We are raising a generation of deluded narcissists

Originally posted by kozmo

We've offered participation trophies just for showing up.


Some have gone further and eliminated the use of red ink in grading papers


We've eliminated corporal punishment. Parents are no longer permitted to spank their children.

Rules and schools must be different in different parts of the country.

During my daughters karate tournaments, they will not give trophies for showing up....So she works harder on her katas to really win.

I homeschool and use red ink!!! If it makes her feel bad she works harder to not see it. Case solved.

And where is spanking illegal? Because in my state it is not. BUT your child better not have bruises or proof anywhere that is NOT the actual buttocks.....

reply to post by VitriolAndAngst


I don't see how blaming a mental health issue on gun ownership solves the problem. A mentally ill person that wants to kill a bunch of people will not just say " oh well, i can't get a gun so i think i will just go pick some flowers" They will just find another way of killing people.

reply to post by jimmiec


No doubt. I have been saying this for years. We are seeing the first generation that grew up on the internet now becoming adults. These people thought they were stars, thought they had 2000 friends followers, and thought people were interested in every aspect of their lives.

Welcome to the real world kids.
I am still in my twenties, but just the other day I was telling my dad that I was so thankful that I had at least ten years of my life not plugged into cell phones and the internet.

reply to post by GogoVicMorrow


It's just like grandma said 50 years ago " That damn TV will be our ruination"

The findings of this report also impact my business directly. For me, the hardest thing is trying to find competent workers. For every 100 new college grads I see, 90 of them are self-absorbed, having no marketable skills, and an entitlement mentality - "I'm a college grad so you should be happy to give me a job". Very few are willing to actually do the work in order to learn the necessary skills to excel at the job, and of those, very few have ambitions to even decide on what they want to do with their careers. I would say that only 1 or 2 our of the hundred will actually have what it takes to survive in the business world.

The perfect question which defines this group - where do you see yourself 5 or 10 years down the line. The generation behind them, and a handful of their peers have no problem answering this question - but for the majority of them, they can't even commit to an internal value system.

They seem to be afraid of making decisions, and as such, they can't seem to even decide what they want to do with their career. We've been bashing their heads in with the notion that they can become anything that they honestly believe they can become anything at any time. This is not to say they can't change their mind down the line, they are simply too afraid of making a decision now because it might be wrong for them down the line - and this fear of commitment means they don't choose anything.

How many "college grads" have you found working in retail or at some low paying job? Granted some of it has to do with the economy - but a lot of it also has to do with the person themselves. Next time you run into a "college grad" busing tables - ask them why? I'm almost certain that the majority of the answers you get are along the lines of "not wanting to commit", "not wanting to play the system or answer to 'the man'" or "not knowing what they really want to do now", or "holding my options open until something better comes along".

reply to post by antonia


Well stated.

You hear the same thing from elders all the time "back in my day we had respect for our parents, we had , we didn't , we could " etc. I remember hearing the same stuff when I was a young child as I do today as a Gen-Y adult. Many older people do like to whine about "what's wrong with the youth of today" and their opinions are often riddled with bitterness and resentment because their youth has escaped them.

There are deluded narcissists in every generation. It's just because technology is so advanced and people have become to reliant on it that it seems as if most of the young fall under this stereotype.

reply to post by Dark Ghost


I don't begrudge our youth for seeking change, for being different. Every generation is the same in that respect. If you are young right now and are able to effect change and create your Utopia, the following generations will no doubt want to tear it down. They will no doubt succeed. The problem is not really about any certain generation persee. Each generation has it's own problems. The fact that some mentally ill of a certain generation turn to mass murder is alarming to say the least. The reason for it must be addressed or it will continue. It is a very small percentage that are the issue as far as mass murder is concerned. We as a society have made some poor decisions in the last 40 years. It is time to fess up to them and try to correct them. Not so we can blame someone. So we can create a better society.

reply to post by Dark Ghost


The thing that chaps my hide about this is the generations really aren't that different. The technology is different, the material is pretty much the same.

