In Defense of Millennials

I've got two Millennial daughters.  As such, I've experienced a lot of exposure to their generation.  Yes, I will agree that they can be entitled and spoiled, but I'd like to take a few minutes to defend them.

Before I discuss the Millennials though, I'd like to delve into history for a moment, to another generation that was rather entitled and spoiled... the Baby Boomers.  They were asked to serve their country in Vietnam, and they protested... to the point of spitting on those who answered their country's call.  (Whether or not these people should have gone to Vietnam is beside the point of this discussion.)  They spent the 1970's reveling in the hedonism of the Disco Era.  The 1980's was appropriately labeled the "me" decade.  The Baby Boomers raised Generation X... my generation.

We came into adulthood surrounded by adults who practiced conspicuous consumption... who refused to address Social Security and healthcare.  We entered the workforce during a major recession.  We had virtually no voice in politics because our parents' generation, and their parents' generation drowned out anything we had to say in the political scene.  We were (correctly) labeled a cynical generation.

Fast-forward to now.  We (my generation) overcompensated by giving our kids too much... by telling them that they're all shining stars... by taking away dodgeball, competition and trophies, and by giving them recognition for merely participating.  My generation raised Millennials to believe that they were entitled.  How is it their fault that they took to heart the values we instilled.

Furthermore, Millennials have come to age in a world of crushing college debt, a struggling global economy, and a world filled with war and hatred.  It would be justifiable for them to become completely disillusioned and just drop out, but they have not done so.

The Millennial generation, instead, has chosen to adapt to the circumstances they inherited.  It's true that they don't chase the dollar like the Baby Boomers, but that's very understandable, considering the current job market.  They instead choose to focus on life experiences.  They care about the world around them.  They are ecologically conscious consumers.  They recycle.  They take mass transit, Uber and Lyft.  They ride bicycles.

Millennials face the very real possibility of being the first generation to not experience a higher standard of living than the generation before them.  As a result, they seem to have learned money management lessons that, generally speaking, skipped a couple of generations.  They save.  They carry lower credit card debt.  They wait to buy their first home.  My generation didn't practice this type of discipline, nor did my parents' generation.  And they're doing this while learning that they're not quite as special and entitled as we raised them to believe.

So yes, it may be true that Millennials can be spoiled and entitled, but I say that we need to give them a chance.  I know that my little Millennials are making me proud, and many of their friends are making me proud as well.