Today I want to talk about a video I stumbled across on Facebook this morning. Its a talk show, with a man named Simon Sinek discussing everything that's wrong with Millennials. It's around 15 minutes long, if you want to watch it, click here. What bugged me from the start was that there was a huge caption around the video that said "THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT'S WRONG WITH OUR GENERATION," and then I started to watch it...
The video starts off with Sinek discussing what a Millennial is and the kind of stereotypes that are involved with being one, things like lazy and entitled. He says that we are insatiable, we get jobs and aren't happy, so we complain because we want "free food and bean bags" and when we get those, we're still not happy. This was the first red flag for me during this video. The first thing that came into my mind was that if we remain in the same work environment as the generation before us, or if they remained in the generation before them nothing would ever progress. The only way to progress is to speak up about what we're unhappy about to make change happen - something I think millennials are very good at. Look at the LGBTQ+ community and how far it has come in the last twenty-or-so years, look at Black Lives Matter, look at how our generation views the Muslim community compared to past generations. We are amazing at creating social, technological and environmental changes simply by speaking up and letting the world know when we are unhappy.
He then splits his argument into four main categories which he thinks explain why Millennials are idiots, basically. First of all he says that we are lazy and entitled and all that because of failed parenting strategies. He says that we have an entitled sense of self because we spend our lives being told we are special and winning participation awards, etc. This I can't agree with, I know from personal experience and from looking around at my friends, peers and colleagues that encouragement is often what drives individuals into competitiveness. If I think of the people in my home community that have received no encouragement or praise from their parents, they are the ones in the pub at 11am, or the ones doings drugs or committing crimes. The ones who have been encouraged and praised are in steady jobs earning a good wage, or graduating from university. The main focus of this point in the video is also that we develop a sense of entitlement in adolescence because of being treated this way in childhood - but our parents are not the only people we learn from and interact with before adolescence. Teachers, friends, other adults, children and everyone else you may encounter also have a huge impact.
Sinek's second category is a personal favourite of mine when people decide to slate millennials; technology. He goes on what's probably around a five minute rant about how we are too invested in social media, we're addicted to our phones because of the dopamine release (which is basically the happy hormone that is released when we get a reply to a text message, or have sex, or get drunk or gamble). He even compares millennials on social media to young teenagers having their pick of a full liquor cabinet. My first thought when I heard this was that not everything we look at is social media, we don't all mindlessly scroll through Facebook all the time. For example, I don't have a TV and I don't read the newspapers, so technology is my main way of reading the news. Also as a student, the internet is one of my main learning environments, as well as a place of discussion, of creativity and more. For example, Sinek also makes the point that we are as a generation more depressed because we are not forming strong enough social support networks, but I know people that, including myself, would be a lot lonelier if they couldn't speak to their loved ones through social media. However, a point he made that I did agree with was that there is an imbalance of technology usage - we use our phones too often as an escape from a tricky situation, or when we're alone instead of making conversation with someone.
Thirdly, Sinek argues that our need for instant gratification is why we are lazy and entitled as a generation. We are too used to having things instantly that when it comes to things that there aren't apps for such as job satisfaction or a strong relationship, we can't deal with it. However, I know for a fact that millennials aren't the only ones using Amazon because its so fast - my Gran uses it! And even if it was, isn't that what's so great about the present day? We can get things fast. We can move on and better ourselves fast because the things that make us happy or the things we need don't take weeks to arrive. Sinek in this section also makes a point about us not knowing job satisfaction because we quit too fast because we don't get the instant gratification. It really annoyed me how he could so quickly generalise so many millions of people from different countries and cultures. I know people that have worked since the age of 13, I know people who have had the same job since they left school and I know people that can't stay 2 months in one job. WE ARE NOT ALL THE SAME.
What I saw when I watched this video was a bitter man from a different generation, talking about a generation he seems to have nothing to do with and generalising millions of young adults and teenagers, despite the fact that he probably takes part in all the activities he said made us lazy and entitled. Of course there are problems in the millennial generation just like there have always been problems in every other generation, but we are passionate, hard-working, ambitious and are making huge changes and contributions to the world, and to me that's everything that's exactly right with this generation.
Thanks for reading, and as always you can find me on;
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