I want all of you to meet someone.

The rising star of the European disco scene, her glittering jewelry and shades belie her age. At 70 Ruth Flowers is the oldest DJ in the world. A few years ago she attended her grandson’s birthday in a club and ever since she has been ruling the dance floors under the pseudonym Mamy Rock.

She's not whining about young people, she's living life with them. Stop looking for negative things all the time and maybe you'll find something good in this world.

Originally posted by jimmiec
reply to post by Dark Ghost

 

We as a society have made some poor decisions in the last 40 years. It is time to fess up to them and try to correct them. Not so we can blame someone. So we can create a better society.

This is where I think you are too quick to point fingers yourself. While it would be a good thing to create a better society, the current "problems" are not unique to today or any generation during the last 40 years. The last paragraph of the article is plain as day hyperbole:

We had better get a plan together to combat this greatest epidemic as it takes shape. Because it will dwarf the toll of any epidemic we have ever known. And it will be the hardest to defeat. Because, by the time we see the scope and destructiveness of this enemy clearly, we will also realize, as the saying goes, that it is us.

I think the good doctor maybe a bit of a deluded narcissist himself.

reply to post by kozmo

Such things have encouraged no end of lip from this generation and those that follow it. I don't know why but this had been one of the most irritating aspects of it.

They don't shut up.

reply to post by jimmiec


From what I have seen, the conditions for making good soild narcissists have been around before this generation.

reply to post by JimTSpock

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I think music does have some role in it. I was lucky enough to have grown up during the Rock & Roll era. Great music with meaning. I have a daughter that posts her every thought on Facebook and i jump her all the time about it. Alas, you can't tell a 20 year old ANYTHING. They should lower the age requirements for POTUS and elect only 20 year olds. They do know everything afterall.


Hahahaha.....sounds just like my Dad speaking, and I'm 63!!!! Times don't really change, only attitudes.

Here we go with this we # again....smh.

Originally posted by minnow
I spent a large part of every year travelling overseas with family, then by teens working hard and supporting charities, and environmental movements.

How and what environmental 'movements' were you supporting as a teenager?

Anyway, this might help people understand how Gen Y sees the others.

www.youtube.com...

The cure for egocentrism is not making a world that revolves around objectivism and being ego-centric. Ayn Rand went above and beyond the call of duty; she believed she shat logical rationality. She is about as influential as Jesus in America.

The machines are a black hole, and people thought they would save us. Instead they control us.

This is nobodies mistake, and every bodies mistake. There is no one to blame but decadence, greed, depravity.

I blame a combination of extended education and increased social visibility. Advertising doesnt help.

Essentially, in the old days, if you were thick you worked in a factory and you didnt question it too much.

These days, if you are thick, you get aid to go to collage where you will get a great job like on the adverts in a hospital (brain sergeon), the FBI or special forces, lawyering and realty etc etc. This means that people are grown to expect things greater than working in the factory. They then spend 10 years before they come down from that high and realise it was lies.

However, because of extended social visibility they can see what everyone else has. You can see it on your Mayspace page, ooops, they banned myspace, its Facebook now and social visibility is a bit harder. But its still there via forums and message boards etc. Essentially you can see what other people have. And most people dont lead with jobs like fork truck driver, cab driver, factory serf, instead they say Gangster, whore, musician, promotion agent, artist or anything to extended the delusion that they are not thick. And because they see everyone else doing that they cant let go.

The thing with young people is that the margins are harder to see. Young girls that are destined to be fat and ugly dont quite know it yet and still pose in the mirroe for facebook shots and go to the beach in bikinis. thick blokes are the same but its harder to see. It just takes a long while for reality to sink in and whilst they can hack about on the internet they can keep the delusion going.

Thats opposed to the old days when they accepted their fate a lot sooner.

Im currently in a very black neighbourhood and you can see this in the streets. Black people that pretty much know they'll never amount to much other than working at Walmart but they are still faced each day with the lure of being a Football ace or singer. Ooops, I stand corrected. All those guys hanging at the street corners staring savagly at the white dude on the wrong street will all be presidents of the USA.

