Generation Wuss

[Monte Carlo]

... or Generation 'Y' or people born in the mid-late 1980s.

 

Bret Easton Ellis calls them Generation Wuss. He gets labelled a troll, a contrarian and a hater.

 

This article, by a twentysomething, made me think: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10644664/Id-rather-be-in-Generation-Wuss-than-a-middle-aged-cliche.html

 

Now I'm not comparing myself to Ellis, and in fact I'm a little bit younger. I am, however, broadly speaking in the same generational grid square. And on this forum I get PMs, brick-bats and reported to moderators quite a lot.

 

Why?

 

Well, if BE-E is right it's because my generation is snarkier, tougher and has a higher sperm count than people born in the eighties. By the way, is anyone hurt by that?

 

I don't necessarily agree, but it's interesting. No it's not, Monte, you arrogant old fart, you cry. No, listen. It's interesting because if Bret is even 15% correct (and I think there is a grain of truth in what he's saying) then perhaps Generation 'Y' is the first bunch of people to be more censorious than it's parents. People my age with kids in their late teens do comment on how dull their kids can be, my brother genuinely wishes his daughter would be a crazy bitch. Instead she's a straight 'a' physics student who drinks rarely and knows lots about art history. Oi vei.

 

And some of the Twentysomethings I work with genuinely think I'm a dinosaur who drinks too much, hates the planet and is a jaded, all-round douche.

 

I might be.

 

OTOH,

 

1. I don't drink too much. I just like beer. A lot. Plus I know dozens of hangover remedies. And yes, guy in a silly hat with a waxed moustache, I will stand you a round because your generation is so bloody poor. Oh, is that a new iPhone?

 

2. I don't want to kill the planet. I just think the science has yet to be settled, most greens are socialists in camouflage and, er, the Chinese and Yanks need to sort their acts out before I lose sleep over it.

 

3. I'm not a jaded douche. I've just been around longer than you and finally worked out the lay of the land. And I think tattoos on your hands and neck are ****ing stupid. And you didn't invent beards.

 

By the way, I still lend these people money now and then because I have more of it than them. I let them eat at my house and empty the fridge. I make phone calls for them with my peers who can help them out with their careers. In short, If I'm not a good guy then I'm not a bad one either.

 

So, community of all ages, is generation 'Y' a bunch of soft, unicorn-riding, wrapped in cotton-wool babies who need to get with the program? Or is Bret Easton Ellis just an overpaid, ageing troll?

 

Over to you.

 

And...

 

 

 

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I think it varies by individual. I'm a twenty two year old and I like drinking heavily and am a snarky bastard.

 

I also do not know who Easton is.

[BruceVC]

... or Generation 'Y' or people born in the mid-late 1980s.

 

Bret Easton Ellis calls them Generation Wuss. He gets labelled a troll, a contrarian and a hater.

 

This article, by a twentysomething, made me think: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10644664/Id-rather-be-in-Generation-Wuss-than-a-middle-aged-cliche.html

 

Now I'm not comparing myself to Ellis, and in fact I'm a little bit younger. I am, however, broadly speaking in the same generational grid square. And on this forum I get PMs, brick-bats and reported to moderators quite a lot.

 

Why?

 

Well, if BE-E is right it's because my generation is snarkier, tougher and has a higher sperm count than people born in the eighties. By the way, is anyone hurt by that?

 

I don't necessarily agree, but it's interesting. No it's not, Monte, you arrogant old fart, you cry. No, listen. It's interesting because if Bret is even 15% correct (and I think there is a grain of truth in what he's saying) then perhaps Generation 'Y' is the first bunch of people to be more censorious than it's parents. People my age with kids in their late teens do comment on how dull their kids can be, my brother genuinely wishes his daughter would be a crazy bitch. Instead she's a straight 'a' physics student who drinks rarely and knows lots about art history. Oi vei.

 

And some of the Twentysomethings I work with genuinely think I'm a dinosaur who drinks too much, hates the planet and is a jaded, all-round douche.

 

I might be.

 

OTOH,

 

1. I don't drink too much. I just like beer. A lot. Plus I know dozens of hangover remedies. And yes, guy in a silly hat with a waxed moustache, I will stand you a round because your generation is so bloody poor. Oh, is that a new iPhone?

 

2. I don't want to kill the planet. I just think the science has yet to be settled, most greens are socialists in camouflage and, er, the Chinese and Yanks need to sort their acts out before I lose sleep over it.

