This post is partially inspired by Carlos’ latest debate inspiration over at OwlSparks on the value or hindrance of generation labels. I suspect from the comments and his arguments that his debate was intended to be more about the sense of entitlement that seems to come with the labels than actually with the labels themselves.
This got me to thinking (a dangerous pastime, I know)…This sense of entitlement, the same one that runs alongside race labels, ethnic labels, gender labels, orientation labels…any other labels…really…is really kind of an issue (understatement of the year?)
I find a lot of people who fit in one or more of the same demographics as I do have this idea that the world owes them something…lately it’s success…and lately that’s not been in high supply.
Now, I would be a traitor to my generation if I didn’t at least attempt to blame every personality fault possible on my parents, but this is something I think they actually did right. I grew up white, American, upper middle class, private education, female, of questionable orientation (it’s the hair, really...), but the fact that my parents worked hard for me to have the resources and opportunities I did never went unnoticed…oh how it didn’t go unnoticed…and the fact that just because I had those resources didn’t mean I didn’t have to work to keep them and work to make something of them.
Success doesn’t come without a price. It doesn’t come without work. It doesn’t come without late nights and early mornings that melt indistinguishably into one another. It doesn’t come without tears. I don’t care who you are.
Okay, maybe it does for some people, but probably not you or me. So take these labels for what they’re worth in reporting statistics, but you’re really not owed anything just for being someone with a label. You're entitled to get down and get dirty.
And really, this is a great thing! What good is success that you can’t sink your teeth into because it was just handed to you?
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Comment by Antman — January 19, 2010 #
I’ve been directly confronted about my perceived feelings of entitlement. It completely missed my ego. I don’t know if that’s because it didn’t ring true or if I don’t think it’s really a bad thing. But it stuck in the more rational part of my brain.
My self-analysis has lead me in two directions thus far.
1. I quit limiting myself by the belief that other people have a specialized knowledge or superior intellect. Following that to its conclusion, I think I could excel at pretty much anything I wanted to do. I think it’s easy to view that as arrogance. I think it’s easy to view arrogance as entitlement.
2. In the country you and I were born into, there’s a (sometimes explicit, always implicit) promise of “The American Dream”. It’s not only a promise, but those who achieved it rather easily decades ago assume that it remains a simple “go to college, get a good job, be happy” formula for success. I think the promise and the assumption (expectation?) has a very real impact on our minds when it crashes into the realization that the formula they gave us was a lie. That’s bound to manifest itself in myriad ways. I tend to think of the generationally perceived entitlement as more of a waving of a middle finger at the generation that made the promises than actual entitlement. Maybe like… “Oh yeah, you lied to me so now I’m just going to take everything and have more fun doing it.”
I don’t mean for this to be a defense of entitlement; it’s just something I think about.
And you’re 100% right, entitlement doesn’t get you anything unless you actually are a rich brat who stands to inherit truckloads of cash. The only answer is to get to work. The new definition of work also sticks in the craw of older generations. They assume so rigidly that their formula should still work for us, that any deviation is taken as an affront to what they already “proved” works.
Rambling comment alert!
Comment by Andrew — January 19, 2010 #
@antman – Totally agreed!
@andrew – 1. Yes. You can likely do anything you want, partially because we’re privileged enough to have access to an abundance of knowledge and resources. I don’t think acknowledging that and making use of it is arrogance, I think it’s smart. It’s also not entitlement, it’s privilege.
2. Lucky for us, our idea of what constitutes success seems to have changed with the realization that that formula is a lie. Take what you can! Enjoy it! I’m certainly not advocating against that! I’m saying we all can’t expect it to be dropped in our laps. But taking it is a process of working for it…whatever work it takes. (I’m not entirely sure that sentence made sense outside of my head…)
I think your alert should be at the beginning of your comment next time!
Comment by Kristin — January 19, 2010 #
This is an interesting discussion. I do think there is an increasing sense of entitlement in the world, but I don’t think it is limited to GenY. I feel it is more attributable to wealth and affluence. The richer we get the more we feel the world owes us something.
Unions feel employees should receive high wages and pensions even if their company is going out of business. We demand health care even if we eat like pigs and live lethargically. We want inexpensive education even if our kids don’t bother studying anymore.
The harder we work for success the more we value it. If it is all handed to us on a silver platter, we just get fat and lazy and start demanding more.
I feel the Gen Y and Gen X labels have relevance for different reasons. They help to explain the boom and bust cycles of age demographics. Add on the technological changes (computers then the Internet) that happened in those second and third baby boom generations and the labels are very descriptive of unique times in our history.
Comment by John Bardos - JetSetCitizen — January 20, 2010 #
You know, I think another interesting thing to note is that, despite the crappiness of labels in general, I would argue that labels, in terms of age demographics, at least, do come with different definitions of success, which is probably the root of why different generation labels are so distinct in the first place. Once upon a time, success equated to having fished and hunted successfully in order to have enough food to eat. Over time, it grew to mean whether or not you were able to read and write. Over more time, it grew to mean how much one could produce by the use of machines. Right now, we’re experiencing success through the implementation of information technology. Interesting to note that, from my admittedly vague and overgeneralized description, that we’ve gone from valuing skill sets to valuing productivity…AKA how much $ we can possibly make in how little time.
Someone get me some leaves to cover my privates and some crude tools (preferably made from sandstone, thanks) – I’m going to borrow Marty McFly’s DeLorean and take a little trip back in time to gain some better perspective.
Comment by Ash — January 21, 2010 #
@john – I think the sense of entitlement is broader than GenY, I addressed that label specifically because of Carlos’ inspiring post. In fact, I am tempted (though not committed) to reach as far as to say that entitlement is more a human trait, what exactly we feel entitled to is more label-specific. If that makes any sense…
And…totally agree with your demographic argument, I vaguely recall making a very similar argument in my comments to Carlos. Though you stated it far more elegantly than I was able to. Thanks for the input!
@ash – Your comment makes me wonder why valuing skill sets and valuing productivity became mutually exclusive. If you haven’t read it, Company by Max Berry is a fabulous read on the uselessness of the corporation in regards to valuing productivity over skill sets.
In regards to going back in time: Can I come with?
Comment by Kristin — January 25, 2010 #