salon:

In recent years, it seems like a cottage industry of sorts has formed around bashing the Millennial generation as a bunch of narcissistic, lazy, entitled, coddled, uninformed digital junkies who just can’t deal with the real world. Though older generations have always complained about youngsters being in trouble, this animus towards Millennials seems rather unique, especially because, well, Millennials are rather unique.

They are the first generation to grow up in the digital era, and technology has advanced at breakneck speeds during their lifetimes. Older Millennials were just children when the internet was in its infancy, and have grown up with it, from AOL to Myspace to Facebook and the iPhone. It is the first generation that cannot imagine a time when there was no internet or GPS or cell phones to assist you in everyday life. (Certain Seinfeld episodes may even confuse younger Millennials, as they revolve around characters trying to find each other without cell phones or any other digital technologies.) The Millennial generation is also the generation that received those much-lamented participation trophies, and has apparently been so coddled by their parents and teachers and guidance counselors that they simply are “not ready for the real world,” which involves rejection and tough breaks.

With all that hate, it’s easy to forget sometimes that the Millennial generation is also the one that faces staggering levels of debt, a bleak job market (even when one does get a college degree, which has become ever more important), and the overall prospect of having a less prosperous future than one’s parents. While today’s 18 to 34 year olds are the best-educated generation in American history — 22.3 percent with a bachelor’s degree — they also have lower median earnings (inflation adjusted) than 18 to 34 year olds did in 1980, when just 15.7 percent had a bachelor’s degree. Furthermore, becoming the best-educated generation has made Millennials the most indebted generation. Back in 1993, while the oldest Millennials were busy playing Sega Genesis, the average debt per borrower in the graduating class was under $10,000; by 2015, that number had more than tripled to about $35,000 — earning the class of 2015 the honor of being the most indebted ever.

The newest generation of adults are demonized by older generations, all the while suffering our brave new world

(via liberalsarecool)