An article on the paradox of millennial optimism and the troubled times they were born tries to give a picture of a generation. The "millennial medium chill" describes my generation's ability to look forward to the future despite economic hardship and whatever else. Their stepping out of the rat race. Born in the good ole 80s/90s now the rest of my generation has to deal with a shitty, fucked up world (actually it was always that way). The article does contain good overview, but I say some parts of it our bogus. Hey, maybe theres nothing wrong with some optimism, but I would hope the millennials would not be delusional about their future (like bringing dependents into this world). But my school experience was of people who thought the world revolved around them just as much as their parent theatre did, and maybe it was my very different experience with a struggling single mother that showed me differently.
Yes, this is a shitty, fucked-up world and the future could be a shitty, fucked-up place. No "changing perspective" can actually change that fact. Perhaps the millennials just haven't realized it yet.
I can relate to the new work ethic of "work to live, not live to work". Americans are too obsessed with material gain in general. But my generation should realize they can still have a car, home, job, and whatever but it won't be new and fancy. And it doesn't need to be new anyways. You don't have to work as many hours anymore if you realize theres more to life than money. But money is what many of us still grew up on and why their parents had the time to worship them all day long.
The corporate ladder? Of course, life should be about what you enjoy doing not what you need to do to support the system. Admittedly, the economic system is very screwed up, but people had it the same way in the Great Depression, which is when the many modern social programs came about. Those people didn't dream of owning cars and houses someday. Perhaps we should have learned back then.
The generation born in recent three decades may deal with a changing world by expecting a changing system or perhaps it is nothing but delusional optimism for something thats only going to get worst. I often knew how entitled the other kids were and thought to myself that if the world truly doesn't revolve around me then it could collapse anyways and I'd be forced to find another way. But would they do the same? Do they dare to realize their kids will also have to deal with a shitty world?