05-20-2021, 12:54 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-20-2021, 12:56 PM by Eric the Green.)
(05-19-2021, 11:45 PM)X Marks the Spot Wrote: In this article from the Atlantic, Jean Twenge disses Millennials.
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/arc...ic/256638/
Twenge writes: "The first books written about Millennials were not just positive but glowing. The best known of these, Millennials Rising, is subtitled The Next Great Generation. Authors Neil Howe and William Strauss predicted that Millennials would resemble the generation who fought World War II: conformist, socially conservative, and highly involved in the community and interested in government. 'Once this new youth persona begins to focus on convention, community, and civic renewal, America will be on the brink of becoming someplace very new,' they write."
But you Millennials ARE conformist, socially conservative, and highly involved in the community and interested in government!
She also writes: "Howe and Strauss were right about other trends -- rates of teen pregnancy, early sexual intercourse, alcohol abuse, and youth crime have continued to decline. However, these behaviors aren't related at all to civic orientation, and have a tangential relationship at best to the desire to help others or contribute to society. They are also determined by many factors beyond generational attitudes, such as demographics, drug wars, policing, birth control availability, and even -- as the authors of Freakonomics argued -- the legalization of abortion."
No, Millennials have decreased teen pregnancy, alcohol abuse and crime because they're a buncha wholesome Scouts! S&H got it right, foo's!
Why do so many people fail to see the social conservatism and conformism of Millennials?
Why indeed. And their "the desire to help others or contribute to society." S&H got it right in spades.
I would say the generational trends among Boomers and Xers to be more prone to crime, created a reaction toward more policing and drug wars. It works both ways. But the result is a generation that is more law-abiding. And now the emphasis on policing is receding because of the injustices it spawned. History creates generations, and generations create history; that's the S&H claim.
I agree with the comments by Brower and David Horn too.
