, in the UK The Telegraph have gone as far to label them Generation Yawn.

Data clearly highlights that Millenials are actually erring away from ‘cigarettes and alcohol’ – habits that are far more costly than the occasional breakfast at ‘hipster cafes’. Despite arguments that this generation dont want to save or commit, evidence actually contradicts this. It isn’t that Millennials don’t want to own a house – rather its just becoming increasingly impossible to do so.

Is it actually any surprise that Millenials are more Blur and ‘Coffee & TV’?

Millennials are feeling pain points that those before them didn’t. Whilst many of their parents benefitted from minimal, if any, university fees, this is a generation confronted with being thousands in debt before they even look at a career – and all of this in a job market that has proven unfriendly for the most part to the younger generation.

Furthermore, this is a generation scarred by the GFC, well aware of the pain that can emerge from placing everything in to the dream of home ownership and high levels of debt. With affordability at all time lows, and the correlation between wages and property prices broadening each year, data simply highlights that Millennials buying a home is close to impossible, and for those that can they are well aware of the risks.

The Me Me Me Generation?

Bashing Millenials hasn’t been confined to the finance arena. In Joel Stein’s article on Time.com, he labeled Millennials the ‘Me, Me, Me’ Generation. In this he argues that “Millennials lack the kind of empathy that allows them to feel concerned for others”.

Yet, the growing tides of nationalism are not emerging from Millennials – indeed quite the contrary. The rise of protectionism and anti-immigration that led to Brexit has largely been considered to have been caused by increasing unemployment and widening inequality. Yet the group that would be most impacted by this – the under 35's – voted against Brexit by a significant margin of 65–35%, whilst 60% of pensioners voted to leave.

As Anatole Kaletsky’s excellent article on the topic displays, Brexit appears to be the last actions of “an aging population trying to impose its nostalgic parochialism on an increasing cosmopolitan younger generation.” The fact that 65% of leave voters claimed ‘multiculturalism’ was a negative is perhaps the clearest example that Brexit is a cultural battle, not an economic one.

The so called ‘Me, Me, Me’ generation have voted for diversity and multiculturalism, whilst older generations have supported a campaign that has used slogans such as ‘I want my country back’ – I know which sounds most ‘me, me, me’ in my humble opinion..

Indeed, we recently saw a clash of generations when Saffiyah Khan calmly confronted the far right EDL leader Ian Crossland. Saffiyah, a Millennial, Crossland Gen X. When asked why she attended, millennial Khan advised it was “because there is a history of harassment and assault of Muslims, vulnerable members of the public, and people of colour at the demos”. In other words, she felt a responsibility to support equality and protect others, despite the risk she placed herself at.

Noted critics may advise this is one example, however evidence highlights that Millennials are hugely passionate about ‘social responsibility’. Some 73% of Millennials are prepared to spend more for sustainable offerings – sacrificing money for the greater good, at a time when disposable income has been significantly reduced, does not indicate a generation lacking empathy, quiet the contrary. They will also use social media to punish those that fail them, and we are in an era where this can be lethal.

Indeed, whilst some claim Millennials to be lazy, perhaps it is rather a case of where their passion lies. When making decisions on who to work for, social impacts of the business is now a significant factor. A Deloitte survey of Millennials highlighted that 75% of them believed that businesses were too fixated on their own agenda and enough on how to help society – hardly a sign of narcissism..

“A Deloitte survey of Millennials highlighted that 75% of them believed that businesses were too fixated on their own agenda and enough on how to help society – hardly a sign of narcissism..”

Further evidence of this can be seen here within Australia and the emergence of ‘social-enterprises’. Thankyou Water and Toilet Paper company ‘Who Gives a Crap’ are prime examples of businesses that have been created with the intention to create products with a purpose. Not only were these businesses founded by Millenials, but their customer base are also predominantly from this generation. Evidently, Millennials do ‘give a crap’.

The Youth Want to Save the World

The urge to save the world may not be simply a Millennial phenomenon.

As Winton Churchill said, “ any man under 30 that isn’t a liberal has no heart, and any man over 30 who isn’t a conservative has no brains”

Indeed upon looking deeply at any generation, younger adults often display deep concerns around the challenges the world faces. They often display a lack of patience at the slowness of change and this can lead to frustration. Yet, they have the same desire to ‘save the world’ as the generations that went before them.

As Winton Churchill said, “ any man under 30 that isn’t a liberal has no heart, and any man over 30 who isn’t a conservative has no brains”

Rather it could be an indication once again that Millennials at heart are similar to many of those generations that went before them – their baby boomer critics stood up in the 60's when 100,000 convened at the Lincoln Memorial protesting against the Vietnam War.

Sticking to the music theme, they did so with Rock n Roll, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones being amongst those whose music was heavily influenced by the war. Indeed, Bob Dylan emerged in this era and his musical expression was recognized with his, albeit controversial, Nobel prize award for literature in 2016. Furthermore, this Baby-boomers movement was supported through cutting edge technology of the time – transistor radios and FM broadcasting were the smart phones of the time.

Back in My Day..

Ultimately, we have always lived in a world where older generations warily scrutinise their younger counterparts. If we were to ask most generations, I’m sure they would each have stories of their parents and grandparents lamenting them for their actions, and telling them that ‘back in my day’ things were different. Yet, behind every young person that wants to change the world, is a parent that wanted to first.

“Yet, behind every young person that wants to change the world, is a parent that wanted to first”

As Albus Dumbledore told us in Harry Potter, “youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But Old Men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young”. Perhaps like the Professor, many of us have forgotten. In reality, the only thing Millennials are guilty of is their youth…a crime we committed first.

“In reality, the only thing Millennials are guilty of is their youth…a crime we committed first”