Generation Y - moving to mediocrity

Generation Y are spoiled and cossetted, reduced to self-promotion and a shallow need for attention and congratulation.

This is a thought piece on generation Y.
Written by Daniel Dixon.

The past few decades in the world of the west have been pretty damned good.  Plenty of money leads to unprecedented development in the areas of medicine, entertainment, comfort (the fact that comfort has an area all to itself demonstrates just how unprecedented this development has been) and ultimately technology.  Everybody is fat, rich and satisfied.  Taboos have been broken by previous generations, leaving us without clear social goals so the easy-to-fulfil maxim of the hour is to think globally and act locally and a letter to a hungry African is enough to dispel the guilt that comes with living well. Growing out of this culture has been a group of decadent, yet hard-working narcissists. 

Generation Y. The MySpace and Facebook generation.  The generation to which temporary and superficial political interest is admired but sustained, and analytical political interest is dull.  Riding causes of convenience and undermining their own global idealism with absolute selfishness in all things local.  This hypocritical attitude has shaped, and at the same time been fostered by, that behemoth of pop culture, the internet.  A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and the internet has provided a platform for all types of terrifying mediocrity.  Terry Pratchett crystallised mob mentality; “the IQ of a mob is the IQ of its most stupid member divided by the number of mobsters”.  The existence of the internet has allowed for members of generation Y to mob together and voice their opinions, launch indiscriminate vicious attacks on one another and feel the power of celebrity while remaining anonymous, basking in the warmth of their monitors, all the while spouting unprecedented stupidity.  The internet has created the most prevalent and terrifying mob in history.

Previous generations have been required to stand up, be noticed and take action in order to create a movement.  The anonymity and effortlessness of activism on the internet has created a generation of self-important egocentrics who are so wrapped up in expressing their own ideas that they forget to do anything about them.  In fact, an entire generation has been groomed to believe that statement is action.  Facile and puerile text messages are relayed amongst friends on a daily basis.  They may be devoid of new information but in the apparent act of reminding a friend of their presence with a text, the Gen Yer is reminding themselves of their own importance.  This act of self-worship is repeated with the dreaded social networking site.  Comments and pictures are engineered to invite compliments and maintain a purely artificial, manufactured self-image.  Another popular channel for self-expression; the website Youtube, allows for comments on its videos.  For the most part, these comments consist of a quote from the video which the poster found particularly hilarious followed by an obligatory ‘lol’.  Posters seem to be sure that repeating an amusing line spoken by a comedian makes them comic geniuses and that the audience appreciation for a joke is improved when it is, misquoted, misspelt and enhanced by several emoticons.  This is considered a contribution.  The ridiculousness of this idea is as overwhelming as the number of fools who seem to think that their thoughts will be appreciated by the untold masses.

In generation Y, a search for self-improvement only seems to occur when it’s supremely convenient, if a state of spiralling depression seems likely to attract more attention then that’s the chosen attitude (and it seems to be the popular choice).  Extreme hardship stems from slight inconveniences in a world where the population expects their slightest whims to be satisfied for no other reason than that ‘it’s their right’.  However, do not comment on this post and tell me about the kind-hearted charities who work tirelessly to make the world a better place and about how the wonders of technology improve our lives on a daily basis.  I don’t care, and that’s not what I’m complaining about.  The world is broadly a much kinder place to live in than it was at almost any other point in history I would care to consider, but that doesn’t mean that it has not also become more superficial, inane and narcissistic.

And please don’t triumphantly point out that this could be construed as a blog, I have already struggled with that irony but I’m not complaining about people like me.