Your generation has been often been called "Generation Me." Does your generation have a sense of material entitlement? Read the following article from Newsweek and reflect on the author's discussion of narcissism. Do you agree/disagree? Explain why. Please offer a detailed response.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/194640
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16 comments:
I do agree with the article that our generation may be the most overall narcissist generation thus far. Although not everybody involved in the generation may receive this title, there are plenty of people who seem fit. Constantly, I personally feel that my generation is placed on a pedestal by some. Particularly, parents are the catalysts for obnoxious egos, and the idea that you can actually do no wrong. For some supportive parents, if their child gets a bad grade, they may simply respond, “It’s okay, you’ll do better next time”. Affectionate and displaying some tender loving care? No, not completely. Yes, this is a nice comfort gesture, but to be comforting, a parent does not have to repeat that same, false statement. I think that when an adult says such a thing to you, they are almost retracting their standards. After two or three bad grades, you might simply become less motivated to achieve higher marks, due to your parents making you think that your grades are, “okay”. They might comfort you with a new car, or a plastic surgery, or like the article says, a six figure sweet sixteen parties. Parents obviously should be their child’s security blanket, more so when that child is younger, but not spoil and idolize their kids to thinking they really are the best, even with such things as bad grades. Also, being built up with so much confidence, a child will become terminally upset, and maybe even depressed if this average grade student gets rejected from a top school, which their mentor guaranteed they would be accepted. All in all, this generation is filled with narcissists, and even I can be found guilty of such actions at time. Positive or negative, it is present.
I do feel like our generation is full of narcissists. I don’t believe we’re born that way, I just believe we were built up by our parents and friends to be somewhat narcissistic. As a kid and even now my parents still give me everything I want. I never really had to work for anything. I believe this is the case for many kids in this generation, for example, if a kid received a poor grade, the parents wouldn’t even acknowledge it and continue to reward the kid. This is a really big problem in society. Rewarding the child for poor work and laziness isn’t going to produce anything positive. Instead it’s going to backfire and make the kid more selfish and believe he deserves everything and doesn’t have to work for it. In the end, giving your child everything he wants is a bad idea because when they enter the “real world” he or she isn’t going to be given everything, such a job, a bonus, ect, and they will really be hurt. The key is making people believe hard work is the key therefore they won’t be so self centered and think they deserve everything for little work.
I agree somewhat that our generation, also referred to as “Generation Me”, is narcissistic. Many teens these days are trying to “keep up with the Jones’s” or are trying to keep up with the rich people. It seems like everyone has to have the newest phone, the trendiest clothes, designer pocketbooks and if they are old enough, a new car. In addition I feel that due to the hard economic times both parents have to work to support the family and their lifestyles. Since the parents are always at work and not around a lot for their children I feel that the parents try to “buy” the love of their children. They give them everything they ask for, thus creating the narcissistic attitude. Some people believe that the recession will help our generation, because there is no money to spend of trendy things. However, I believe that the recession will actually hurt our generation, because by the time we graduate from college and try to find a job, there will be no jobs to be had.
However there are a few reasons I do not believe that our generation is as narcissistic or has as little sense of material entitlement as the article is making it out to be. First, not everyone in our generation has massive sweet sixteen’s or gets plastic surgery as a graduation present. Not all teenagers are spoiled brats, who have our parents to protect us and make sure everything is perfect for us. Not all of us have parents who aren’t strict and let us do whatever we want. In addition, many people believe that parents usually raise their children the same way they were raised by their parents. However, according to the article, the generations before us were raised better than the current “Generation Me”. Therefore, if our parents are really raising us the way that they were raised, was our parents generation that much better than our generation?
In addition, the article does not take into account the improvement in technology or the fact that our world is vastly different then our parents’ generation. “Generation me”, is technically the first generation to be growing up in a world which is almost controlled by technology. There is a computer in almost every household and almost everyone has a cell phone. The generations before us, did not have access to the technology that we have today. I believe this probably contributes to the difference between our generations.
I definitely think our generation has a sense of entitlement. However, it can be a good thing and a bad thing. Confidence helps to allow people to be successful and can help them be happy and have a good future. However, when people get too overly confident, it becomes a very bad thing. When people are too narcissistic, it forces them to be disliked and often have a very unsuccessful life. Also when they are faced with rejection which happens to everyone, they will either take it extremely hard or see it as it’s the other persons fault and it is not their problem. Both ways are disastrous. While it might not always be a good thing, I think people now are significantly more narcissistic than people of previous generations. This is not saying that everyone is but now people are more prone to it because they is just how we were brought up. The decline of the economy may cause this to change but there is no way to be certain because even with no money people who are overly confident in themselves will most likely remain excessively secure.
With websites and social networks that allow you to post your every thought, feeling, and photo, even up to your daily outfit for other to comment on, our generation has become a little narcissistic. The idea and expectation that others truly care what you are doing, what you are thinking, and how you are feeling is a very bold assumption.
However, our generation is also 'Generation 2.0.' Differing from other generations in the past, we have very easy and quick access to the internet and these types of sites. So, I do not feel that we should be held fully accountable. If the sites did not exist, people would not be able to use them. So maybe the question in regards our generation’s problem with being overly 'self-involved' and 'me' can be answered with the fact that these types of sites exist. If they were readily available to our parents, and even our parent’s parents, do you not think they would be tweeting about the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt or the assassination of John F. Kennedy?
