Okay, my basis:
1. These are my opinions, so feel free to disagree but do not attack. I like a debate, I'm not interested in pettiness.
2. I am in my "twentysomething's"
3. Entitlement is not a priviledge it is as the word suggest a legal term for the rights to benefits etc etc
4.
Generation X is a term used in demographics, the social sciences, and more broadly in popular culture. It is mostly related to the Western culture and demography and generally refers to persons born in the 1960s and 1970s, although the exact dates of birth defining this age demographic are highly debated. Born after baby boomers, it has also been described as a generation consisting of those people whose "teen years touched the 1980s", though many people that are considered part of the generation had their teenage years during the 1990s.
The term is popularly associated with the people born between 1961 and 1981. Another common description of Generation X includes within it those people who grew up in a period of transition (1945–1990) beginning with the end of World War II and the decline of colonial imperialism and ending with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. Thus, the transition between colonialism and globalization is thought to separate the Baby Boomers from the Baby Busters, a sub-generation of Generation X made up of the earliest born members. There are some older Generation Xers who frown upon the classification of those born in 1980 or 1981 as being part of Generation X; these individuals often prefer to classify Generation X as those born between 1964 and 1979.
Therefore having defined the basis of the argument now let us examine the context and implications.
I find the notion that generation labelling us twentysomething populous as slack/lazy etc Gen Xers really rather amusing as it goes to show that the apple truelly does not fall far from the tree, I quote (from Univeristy of Washington Business School)
....Being labeled is, perhaps, a rite of passage for every crop of twentysomethings. In their day, baby boomers were rabble-rousing hippies, and Gen Xers were apathetic slackers.
Now, deserved or not, this latest generation is being pegged, too -- as one with shockingly high expectations for salary, job flexibility and duties but little willingness to take on grunt work or remain loyal to a company.
Could it be that in 20 years time I to will be whinging about the up and coming youth? Let's come back to that one.
Now to give some insight into my background. I am a young engineer by standards. I work for a great company that values its employees because the management level has the foresight to see that a companys success and future is based on its workforce. Do I have a big salary, probably is above average, I can't complain.
Do we Gen Xrs want it all? Yes, why not try!! Am I slack, no, I work 50+ hour weeks for a 40hr week salary without compensation, am I an idiot for doing this, no I get payed well because of this. Am I entitled to want the high income and benefits, Yes, do we deserve it?? That is up to your employer and yourself.
People complain about how we want it all now and haven't yet earnt it. Where do you think the young learn this trait??
The world has become more commercialised and less accomodating. Low socioeconomic levels struggle and get abused by coporation, more meat for the sausage machine. Parent's struggle and sacrifice to raise the children on the pretext of giving them a better future, and now that we stand up and ask for a better future, we are labelled,
"high expectations for salary, job flexibility and duties but little willingness to take on grunt work or remain loyal to a company."
Do no confuse committment with loyalty. I am committed to my company, they look after me so I look after them, this is the new order of loyalty, bred by the older generation into the present economic system.
Do not take this to mean that I support the slack and inept, this is not the case, I take pride in my work ethic and committment and in my ability.
I have racked up debt in my own name to get my education, not my parent's, they have done more than enough for me to take this on, I have worked hard and taken no holidays, have worked overtime... Do I epxect high salaries and flexibility for my life outside of work, Yes. I have worked for it, it is an entitlement not a priviledge, if my seniors can not get a salary like mine then look to yourself and what you may be lacking, not to me.
Back to the comment of "Could it be that in 20 years time I to will be whinging about the up and coming youth?", the answer is probably YES. I am only human after all. Will I remember to have the foresight to ask what it is I may be resentful of, I sincerely hope so.
Our generations are the same, we think the same way and want the same. The only difference is that we are not being governed by social stigma's or the shackles that bind older employees to scared or unable to increase there earning potential, and that we no longer let corporations use and abuse.
The world isn't nice, corporations generally don't give a hoot about your needs or your family's needs. It's up to the individual to get the most he can from his employer, I reckon go for it, there is no harm in trying.
Your Sincerely,
Generation X
....now, how to remove one's tongue from one's cheek.
![[cheers]](/data/assets/smilies/cheers.gif "[cheers] [cheers]")
