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Will the Real Gen Y Please Stand Up

Last week, we had a pretty lively discussion about the meaning of a new study that claimed Millennials were shallow, narcissistic individualists, not the optimistic, civic minded generation that we (or at least I, there was some debate) like to talk about here at FM.

Strauss and Howe, two of the leading academics covering the Millennial Generation, smacked that study down in the LA Times this week, exposing it as the (ironically) self-interested, shallow book publicity stunt that it was:

In a book published last year, "Generation Me," and a new report issued this week, Twenge draws a portrait of under-socialized young people fated to depression, self-destruction, violence and civic decay as they grow older.

Her study, "Egos Inflating Over Time," draws on 25 years of personality surveys that test youth for narcissism. Today's teenagers stand condemned for being more likely to agree with statements such as "I think I am a special person." The study's conclusions fuel endless negative media commentary on today's kids that will always find an audience — stories about crime, cheating, sexual license and celebrity worship.

But Twenge and others are wildly mistaken about the Millennial generation — those born since the early 1980s, which some persist in calling Generation Y. No matter what teens say on surveys, there is scant evidence that they act more selfishly. In fact, the trends in youth behavior support the opposite conclusion — namely, that Millennials have much greater regard for each other, their parents and the community than Gen X'ers or baby boomers had at the same phase of life.

There are a number of areas in which I disagree with Strauss and Howe - particularly in their assessments of important cultural elements to Millennials. They tend to view Boy Bands, Britney, and cookie-cutter culture as indicative of Millennials' need to conform and play well together. I tend to look at the remixed, DangerMouse, Gnarles Barkley, Obama/Hillary Mashup participatory culture all around us (and of which blogs are a part) and see that as creative and expressive act, yet also one that is rooted in a new conception of "The Public" - aka The Ultimate Team). Those differences aside, they seem pretty on point here.

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March 8th, 2007 12:17pm
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The public as the ultimate team

Submitted by Josh Koenig on Thu, 2007-03-08 17:01.

I like the notion of the public as the ultimate team. Maybe you can expand on that sometime?

Half-Baked

Submitted by Michael Connery on Fri, 2007-03-09 07:34.

Yeah,

So it’s a bit of a half-baked idea at the moment and definitely in need of some serious refinement. It’s really just a conversation starter in many ways, and in serious need of some vetting/discussion.

Basically, Strauss and Howe go on and on and on about how Millennials are Team Players. They have a nascent belief in the idea that the government can and should do things to help people - that the government has some very basic, New Deal-esque obligations to the public. A lot of that stems out of 9/11 and Katrina, I think. Maybe a little bit to due with Social Security debate and the atrocious state of our health insurance system.

So you have an idea of the Common Good permeating a new generation in a way that cynical Xers and indivualistic/selfish Boomers don’t.

Then you’ve got this extremely participatory culture that is all about yourself, but not as an individual, but as part of a network - basically online social networking culture. In some ways - for people like Twenge - this is seen as narcissistic and individualistic. A linear progression from the Xers. But its not. It’s very much about the network. It’s about connecting to your friends, growing that network, sharing a common culture and experiences.

So make the jump into culture as “art” - music, film, etc. Remixing is again a potentially individualistic experience - putting your unique stamp on something, making a personal statement, etc. A linear progression from Gen X. Except I think its not. I think it’s all about pulling from this mutual experience - a cultural commons - putting your stamp on it, but then putting it back out there into the commons. People make remixes, but it’s even cooler when your remix gets remixed. Or when you just put out a video that gets remixed or referenced in the network.

Maybe its not articulated (by anyone other than Lessig or DJ Spooky), but I think that this is a conception of culture as a public - not necessarily a corporate/private/proprietary thing. Maybe it’s nascent, maybe its subconcsious, maybe its blind techno-cultural utopianism on my part. But I think a connection can be made here.

Adding all these things up, you get the civic-minded, team oriented view of Millennials across all multiple ‘sectors’ of their life that generally don’t get put together… maybe its the basis of an unspoken generational philosophy.

That’s sort of what I’m getting at - in a half baked way - when I say that The Public (government, cultural commons, etc) is “The Ultimate Team.”

Ok, rip it apart.

Fuck yeah

Submitted by Josh Koenig on Fri, 2007-03-09 13:08.

I like this. I like this a lot.

