"Generation Wuss": Brett Easton Ellis On Millennials' Oversensitivity
Brett Easton Ellis gets it about the perma-baby generation, writing in Vanity Fair:
I have been living with someone from the Millennial generation for the last four years (he's now 27) and sometimes I'm charmed and sometimes I'm exasperated by how him and his friends--as well as the Millennials I've met and interacted with both in person and in social media--deal with the world, and I've tweeted about my amusement and frustration under the banner "Generation Wuss" for a few years now. My huge generalities touch on their over-sensitivity, their insistence that they are right despite the overwhelming proof that suggests they are not, their lack of placing things within context, the overreacting, the passive-aggressive positivity, and, of course, all of this exacerbated by the meds they've been fed since childhood by over-protective "helicopter" parents mapping their every move. These are late-end Baby Boomers and Generation X parents who were now rebelling against their own rebelliousness because of the love they felt that they never got from their selfish narcissistic Boomer parents and who end up smothering their kids, inducing a kind of inadequate preparation in how to deal with the hardships of life and the real way the world works: people won't like you, that person may not love you back, kids are really cruel, work sucks, it's hard to be good at something, life is made up of failure and disappointment, you're not talented, people suffer, people grow old, people die. And Generation Wuss responds by collapsing into sentimentality and creating victim narratives rather than acknowledging the realities of the world and grappling with them and processing them and then moving on, better prepared to navigate an often hostile or indifferent world that doesn't care if you exist....When Generation Wuss creates something they have so many outlets to display it that it often goes out into the world unfettered, unedited, posted everywhere, and because of this freedom a lot of the content displayed is rushed and kind of shitty and that's OK--it's just the nature of the world now--but when Millennials are criticized for this content they seem to collapse into a shame spiral and the person criticizing them is automatically labeled a hater, a contrarian, a troll. And then you have to look at the generation that raised them, that coddled them in praise--gold medals for everyone, four stars for just showing up--and tried to shield them from the dark side of life, and in turn created a generation that appears to be super confident and positive about things but when the least bit of darkness enters into their realm they become paralyzed and unable to process it.
A few months at Parris Island can cure that.
MarkD at October 8, 2015 7:39 AM
Second that. Parris Island and no stress cards allowed. Followed by a deployment to the Rockpile or the Sandbox.
Keith Glass at October 8, 2015 7:46 AM
I get why this happens. It's got a lot to do with their upbringing. (And shamefully, some of their parents are X'ers, who should have known better... I suppose they did it as a reaction to their own upbringing.) However, it is something that the Millenials will have to fix. And they will have to do it mostly for themselves. The Boomers aren't going to help; some of us X'ers can but there aren't enough of us.
The Millennials will have to study up on the ways of the world and figure out how to adjust their thinking. Nobody can do that bit for them. I am cautiously optimisitic. I think enough Millennials will eventually turn it around. The main thing I worry about is that by the time they do, it will be too late.
Cousin Dave at October 8, 2015 8:20 AM
Cousin Dave,
This isn't that hard to fix and many people have already started.
Step 1: Personally disassociate from the whiners. Hey, life is hard. That sucks man. Now get the fuck away from me because I can't give a damn about your whinny neurotic fake issues.
Step 2: Fire the whiners. Hey, layoffs happen. Someone's got to go. Why not pick the whiny jerks who never get anything done? If your boss is a whiny jerk who never gets anything done try looking for a new job. The money you spend fixing that ulcer is better spent finding a better life elsewhere.
There, now you are done. Are there still whiny jerks out there? Yes. But guess what, you can't fix them and neither can anyone else. If they chose to change that is their business. But you help no one by letting the fragile drama queens tear you down or limit your actions.
Ben at October 8, 2015 8:54 AM
The first lesson I remember from my father;
"It never rains in the Infantry, just on it!"
Second Lesson;
"Life sucks sometimes, put on your helmet, tighten your g*ddamn chinstrap and drive the hell on!"
