

Ask HN: Where the hell is all this recent hate on Gen Y'ers coming from? - devinus

How does Jason Calacanis get off calling my generation "entitled trophy kids"?
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_delirium
It seems to be an eternal truth that older generations think younger
generations feel too entitled and don't respect their elders, the value of
hard work, authority/hierarchy, or paying your dues. It was basically the
complaint the WW2 generation had about the 60s/70s generation, the complaint
the 60s/70s generation had about Gen-Xers, and now apparently the complaint
Gen-Xers have about Gen Y. So I wouldn't worry too much about it.

~~~
pg
The interesting thing is, it may actually be true. Those things have been in a
long, gradual decline for centuries.

~~~
j-g-faustus
Doubtful. Here's Hesiod around 800 BC:

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous
youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I
was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the
present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient of restraint"

Between the two hypotheses a) "society has been declining for thousands of
years" and b) "older people tend towards grumpiness" I know which one sounds
more likely :)

Although Hesiod's "I see no hope for the future of our people" may be
vindicated by the fact that his culture no longer exists.

Perhaps cultures stagnate and corrupt over time, and complaints about youth is
a symptom rather than a cause? Perhaps the collapse of a civilization every
now and then is one of the mechanisms that keep human societies sustainable in
the long run?

There are interesting questions here, but I don't think the older generation
complaining about the younger generation is one of them. Not in and of itself,
at least.

~~~
pg
I wouldn't say that society has been declining for thousands of years, but
there have definitely been long periods of consistent decline in things like
toughness, respect for elders, and so on. Hesiod's time would have been one of
them, because Greece was then in transition between the tough, impoverished
warrior culture of Homeric times and the comparatively easy, luxurious city
life of Plato's time.

Among English speaking peoples, toughness has on average (i.e. not including
people who hit restart by moving to frontier areas) probably declined
monotonically since around 1000 AD.

~~~
vidar
This seems to be a function of rising living standards, so that the population
is never tougher than they need to be. If we assume that toughness is a
desirable attribute, is there a way to toughen people up, even if they don't
"need it".

~~~
pg
Sure, military training tends to do that.

~~~
_delirium
Wealthy societies tend to resist military training, though. I can't imagine a
proposal to reinstitute the draft would be very popular in the US, and much of
Europe is slowly phasing out their mandatory military service.

------
rewind
More importantly, why do you care what he thinks? Just do your thing.

------
julius_geezer
The other year an in-law remarked that "kids today" were unwilling to do the
group house thing. I asked whether n years ago he ever imagined himself using
the expression, and got laughs from his sister and wife, and a rueful one from
him.

How does JC get off? Well, what are going to do? Boycott him? Challenge him to
a duel? A mixed martial arts match? Regard him as background noise, a minor
nuisance like a loud, smelly bus stop, and move on.

But remember this in 10 or 20 or 40 years when you are tempted to say bad
things about the young of that day.

------
jolan
"They should make a phone that you put on a wall so you always know where it
is!" -- Gen Y