 

3. I'm not a jaded douche. I've just been around longer than you and finally worked out the lay of the land. And I think tattoos on your hands and neck are ****ing stupid. And you didn't invent beards.

 

By the way, I still lend these people money now and then because I have more of it than them. I let them eat at my house and empty the fridge. I make phone calls for them with my peers who can help them out with their careers. In short, If I'm not a good guy then I'm not a bad one either.

 

So, community of all ages, is generation 'Y' a bunch of soft, unicorn-riding, wrapped in cotton-wool babies who need to get with the program? Or is Bret Easton Ellis just an overpaid, ageing troll?

 

Over to you.

 

And...

 

 

That's an interesting post and it made me laugh

 

Personally I think every generation has it pro's and con's and no generation is better at all things than another one.

 

But I do always laugh when people say things like " kids nowadays have no respect" or " young people nowadays have it easy"

 

This was the exact same thing people said about them when they were young.

 

[Blarghagh]

While I agree with some of the things you said, I don't agree with what Ellis said, specifically:

 

“And when someone is criticised for their content, they seem to collapse, or the person criticising them is called a hater, a contrarian, a troll.”

 

This is absolute bull. "Generation Wuss" is by far the generation that gets the most criticism simply because everyone can criticize everything, anywhere, and does so very vocally. The previous generation would never have had an Anita Sarkeesian situation simply because, as you put it, the previous generation was less censorious - they simply wouldn't have cared as much, whereas my generation got their collective panties into a ridiculous bunch over it. I'm willing to call it right now that Ellis hasn't received as much criticism in his entire life from his peers as most "Generation Wuss" artists get in a week.

 

I will admit, however, to belonging to the ridiculous generation of waxed moustaches, douchy hats and worthless, overpriced electronics with fruit on them. I wish I didn't, although I do have a beard.

 

EDIT: Mistook who were gen Y and gen wuss, had to edit.

Edited February 18, 2014 by TrueNeutral

[Monte Carlo]

I think it varies by individual. I'm a twenty two year old and I like drinking heavily and am a snarky bastard.

 

I also do not know who Easton is.

 

And there's me, old enough to be your father. By a fairly long shot. Would you make me some warm milk, please?

[Meshugger]

1. Kids are way too pampered. Meaning that they are not allowed to fail and learn from their shortcomings, neither are they allowed to experience any danger while playing. Falling from a tree and hurting yourself? Not in this kindergarden. This is direct consequence of people having less kids, which in turn is a symptom of any rich society.

 

2. There's no real counter-culture. Music is not rebellious, there are no dangerous books and no artists that genuinely inspire fear in parents and idolization in youth.

 

The result is a passive youth that never needed to defend their ideas, physically or mentally. 

 

*This is of course in the western world.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Meshugger

[HoonDing]

 

Funny to speak about Wuss for guy looking like mix of Dan Ackroyd and Jon Favreau

[Nonek]

They do seem to cry a lot and show emotions in general, when I walk past Mrs Nonek's reality television programs i'm often amazed by the sheer amount of blubbering going on, usually men as well. Very strange, it seems the generation who handled their problems quietly and privately are fading away. I have also noticed youths seem to glory in uniformity, the same tattoo's, the same piercings, the same clothes, individuality seems to be very much on the decrease while fitting in with a social grioup is on the increase. And what is with the helmet hair, are these young slimey headed gentlemen trying to look as stupid as possible?

 

I suppose i'm just an aged anachronism, who's not so emotional, nor so needy, and certainly doesn't dance which seems to be another craze that's appeared from nowhere. When did food become so important as well, you can't get away from cookery programs with tones of ridiculous gravitas. Also is there something wrong with the spines of modern children, they all seem to slouch, even in formal situations rather than sit up straight. Need their thighs slapping with a yardstick if you ask me!

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Would you make me some warm milk, please?

No. You'll take it cold you pansy.

[Malcador]

Younger generation is always not as hard as the generation before.

[Monte Carlo]

Character-building stuff is required, Nonek, I agree. Now I'm too old for conscription, I think a war is in order. A large one.

[Gfted1]

Its all been downhill since The Greatest Generation. True story.

[Malcador]

Its all been downhill since The Greatest Generation. True story.

 

So in a way it's their fault then ?

[Amentep]

no artists that genuinely inspire fear in parents and idolization in youth.

