The New Greatest Generation: Why Millennials Will Save Us All

In the article, “The New Greatest Generation: Why Millennials Will Save Us All,” by Joel Stein, Stein expresses his views through a complex game of mind control. He secured his audience, the older generations, in the beginning of the article by writing what they want to hear, then switches to the difficult truth, and finally tells the audience that it only mattered how they view change. His claim, “So, yes, we have all that data about narcissism and laziness and entitlement. But a generation's greatness isn't determined by data; it's determined by how they react to the challenges that befall them,” (Stein 34) demonstrates how much he wants to show his audience the difficult truth, and makes them feel sheepish about judging the millennials. At first, Stein sets up his argument by listing as many facts as he can, trying to establish the picture of the millennials being narcissistic, lazy, and cocky. This is the first part of his plan, by securing the older generation’s attention. Stein gaines the older

His claim, as mentioned in the first paragraph, is that we are being too hard on the millennials and judging them on data, and not on how they react to the challenges they face. He explains about how we are only seeing what we want to see. He expresses this even more when he says, “ Whether you think millennials are the new greatest generation of optimistic entrepreneurs or a group of 80 million people about to implode in a dwarf star of tears when their expectations are unmet depends largely on how you view change.” (Stein 34). This shows that we either see change as bad, or as a way to improve, and this then causes the older generation to either hate the new generation or love them. As a result, it is not what the new generation does that makes the old generation love or hate them. It is really that particular old generation's view on