I came upon this explanation for millennials’ lack of a work ethic. I don’t want this to seem censorious of millennials. In fact I have no such complaint about millennials – but if my comments seem a little censorious of the (presumably millennial) author, I guess I’ll have to wear it. Nor do I intend it as a commentary ‘from a baby boomer’ though I am one and likewise, if you take it as such, I’ll have to wear that too.
The piece goes to great lengths to be balanced. No, she’s not saying that millennials have it worse than earlier generations. She’s just trying to lay out the way millennials feel and why – so others understand.
Then she announces, she will “argue throughout this essay, we’re not looking for handouts; we’re looking for hope”. It’s repeated as a kind of mantra at the end of every section. She clearly thinks it is a pretty cool line. I don’t. Firstly, it’s not an argument. Nor is it the conclusion of an argument.
It’s the assertion of a feeling offered as a kind of accusation. And as such it’s a recipe for sterility and unhappiness. If Sarah hasn’t figured out by now that pointing the finger at others doesn’t get her what she wants, it looks like she’s got more unhappiness ahead. Still, I reckon she’ll be OK.
As she explains by way of introduction:
It’s pretty hard to motivate a generation to work when we inhabit a world that was not designed with our best interest at heart.
I remember coming into the world (well not literally, but you get what I mean), and I can tell you, it wasn’t designed with my best interests at heart. In fact it wasn’t designed at all. As I gradually came to understand, it was the product of the struggles of those who’d come before me.
Then we get this:
This may sound extreme, but I am starting to believe that the digital revolution is not only responsible for ripping apart relationships, but also for undermining the democratic process and even changing what it means to be a person.
This is a terrifying concept to live with.
We’re not looking for handouts; we’re looking for hope.
Fair call, but we’re all living with it – at least until we die. Some of us are, in our modest ways, trying to do something about it. Me? I have this idea that there are fairly simple things we can do to improve our democracy – perhaps a lot. And I’m not looking for handouts either. Nor am I looking for hope. I’m just plugging away. I find faith more useful, more active, than hope. Faith that it’s worth doing. This isn’t heroic faith. To be more specific, it is not a belief that I’ll be successful (that’s closer to hope!). It’s rather a faith that, even if I do not achieve any change in the world, it will have been worth doing. I’ve made bugger all progress in that regard so far, but it’s already been worth it.
Then there’s this – perhaps the most intriguing passage in the piece:
Almost all pornographic content consumed by Millennials and Gen Z are what Boomers would consider radical and violent. Anecdotally, most porn-addicted people I have spoken to say that they first became hooked around the ages of 10, 11 and 12.
Now, dear Boomer, I know that you are certain that your children and grandchildren are the exception to the rule. This will be true for some. But even if your son fits into the 25% who doesn’t consume porn regularly, know that at least 75% of his friends do. This socialisation will still impact the way that he views women and relationships.
Likewise, even if your daughter fits into the camp that doesn’t habitually consume porn (the exact number is debated), she will certainly have friends who do, and most of her romantic partners will too, especially if she is straight.
This silent epidemic is now so pervasive it is part of the air we breathe.
I have had heartbreaking conversations with friends who are in long term relationships with porn addicts and recovering addicts. Many say that they can tell when their partner has had a relapse because their eyes glaze over and are unable to see them anymore.
Porn affects Millennial and Gen Z everyday lives in ways that few Boomers can comprehend.
In case you’re not convinced that porn is a terrible thing, know that males who frequently consume porn are more likely to express intent to rape, more likely to support violence against women, more likely to coerce or force a partner into non-consentual sex acts, and more likely to pursue violent sex.
These statistics do not reflect all men, nor do they represent all porn users. However, while there are many male porn users who would never rape anybody, they are still less likely to intervene when witnessing sexual violence, and more likely to blame the victim when hearing about sexual crimes. This is due to the desensitisation which happens over time with frequent use.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, many heterosexual women are opting out of romantic relationships altogether. Why take the risk when most men have little-to-no respect for your ‘no’?
The sad truth is, a growing number of Millennials and Gen Z do not know how to love. We have been formed by a culture that tells us that sex is not special, that bodies are meaningless, and other people are simply objects for our personal consumption.
But what has this got to do with the workplace?
Everything.
If we assume the 75% male and 30% female estimate, roughly 55% of the workforce under the age of 40 has rewired their brain to resemble that of a cocaine addict. This will directly affect their levels of concentration, personal motivation, and ability to delay gratification.
Many feel numbed by the whole thing, and don’t know where to turn for help.
We’re not looking for handouts; we’re looking for hope.
Pretty much everything she documents here really is a bummer. It’s certainly a problem that the internet is so hard to censor. And personally, I’ve always thought that running our culture for profit was a bad idea. But who listens to me? It’s not that unusual not to know where to turn for help. Or to turn to people for help only to find they’d rather get back to their in-tray. Some people take it as a sign to try to cook up some answers themselves, or for others, and they get talking to others and start acting. But it’s a tricky problem and I don’t think hope can be handed out.
Just to check I wasn’t missing anything I asked Claude to check whether there were any statements in the piece about what the author, or her friends were doing, or could do.
The author doesn’t offer concrete actions, programs, policies, or personal initiatives that she or others are undertaking or could undertake to address the six major problems she identifies.
This argument from one’s generation is a kind of identity politics. And reflecting on it, identity politics is often most focused on shaming others for purported injustices without offering much light on how they – specific individuals – have perpetrated these injustices or what might be done about them – by the perpetrators or the victims of the putative injustice.
Here’s a passage of some relevance from Rebecca Solnit which Claude found. It’s rather highly wrought but it gets the message across.
Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky … Hope is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency. Hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth’s treasures and the grinding down of the poor and marginal. To hope is to give yourself to the future – and that commitment to the future is what makes the present inhabitable.