To me it seems that considering the radical implications of the changing nature of communication is pretty vital. When you shake up how people can pass information around, you shake up social life. Most of the disruptive effects we’ve seen in the past ten years have been from adult/Boomer systems and enterprises riding various waves. I think when you start to consider the way in which people (Millennials) who are native to this way of being will lead their lives, things get much more interesting.

Is your book going to get into this territory?

Yeah, book material

Submitted by Michael Connery on Fri, 2007-03-09 13:37.

Yeah, I think that the more “culturally oriented” chapters, chapter about social networking will hit this hard. And some stuff about newer groups and where stuff goes in the next few years will hit this too.

So I would appreciate comments and help refining this. This is actually the sort of thing I really want to talk to you about and hash out.

Generation Me/We?

Submitted by Joshua Gorman on Fri, 2007-03-09 14:29.

Is it possible that a generation can be both narcissistic and civic-minded? Is it possible that social networking tools and other cutting-edge communication technologies can be used for both self-serving and society-serving means? Can trends simultaneously conflict? Is the way forward to a new culture and consciousness the same old “either/or” debate, or is it the richly progressive “both/and” terrain that allows for complexity and takes us all to higher ground?

This is an idea

Submitted by Fred Gooltz on Fri, 2007-03-09 14:46.

That could spark a rash of mashup commercials as long as you’re willing to trust your “team.”

Nerds Among Us

Submitted by Michael Connery on Sat, 2007-03-10 07:39.

Or for the nerds among us.

Nerds?!?

Submitted by jpb on Mon, 2007-03-19 05:21.

Frak that!

Generations~

Submitted by Joshua Gorman on Fri, 2007-03-09 14:47.

In their book “The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny” William Strausse and Neil Howe write:

“No element of belief or behavior ever appears uniformly across all members of a generation, of course. But conspicuous elements often do appear in a decisive majority of members, leading Comte to conclude that each generation develops a “unanimous adherence to certain fundamental notions” and Dilthey to talk of a “generational Weltanschauung,” a worldview that shapes a generation’s direction from youth through old age.”

While there will always be conflicting trends, and generations will always be heterogeneous, “conspicuous elements often do appear in a decisive majority of members.” I would go further to state that this “decisive majority” can often be a dynamic and creative minority that gives rise to a generation’s philosophy and character.

At this particular moment in history, I personally still only see the glimmerings and yet-to-be-realized potential of a future “decisive” majority that I believe most readers and writers of this blog are working towards catalyzing and creating. But change happens at a rapid and often unpredictable pace in this new and unprecedented century….

(I’ll make a further post later this weekend on the rich and complex subject of “generations”.)

Nascent Philosophies

Submitted by Michael Connery on Sat, 2007-03-10 07:43.
At this particular moment in history, I personally still only see the glimmerings and yet-to-be-realized potential of a future “decisive” majority that I believe most readers and writers of this blog are working towards catalyzing and creating. But change happens at a rapid and often unpredictable pace in this new and unprecedented century….

Sure … I think I see a little more than glimmerings, but we’re far from seeing this as a full-blown generational philosophy. Strauss and Howe are hamstrung because they made their predictions years ago. Before Millennials really had any cultural influence, let alone political influence.

It will be a decade before we fully take over the culture in anything even close to resembling the Boomer’s dominance. I’m hopeful that this is the way its going. It’s where I’m putting my chips. Everyone’s buzzing about “Web 2.0” - another instantiation of this cultural phenomenon, I think - but it will be a long time for everthing to begin to really reorganize around this principle. But I think its’ becoming more and more certain that this will be a principle around which our lives are organized.

Time will tell.

Hamstrung~

Submitted by Joshua Gorman on Sat, 2007-03-10 09:44.

is a rather apt word. (for those who have studied Strauss and Howe’s theory & predictions)

on another note, i missed the early boat when all the momentum was born that Future Majority arose out of, so i’m missing out on some of the particular history and vision that you’re working with (as i’m sure is the story when many of your other new and younger readers/writers). i’ve also always wondered why this site doesn’t have a little more description about it other than “Political beat reporting on the progressive youth movement.” (and why doesn’t this or another tag-line appear on the main page?) if i were a new reader visiting for the first time, i’d be left wanting to know a lot more. with that said: 1) are there any earlier posts you can direct me to that touch upon these things, and 2) can you share a little more about the history, vision, and mission of Future Majority?