They just act like there is when Miley Cyrus twerks, as if we were in the 50s and Elvis had swung his pelvis.

[Gfted1]

 

Its all been downhill since The Greatest Generation. True story.

 

So in a way it's their fault then ?

 

 

They set the bar too high. It would take another World War or similar catastrophe to see a similar generation. We have it way too easy now.

[Meshugger]

 

 

They just act like there is when Miley Cyrus twerks, as if we were in the 50s and Elvis had swung his pelvis. 

 

That's just...sad.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Meshugger

[HoonDing]

I blame socialism.

[Enoch]

So, community of all ages, is generation 'Y' a bunch of soft, unicorn-riding, wrapped in cotton-wool babies who need to get with the program? Or is Bret Easton Ellis just an overpaid, ageing troll?

 

Both of these statements can be true.  But I'd be that the one that is specific to a single individual is more true than the one that attemts to generalize a population.

 

A large part of the divide MC is talking about is less generational and more cultural.  Smarm is hardly exclusive to the young. 

 

I'd also submit that being more censorious than one's parents could easily be a result of increased educational expectations and class mobility.  That is, in right-thinking middle class households, it is clearly communicated to children that the way to have a productive successful life is to follow the "high educational achievement" track.  That has probably only been true across as a general matter since the '70s or so.  Back when one could have a happily middle-class household on a salary brought home by an auto mechanic or somebody working on an assembly line, the messages kids got weren't so uniform. 

Edited February 18, 2014 by Enoch

[Malcador]

 

 

Its all been downhill since The Greatest Generation. True story.

 

So in a way it's their fault then ?

 

 

They set the bar too high. It would take another World War or similar catastrophe to see a similar generation. We have it way too easy now.

 

 

Well, was more along the lines of them affecting the raising of following generations. 

[Gfted1]

Well, was more along the lines of them affecting the raising of following generations.

That's an excellent point. I wonder where we went wrong? Somewhere along the line we got soft. IMO, there is a definite correlation between "success" and wussification. You definitely wont see some kid in Africa whos scrounging just to get by whining about mean people on the internet.

[Enoch]

 

 

Its all been downhill since The Greatest Generation. True story.

 

So in a way it's their fault then ?

 

 

They set the bar too high. It would take another World War or similar catastrophe to see a similar generation. We have it way too easy now.

 

 

Must we keep enduring Tom Brokaw's sloppy kisses directly to the **** of his target audience? 

 

That such a horrifyingly crass appeal was so widely successful (and widely profitable) mystifies and infuriates me to this day.  Okay, I get it-- they were young adults during the last war that we can still make purely heroic movies about.  But people are people.  And people born in the '20s were just as venal, cowardly, and flawed as people have always been.  Gauzy portraits in courage don't change that.  (But they sure do get people to tune in to the evening news!)

[Gfted1]

Must we keep enduring Tom Brokaw's sloppy kisses directly to the **** of his target audience? 

 

That such a horrifyingly crass appeal was so widely successful (and widely profitable) mystifies and infuriates me to this day.  Okay, I get it-- they were young adults during the last war that we can still make purely heroic movies about.  But people are people.  And people born in the '20s were just as venal, cowardly, and flawed as people have always been.  Gauzy portraits in courage don't change that.  (But they sure do get people to tune in to the evening news!)

I disagree. That generation (worldwide) had to make sacrifices both home and abroad that we today cant fathom. This is a me-first world now and only exceptional outside influences will change that.

 

Or a good pimp slappin.

[Monte Carlo]

* shrugs *

 

There are twenty-year-old kids fighting in Afghanistan with NATO forces who humble me with their service.

 

Of course, their NCOs think it's difficult to motivate them once unplugged from pizza hut and ipads, but then again I'm sure a Viking would have found a WW2 soldier with his issue of cigarettes and chocolate a wuss.

[Meshugger]

Well, compared to my grandfather, i am certainly a wuss.

 

The norm back then was to build your own house and start a farm, which he did. Being in WWII probably also made him able not to worry much about the mundane things in life.

 

I think we forgot one thing though: If you were as rude as people are now on the internet, you would get your ass kicked. I am not saying that people are more rude now in general, but back then, they could not hide behind a computer screen. But also, fights were much more common. Heck, they would even be part of the local festivities during the weekends.

[Mor]

The OP made me think of a couple of old articles about harsh truth about life which are sugar coated today. Tough this article is the best I could find:

 

6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person

Edited February 18, 2014 by Mor