The times are changing and there is a lot of new fashion sense in this new world. I think its good that we keep ourselves looking good and presentable. Some are more narcissistic than others. I think this narcissism starts at a younger age now where kids in middle school are all about their looks. There used to not be many fashionable styles back in the day. We are changing back to the staying fit and keeping healthy. I feel that our generation is more obsessive about their whole lifestyle, not just how we look. We obsess over school, job, life. We are always so stressed and have so much on our plate. I think its all the media and where you live that makes our generation look full of themselves. Not everyone gets plastic surgery though, but sweet 16s came from movies and mtv shows. We see all these new things and look up to have them. Everything that comes out now including technology and new materials makes us want to buy them. If you don't want our generations to be narcissistic then don’t release it to the public to buy or have.
I feel that with modern social networking sites and fast access to the transferring of information, people are constantly comparing their lives to others. Instead of keeping up with "the Joneses," you're now trying to keep up with the whole world. Material objects are an obvious way to show value and class. I remember with MySpace, teenage kids would pretend that they were famous or something, with false "stage" names. They didn't do anything but complain and take pictures of themselves in a bathroom as if they were a low-budget model. In a way, they feel they need to be narcissistic in order to feel like someone.
I agree with this article tremendously. Kids today are very spoiled and materialistic. Kids think way to much about what they have. What type of phone they have, to clothes, to their computer. People think it's all about what you have. Our generation is by far the most narcissit genration thus far. We may have a badly devolped generation because of this. Generation after generation, it will probaly get worse. It is kind of sad, because people judge people on this subject. Overall this article is accurate.
I do agree that our generation does have a sense of material entitlement. However, I do not see how that is such a bad thing. This sense of entitlement causes people to strive to be the best, and in the end everyone is motivated to continue to improve their lives. This cause a sense of competition in our society, which I guess can be viewed as a bad thing, but I think this is good because it just continues to motivate people to never settle and to work for everything they want. In my opinion, our narcissistic ways are good to a certain extent. There are some people are who too into themselves and give our generation a bad reputation. Every group has those few people who drag them down, but to base your entire attitude towards our generation on our weakest links.
I agree for the most part with the article that our generation is materialistic. I think that each new generation is becoming increasingly more materialistic and spoiled and are no longer appreciating what they have as much.
It seems to me that many kids feel as if they are entitled to things such as ipods and cell phones and no longer appreciate the work that went into paying for such things. I especially see this living in one of the more priviledged areas in the country.
However, i think it is wrong to assume everyone in our generation is like this. There is always exceptions. It would be unfair to say everyone is materialistic, there are people who are very appreciative for what they have. Infact, there are people who can't afford these material luxuries that others take for granted.
Although i think our generation as a whole is more materialistic, i think that there are some exceptions who rise above the others and can appreciate what they have.
I believe many people now are more like "Generation Me" but I believe the younger you are the worse it is. It also all depends who you hangout with and how you are raised. The people who you spend the most time with definiately influence who you are and your beliefs. Not everyone in the world will be considered in the "generation me" but more kids are everyday. Some people just ask for things and will not take no for an answer whether its from a parent or a teacher. who you become is really in your hands and if you want to be known as the cocky guy, who only thought so highly of himself and got everything and anything he ever asked for in his life, well they may have a problem growing up and being an adult, living on your own. But on the other hand some people will be satsified with what they have. It's really not about who your wearing, how much it costs, what shoes you have its not all about materialistic things, it's about the life you have to spend with the people you love and some people should really open their eyes and appreciate all the people that are in their life, that support them, and love them no matter what. You never know what will happen tomorrow to anyone.
I agree that this generation tends to be more narcassistic. I think that with the advancement of technology, conditions for our generation have been much more convienent than previous generations. I feel that with this advancement comes a false sense of entitlement, that we deserve all of it. This is not the case for everybody, because some people are not fortunate enough to be able to afford the many other kids get. Whether this be true or not, most kids are raised with parents that feed them compliments that lead to a healthy ego, but while this is good for children in maintaining a self esteem, it can lead to overconfidence and a feeling of being better than others.
I agree that this generation has become a lot more narcissistic than past generations. This is mainly because of the new technology our generation has obtained. For some reason with technology comes confidence. The kids in our generation expect new things since they see everywhere that people get new things all of the time. Not all kids are this way but it may start to get out of hand. Although over confidence can be looked at as a good thing. Young people can look at themselves and assume they can do great things. Which is both good and bad for them. Narcissism could cause kids to strive for greater things which then could lead them to successful lives. All we need to do is monitor how confident kids could get in the future. If we control that then the future will look good for our generation.
I completely disagree with the article. It disgusted me to read it. The author has no right to label the mindset of the few as the entire generation. That's also a form of narcissism. Making yourself to superior to others and only advertising what you want to see, giving a very bias POV.
Some people in our generation do seem to give themselves a sense of entitlement. They try to put themselves above everyone else, but disregard what others think of them. However, this is only the act the few. Many teenagers including myself will live life how they want, but be respective of others.
Generation Me has been called overly materialistic, confident, and egotistical by pervious generations, particularly the generation of the parents who are raising Generation Me . I agree with this opinion. However I believe it to be hypocritical that the part of the population that is criticizing the current generation so harshly, are the ones who nurtured the adolescents within Generation Me, and raised them to make them who they are today.
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