It’s not the end of the world. We know that. Day to day life
can become monotonous. We live that. We live in a generation of simultaneous
progress and decline. We understand that.
To sum up this generation, this is what we have seen.
- The 90’s era ended in about 2004,
where we said goodbye to scrunchies and sugar packed junk food.
- The next few years saw the
decline of eating disorders seen in the general public.
-We also saw a more plain/simple
fashion emerge that hadn't really been seen since the 60’s.
-As new bestselling books took
flight, Turning those books into movies did too.
-And it must be noted that most
visual effects in today’s films are terrible and completely unbelievable. (Compare
affects from 2014 movies to those from a few decades past like the original “Jurassic
Park” or even “The Wizard of Oz” and you’ll understand, with one debatable
movie being “Inception”.
-The media view of women’s body
image has changed from wafer-like for the 90's to a body that is ultra-healthy and toned. With the media occasionally interjecting with the image of big boobs and butts.
-The job market is really tough for
the young and inexperienced, typically promising middle wage but with the “expenses
needed to work” using up almost all
of the paycheck.
-If you want to make good money,
you have to have talent, luck, AND connections to do anything
attention-seeking, ex. actor/actress, YouTuber, dancer, singer, musician.
Otherwise, you have to choose a college degree that will actually make you
money in order to survive. And even that doesn't promise you a job.
-It is because of these pressing new
requirements that our country (who really has always been lazy) no longer feels
the desire to work because they don’t see any quick/easy/profitable results.
So, now we have Presidents promising free health care and other things that are
supposed to come from taxes that hardly anyone is really paying.
-Thus, the new generation who plans
and are determined to succeed, have had to come to grips with the overwhelming
amount of past debt they will eventually have to deal with.
-The current generations have also seen an more recent intelligence divide between average/normal people on one side and
complete morons on the other. (Google "Faith in humanity restored/Faith in humanity
lost" if you are not aware of this problem)
-Some things haven’t changed and
there are still hot disputes over certain topics. (Gay marriage, abortion, racism,
sexism, war, poverty)
-Cancer is still being fought daily
as Scientists still have not found a cure, but have discovered faster, more efficient
ways of identifying cancer sooner.
-The internet is now an extension
of everyday life, with social interactions, information sharing, business
operations, and it’s very own type of online etiquette.
-Finally, The Baby Boomer Generation is closing, Generation X is getting old, Generation Y is currently in power but appear a bit lost and confused,
and the Millennials are still trying to figure how they are going to develop
their new found power of their new world. Meanwhile, the generations quickly following the
Millennials (who don’t seem to have a name yet) are keeping a close eye the Millennials
to make sure things go in the right direction.
So how do we survive this new, unknown environment? Well,
first it looks like goofing off time is for early high school. By senior year
of high school, everyone is either applying for grants and scholarships or they
are being really dutiful to their college-funding parents. We try not to get
loans at all costs because they are incredibly hard to pay back. The college we
choose to go to is usually the one which best suites our needs in price and
location. We go through college at a pace that our funding and stress levels
allow (2-5yrs). We then plan for the horribly stressful but also increasingly
important need to attend graduate school. All the while, we scour the map for
places we want to visit and look up job openings.
We can no longer get by simply by the work of our brow so
everything is planned out before we have to make any important decisions. We
use the help of the internet to fund our research. We learn to take advantage
of free stuff like online music, free samples at stores, and (at least as a
college student) the availability of free toilet paper.
We also have to
understand the new-found importance of building a respectable online profile
that we would be okay with future employers viewing.
With less in-person social
interactions and higher stress levels, occurrences of Depression have also
skyrocket. We deal with this by maximizing what little interactions we have and
using free counseling services provided by schools. Some also seek more diligently
to find humorous and uplifting, if not at least inspiring, entertainment to
keep their spirits up and forget the troubles of the world for a time.
Surviving now is founded on becoming faster, more efficient,
less stressed, more positive in the face of adversity, prepared for change, and
protective of ourselves by setting up measures to defend our delicate mental
states. Ect. Ect. Ect.
Plainly put, the way to survive now, for the Millennials, is
by having to really pay attention to the details, both internally and
externally. If we don’t, we will find ourselves in trouble sooner or later.
Finally, there is at least one thing we all share or hope to share. A
little bit of hope. A little bit of peace. A little bit of comfort. Because remember:
You are already beautiful/handsome, so just remember to take care of yourself.
Life is tough for everyone, but one day maybe you or I or someone can make it
easier. We have it in our grasp to make a world we only dream about! Now! Today!
We all have that power. We just have to work together. Remember the past,
survive the present, prepare for the future. Because, well, why not make life
worth living?
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(And if anyone has anything they would like to add, feel free to leave a comment.)