Oh the joys of living with a Paratrooper, Drill Sergeant for a father.
But then again I have managed to survive 49 years and endless storms of crap without going to jail or suck-starting my pistol, so there is that.
warhawke223 at October 8, 2015 9:08 AM
Common things I heard from my mom growing up were "Life is not fair. Learn to deal with it." "If you want something, earn it. Nobody is just going to hand it to you." "Nobody has to like you and most people probably won't. It doesn't matter so accept it and move on." I'd say the advice was helpful. I don't care what people think of me, never have. I have a strong work ethic and don't go around blaming others for my failures. I see so many of my former classmates struggling with handling life and utterly falling apart when things don't go their way. They whine and blame anything and everything but themselves for it to. No personal responsibility or accountability at all. I guess it's not really surprising. They were this way in school too. I imagine it's much worse now. I graduated in the late '90's.
BunnyGirl at October 8, 2015 10:38 AM
This is how a best-selling author writes? And the editor at Vanity Fair didn't catch it? I weep for the English language.
I can't count the number of times in my childhood that my mother told me to "get over it."
Conan the Grammarian at October 8, 2015 11:21 AM
Yep, "Life's not fair" was the standard answer in my house when I complained about something. Another nice one was if I was upset my dad would always tell me where I could go to find sympathy. "It's in the dictionary between shit and syphilis." You better believed I checked the dictionary. I'm sure I was the only second grader who knew what syphilis was.
Jill at October 8, 2015 11:49 AM
"Life's not fair."
Trouble is, a lot of kids probably think (if not in so many words) exactly what Calvin said, about 20 years ago:
"I KNOW, but why isn't it ever fair in MY favor?"
That is, sometimes parents need to explain their words a bit. Common parental sayings often lead to misunderstandings.
Another example:
"If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?"
"Huh? How can you possibly compare this to something as stupid as jumping off a BRIDGE? It's NOT stupid!"
In the meantime, does anyone know what the post-2000 generation is likely to get named?
lenona at October 8, 2015 12:31 PM
@Lenona
In the most unimaginative way possible: Generation Z
Sixclaws at October 8, 2015 3:06 PM
"If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?"
Well, yeah. If "everyone" is jumping off the bridge there's probably a good reason to get off it. Maybe it's on fire or something.
dee nile at October 8, 2015 3:30 PM
"If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?"
Maybe. Though it does look like a great opportunity to sell bungee cords and parachutes.
Ben at October 8, 2015 5:59 PM
Lenona, I fear that the answer to your question will be: The World War III Generation.
Cousin Dave at October 8, 2015 6:47 PM
We should get these kids into the military for a look at REAL life.
Nothing like getting up close and personal with a 20-year about-to-retire lifer boozehound with zero leadership skills and get-you-killed/send-you-to-prison authority to wake you up!
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at October 8, 2015 7:49 PM
In the most unimaginative way possible: Generation Z
Sixclaws
_____________________________
I was mixed-up - I thought Generation Y came between Gen X and the millennials. As in, 1975-1985. Something like that.
______________________________
Well, yeah. If "everyone" is jumping off the bridge there's probably a good reason to get off it. Maybe it's on fire or something.
Posted by: dee nile at October 8, 2015 3:30 PM
_________________________________
Exactly! Or, a kid might think: "Well, if everyone's jumping off a bridge, it would obviously be one that's only four feet off the ground, right? Of course I'd do it! What's your point?"
Which brings us back to the hypothetical kid's first response. My point is that if you want kids to listen to you, you can't imply that they or their friends are inherently moronic in most of what they do; that's a very insulting turn-off. You can, however, ask them "and what typically happens after kids do X?" Repeat as necessary.
lenona at October 9, 2015 10:24 AM
As a wise man once said to me: "Shut up and deal."
MitchT at October 9, 2015 7:31 PM
As a wise man once said to me: "Shut up and deal."
MitchT at October 9, 2015 7:31 PM
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