We’ve all heard the millennial stereotypes: lazy and far too dependent on their parents or guardians, possessing loose morals, expecting great results and praise for very little work, and being so sucked into their devilish technology that they no longer understand how to have that “human connection” in society.
Although the privileges of our time have made us a more dependent and reliant generation, we still have our emotions and our empathy that connects us to one another. And what some view as loose morals, others view as a progressive view of the world.
As a millennial in a time when our country is suffering from a national identity crisis, I feel that what we need now more than ever is to set aside the divisions that have developed between the millennials and previous generations.
This clash between older generations and millennials is anything but unique. Throughout history, every older generation has nurtured the younger generation. Then the younger generation develops a certain way of thinking that the older generation doesn’t agree with.
As an example, when comic books initially started becoming more popular than just a cult fan base, parents and grandparents everywhere were concerned that the comics were bad for the development of their children and that it would corrupt them.
Now, parents find it completely normal, even healthy for the development of a child, to buy their kids superhero pajamas and watch superhero cartoons with them.
With time, and one generation passing its ideals and principles onto the next, each generation maintains those values, but pursues those ideals in a different way
Because of this passing down and adaptation of culture through generations, I believe the best way to help with the national identity crisis that Americans are currently facing we need to combine the wisdom of older generations and the idealistic image of the younger generations to help us find our revised identity that we are so desperately seeking.