Arbitrary though it may seem, it’s become generally accepted through common use to class those born in the 22-year span between 1982 and 2004 as Millennials.
The self-titled ‘greatest generation’ saw action in world war two, while the ‘baby boomers’ had the bedroom substitute Normandy as their theatre of battle, whenever they found the time away from waging the ideological battles of the swinging sixties .
So, what about Millennials? What defines them?
Putting aside for a minute all the acrimony regarding the very meaning of what ,exactly, qualifies one as a Millennial, certain facts must be addressed- chief among them being that the immediate future of this planet rests very uneasily in the palms of this particular demographic, as they come into their political, social, and economic maturity.
Disparagingly labeled in some quarters as the ‘Anxious Generation’, a plethora of options presented to this particular demographic throughout their lives (you can be anything you want), coupled with the tainted blessing of full-blast internet connectivity has them, seemingly, paralyzed.
Constantly being plugged into the hysteria- laden twenty-four-hour news cycle not enough to have you stressed out? Well, how about living with the unrelenting blast of highlights from other people’s (friends?) lives for calming your nerves.
No one would go so far as to claim that previous generations had it easy, but it must be acknowledged in the interest of fairness that Millennials find themselves in circumstances hitherto unobserved in human history, and they’re cursed to know it.
So, what sort of future should we expect to take shape in such hands?
‘Life, uh, finds a way…’ went the under- whelming observation of one of this generation’s big-screen idols. Conjecture will only carry weight to a certain point when considering such unknown elements under circumstances as unprecedented as these. Whatever future the world may look to withal- under the stewardship of this lot, one thing’s fairly certain; it’ll make for real interesting watching.
Credit: flickr.com/photos/145362372@N03/46067529652, PxHere.com, Pixabay.com
