Generation Me - Introduction

Jean Twenge has written a very interesting book studying today's youngest generation to have come of age. In these postings, I will begin to provide key quotes and references that have stood out to me. From that, I have posted a few questions for reflection. For more information on this book, I encourage you to explore her website: generationme.org

Also see my article: Me, MySpace and iPod: Tales of a Culture Stuck in the Mirror Phase of Development and Its Moral Implications

INTRODUCTION

NOTABLE QUOTES

"Today's under-35 young people are the real Me Generation, or, as I call them, Generation Me. Born after self-focus entered the cultural mainstream, this generation has never known a world that put duty before self" (p.1)

"We're told we will produce a generation of coddled, center-of-the-universe adults who will expect the world to be as delighted with them as we are. And even as we laugh at the knock-knock jokes and exclaim over the refrigerator drawings, we secretly fear the same thing." (Joan Ryan quote, p.2)

"Reliable birth control, legalized abortion, and a cultural shift toward parenthood as a choice made us the most wanted generation of children in American history. Television, movies, and school programs have told us we were special from toddlerhood to high school, and we believe it with a self-confidence that approaches boredom: why talk about it? It's just the way things are... GenMe is not self-absorbed; we're self-important. We take it for granted that we're independent, special individuals, so we don't really need to think about it." (p.4)

"...we enjoy unprecedencted freedom to pursue what makes us happy. But our high expectation, combined with an increasingly competitive world, have led to a darker flip side, where we blame other people for our problems and sink into anxiety and depression." (p.5)

"My perspective on today's young generation differs from that of Neil Howe and William Strauss, who argue in their 2000 book, Millennials Rising, that those born since 1982 will usher in a return to duty, civic responsibility, and teamwork... But I see no evidence that today's young people feel much attachment to duty or to group cohesion... young people have been consistently taught to put their own needs first and to focus on feeling good about themselves. This is not an attitude conducive to following social rules or favoring the group's needs over the individual's." (p.6f.)

"Today's young people, born after [Alvin Toffler's Future Shock], take these changes for granted and thus do not face this problem. Instead, we face a different kind of collission: Adulthood Shock. Our childhoods of constant praise, self-esteem boosting, and unrealistic expectations did not prepare us for an increasingly competitive workplace and the economic squeeze created by sky-high housing prices and rapidly accelerating health care costs. After a childhood of buoyancy, GenMe is working harder to get less." (p.7)

"The gut-level value systems are, in fact, dramatically different between the generations... The focus should not be so much on how to change other people to conform to our standards, our values. Rather, we must learn how to accept and understand other people in their own right, acknowledging the validity of their values, their behavior." (Morris Massey, p.8)

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1. With the increase of planned parenthood in the early 1980s, Twenge suggests that this is probably "the most wanted" generation in American history (p.4). Is it possible that today's youth have been raised to believe that the world revolves around them? Has our desire to empower our youth fueled and overindulgent spirit?

2. Twenge speaks about the "darker flip side" (p.5) to this generation's pursuit of happiness: not accepting responsibility for one's actions and blaming others for our problems. How can we help to construct cultivate a sense of responsibility in today's young adults?

3. Twenge suggests that "young people have been consistently taught to put their own needs first and to focus on feeling good about themselves. This is not an attitude conducive to following social rules or favoring the group's needs over the individual's." (p.6) Have we lost a sense of duty (def. the binding or obligatory force of something that is morally or legally right) in today's culture?

SUPPLEMENTAL AIDS FOR THIS CHAPTER

Generational titles referenced in this chapter
Wikipedia - Generation X
Wikipedia - Generation Y
Wikipedia - Net (or Internet) Generation
Millennials

Not included, but other interesting generational titles include:

Wikipedia - Echo Boomers
Wikipedia - iGeneration
Wikipedia - Google Generation
MySpace Generation
Generation Next
Nintendo Generation
Hip Hop Generation

Whitney Houston
Lyrics to "The Greatest Love of All"

Joan Ryan
The Millennial Generation

Don Tapscott
Wikipedia - Don Tapscott
Growing Up Digital discussion board
Growing Up Digital book

Margaret Hornblower
Time Magazine - Great Xpectations

Daniel Okrent
Time Magazine - Twilight of the Boomers

Morris Massey
Wikipedia - Morris Massey
The People Puzzle book

J. Walker Smith & Ann Clurman
Book - Rocking the Ages: The Yankelovich Report on Generational Marketing
Rocking the Ages Book summary

Quarter-Life Crisis
Wikipedia summary
BBC Report - Life is Hard When You're In Your 20s
Film - The Rest of Your Life
QBoy Lyrics - 1/4 Life Crisis
Quarter Life Crisis website
ABC News - Quarterlife Crisis Hits Many in Late 20s

Jean Twenge
APA Article - The Age of Anxiety: Birth Cohort Change in Anxiety and Neuroticism, 1952 -1993
Reuter's Report - Study Reveals Self-Esteem Inflation Among US Kids
NPR's All Things Considered - Anxiety and Kids