Golden Oldies: Millennials, Change And History
by Miki Saxon
Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.
Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.
Generation Y is the more accurate name, but you probably know them as Millennials. I, along with the rest of media, have been writing about them for more than ten years — too often disparagingly — and far too simplistically.
They didn’t deserve it.
So this week we’ll take another look at that much maligned generation.
Read other Golden Oldies here.
Ryan Healy starts his post by saying, “There’s no doubt that Generation Y will fundamentally change corporate America.”
It’s an interesting post, filled with the brashness, dreams and optimism I’ve come to expect as each new generation enters adulthood—whether I read about or lived through them.
Still more interesting are the comments, whether they agree or not.
I can’t help siding with Carlos who says, “Every generation thinks that their generation is unique. The truly gifted on each generation is and will affect change, but this notion that today’s 20-somethings are any more intelligent or capable than those from 10-40 years ago is naive,” although I would change his 40 years to 4000.
Each generation, going back to Year One BC, sets out to change its world and in doing so lays the groundwork for the next generation to change it and the process repeats itself throughout all history.
Some of the changes are good and some not; some seek to address errors previously made, while some target good changes gone bad as a result of social or technical progress.
Changes can be revolutionary or evolutionary; they fuel both society’s progression — and its regression.
Image credit: PorcelainB
