Well, well, well. Here is what I hope and believe is a balanced perspective but one not afraid to say the truth, either. Both young and older have their flaws, for sure. Anyone who doesn't believe the younger generation has some of their own, unique flaws has their eyes closed. You can call that "prejudice" if you want (since speaking truth is commonly labeled "prejudice" these days, as if that makes Truth shiver and be afraid of existing, which it doesn't), or you can just admit that this isn't showing prejudice, it's having the capability to make observations across demographic groups that are often true. Having said that, I'll also admit that the problems aren't limited to the young, and it is also true that sometimes older people will become bitter at younger people for behaving in a way similar to the way the older people behaved when they were young. The mere fact of that, of course, does not necessarily make the behavior in question to be right. Every time you criticize an older person for pointing out bad or lawless behavior on the part of the young and make as your central thesis the claim "But older people did that while they were young, too!" - Ask yourself: Was that behavior punishable by law when the older people were young, too?" If "Yes", then the law should continue to be enforced.
The mere fact that the older people have matured and are no longer doing the behavior - but perhaps some of them once did - does not absolve the person currently doing it from the consequences of enforcement. In fact, it really makes no difference at all to the situation, other than perhaps being expected to generate some empathy, which is different than a free pass or pretending it doesn't exist.
So that takes care of the category of bad behavior that repeats itself in each generation.
Generally speaking, it does seem to me that - housing and education costs aside for a moment - it seems like the younger generation experiences a lot more of (quoting from a famous book): Genuine alarm at the prospect of work. Where I came from, it was common to accept that as a 17 yr old looking for a job, you would start out flipping burgers and work your way up from there - or work for a couple years, then go to college, and still expect to come out lower on the totem pole (so to speak) at the beginning, working your way up. Nowadays I hear almost exclusively younger people are expecting to come out on top from the beginning, rather than making the sacrifice of hard work needed to earn the reputation and job history that leads to higher paying situations. This classic, well-proven method of "be willing to be diligent and hard working and consistent at the lower levels, and you will move up through the ranks of life", still works just fine. My brother diligently flipped burgers starting at age 16 and slowly worked his way up. He now oversees approximately 500 stores. Chipotle was just reminding its American youth in a marketing campaign a few weeks ago that they start at $15/hr, have a clear 3-year path to General Manager for anyone willing to work hard and be consistent, and GM's make on average $100,000 - a VERY respectable, upper middle class salary for perhaps 90% of the United States. Some younger people claim this is no longer possible, but that's untrue. This path to success is very much still possible, and open for the taking. And there are still MANY places in the United States that have VERY affordable housing. You just have to be willing to put your possessions in the back of a rental truck and drive over there and settle in. Nothing is stopping you from doing so - and nobody is forcing you to try to live in San Francisco, New York or New Jersey.
Obviously, though, I can't speak for the whole world. I don't know what
@Galaxiom or
@The_Doc_Man see in their region of the world, I can only speak to what I have seen a lot of in my family, friends, neighborhoods, colleges, and what young people in my little visible world seem to be saying/doing. However, there is nothing wrong with pointing it out, and I find it disingenuous and perhaps a bit silly for those who would deny any existence of generational flaws of any kind, preferring to chalk the whole thing up to prejudice and an over-active imagination on the part of those pointing it out. Obviously, every generation
is, in fact, a bit different from the others, which leads to the conclusion that every generation
does, in fact, have strengths and weaknesses. Self examination is a good thing, but since being honest with ourselves is one of the biggest challenges of life, most of our self discovery is inspired the old fashioned way - from outward criticism that is well received.
Thus I am open to hearing what my generation needs to do a better job of, too. 3rd party observers (i.e., those from different generations), actually have the BEST perspective, since they are detached and less invested, ego-wise, in such a thing.
Perhaps older generations complain a bit too much - wanting to see all generational differences as flaws on the part of the younger.
Perhaps BOTH generations refuse to accept their weaknesses when pointed out, instead of admitting it and trying to improve.
(PS: I haven't even dealt with the issue of Education Costs. While many young people today point to the rising cost of higher education, they are making the mistake of using a metric that isn't the only one which matters, and isn't the only way to do it. When I went to college, I used a strategy that was a mixture of: Community colleges (which were dirt-cheap
and still are, working full time, and going to school part-time at state-subsidized universities, which still exist in most every state, as well as some scholarship for getting good grades. Guess what? This strategy is still ENTIRELY AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE - and will result in your higher education costing perhaps 1/20th the cost of the oft-quoted expense of going to a top tier university in your area, full retail price, on campus living - which is, of course, financially the dumbest way to do it).