Introduction
It seems whenever the news isn’t trying to scare us with something, they’re trying to divide us, and one of the ways they often do this is by pitting generations against each other. Baby Boomers are entitled brats who wrecked the economy. Gen X are largely ignored while Gen Y(millennials) and Gen Z are painted as kids who don’t know anything and are constantly on their phones.
In fact, Gen Y and Gen Z often get lumped together and viewed as the same amorphous blob of people.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Older Millennials, such as I, didn’t get our first cell phone until college and we didn’t get the internet until our late teens. Whereas younger millennials like my cousins and Gen Z’ers have had this technology since birth.
For instance, my brother Christian is seventeen years younger than me and is quite different from me. He grew up with DVDs, tablets, computers, and the internet since he was a toddler and spends most of his time online when not gaming. Whereas I didn’t get my first PC until I was thirteen and the PlayStation One was the height of gaming technology.
Moreover, when I was growing up, we played outside and only came home when the streetlights came on. Unlike my brother, who prefers socializing with his friends online.
Gen Z and Y often get confused with each other because younger Gen Y’ers share many similarities with Gen Z such as their affinity for technology, plastering their whole lives on social media, and a penchant for slacktivism.
However, despite how old we younger generations get, we’re seen as perpetual children.
The Kids Are All Right
The dominant image of millennials is that of the broke college kid who spends all their time with their face buried in their phones, but this isn’t true. Older millennials like myself are pushing forty, own our homes, and many of us have families and kids of our own.
Sure, we’re addicted to our phones, but so is everyone else.
Moreover, younger Gen Y and older Gen Z have been adults and in the workforce for a while now. So, this picture the media has of us being entitled kids who don’t know how to hold down a job or manage our money because we blow it on lattes, avocado toast, and expensive gadgets isn’t true. Yeah, there are some of us like that, but that’s true of people of any age.
Furthermore, Younger Gen Y and Gen Z often get criticized for not being politically active, yet they’ve been at the forefront of many of the recent political movements. It’s Gen Z’ers like Greta Thunberg and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez who’ve been leading the push for climate change reform. Likewise, it was Gen Z and Gen Y who showed up in force at Black Lives Matter protests and who used their social media skills to raise awareness about George Floyd and put pressure on the DA until they brought charges against the officers involved in his murder.
Moreover, during the height of the pandemic, it was teens who stepped up to make mask and other PPE using 3-D printers and created websites tracking the spread of the virus and later websites to coordinates getting vaccines. All of this while the supposed adults in charge were too incompetent to do anything right.
So, this notion that the younger generations are naïve crybabies who only know how to complain about things without offering any solutions is false. We have our issues, but what generation doesn’t.
Gen Y, Gen Z, Gen Whatever
All that is to say the whole debate over which generation is better or who had it better/worse is a ploy used by the media to keep us separated. The science behind cohort groups is flimsy at best and was created by demographers so that corporations could use this data to targets products at consumers.
It also plays into our egos.
No one likes to hear they’re getting old and no longer relevant, so when the media or a corporation comes along and tells you the younger generations are awful and nothing like your “good” generation you’re primed to respond to it. But the truth is no generation is perfect.
Conclusion
Whatever your generation, it doesn’t matter. We all have our struggles and triumphs. We all have things about other generations we don’t like or understand. And eventually we all become that gif of the old man yelling at clouds. But growing old is a natural part of life. Just because Gen Y and Z are younger than you, doesn’t make us kids. Respects us and we’ll respect you.
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