Analysis Of Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation

In his May 2013 editorial for Time Magazine, “Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation,” Joel Stein explains his viewpoint on millennials, defined as people born 1980 through 2000. Using an occasionally humorous tone, Stein summarizes the typical bleak view that older people have for the younger generation, before offering what he believes is closer to the truth. In the end, he decides that while millennials are not without their flaws and vices, a lot of the fears that older people are mostly due to the advanced technology that we are now dealing with. By the end of the article, it is my opinion that Stein makes a very fair summarization and is correct in his idea that to write off the entire generation is unfair towards younger people.

Stein’s

He admits that points that he had made, from the addiction to social media, the narcissism of wanting people to follow you, to even the idea of laziness, is not limited to younger people. He relates moments in his own life where he has suffered from these vices, using personal anecdotes to prove his point. “I know my number of Twitter followers far better than the tally on my car's odometer;” Stein admits. In his next point, how some of the fears that people may have about youths are fears that people have had for years, he lists a few historical examples from the past. One such example is the idea that it was viewed as narcissistic when artists began to use their art to express themselves instead of honoring God during the end of the 18th century. Stein’s last example is a quote by Christopher Lasch from Lasch’s 1979 book, “The Culture of Narcissism.” The quote accuses the media of intensifying narcissistic dreams of fame, making it harder for common people to deal with everyday existence. Each generation thinks negatively upon the next group of young people, in a never-ending circle. That does not make their fears true or