I really just blame the movie "Rudy". Everyone grows up now thinking they are the underdog and with a bit of perseverance they can do anything. Well, minus the perseverance - its the glorification of the outliers and the rise of the Beibers. For every Rudy that is out there there are 100,000 Roadies who never made it.

We have been glorifying these rags to riches stories for too long now. Sure they feel good and make us think that something better than our current situation is out there - people like to see that kind of thing, no one wants to watch a movie where the protagonist looses everything and ends up worse off than they started. I think people have seen it soo much that they believe it can happen to them.

1) You need to be in the right place at the right time
or
1) You need to have a goal (this is the big key know what you want and how to get it)
2) You need to persevere until you reach that goal
3) If the money runs out and the collectors start calling, maybe you need to think of a different goal (but at least you have a goal)

Originally posted by misse2miss

Originally posted by jimmiec
reply to post by Lulzaroonie

 

I agree with you 100%. The problem is that half of the parents don't do a proper job of parenting. Add to that our public school system gives our children a trophy even when they lose and we have a lot of kids that do not have the mechanism needed to cope with losing in the sometimes harsh environment of society.

Yes the "problem" with the youth is we have been given trophies.

Let me ask you this one question?

What makes you think genereation y (my generation) does not have the capacity to cope?
Because last time i checked there have been "crazies" throughout time i will list a few

1. Charles Manson

2.Jack the Ripper

3. Pedro Alonso López Killed 110+ yrs: 1969 to 1980

4.Gary Ridgway Killed 71+ yrs: 1982 to 2000

5. Ted Bundy Killed 35+ yrs: 1974 to 1978

6. Jeffrey Dahmer Killed 17 yrs: 1978 to 1991

Theres plenty more where that came from

source


It seems like there have been some bad eggs in nearly every generation.. but see here is the difference we aren't belittling you.

Perhaps everyone should stop pointing the finger and stop playing the name game and take some responsibility.

Generation y didn't choose the world we grew up in YOU DID!

But don't worry at least we know how not to be, thanks for that

Btw this was not aimed directly at Lulzaroonie i went on a tangent

.

edit on 9-1-2013 by misse2miss because: (no reason given)

edit on 9-1-2013 by misse2miss because: (no reason given)

Yes... it is the problem. How can any good come from celebrating mediocrity?

You may be of Gen. Y, but you are not Gen. Y... that is to say, you do not represent the whole. (Although your avatar does a fine job of illustrating the general mentality)

Older folks are not blaming our generation, they are indeed blaming themselves for creating our generation.... don't really see how that's not clear.

The "bad eggs" you have listed were serial killers.. don't get me wrong, that's plenty terrible in itself. But the "bad eggs" of our generation are not secretive, methodical and calculating like serial killers. They're "showmen" trying to make martyrs of themselves.. and more and more with alarming frequency. And for what? You tell me, do these people seem like they knew how to cope?
How many "bad eggs" throughout history fit that description?

Once again, no one can deny that Gen Y is a product of previous generations mistakes and negligence.

reply to post by Generator85


Once again, no one can deny that Gen Y is a product of previous generations mistakes and negligence.

Thank you, you get it. Mistakes have been made and realized. Not even big mistakes. Simple things like not spanking kids at home or school can have a huge effect. A trophy for the losing team. The long term effects of well intentioned change comes with unintended consequences.

Einstein said that for every successful result it took him 10,000 failed results to reach that one successful one. Life is no different. It is full of failures. As individuals we must all be prepared to cope with failure in order to reach success.The eventual success is much sweeter because of those failures. I think we forget to give our kids that memo. Maybe to spare them the heartbreak of failure, yet it is the human condition that should be embraced as a big part of success.

The film 'Tooth Fairy' is interesting. It stars a huge bloke of the Sshwarze'n-word' ilk (big and muscly and charasmatic) and somehow he gets in contact with a kid who has a dream of becoming famous and so he tells him not to try as he'll just fail.

Im not very good at explaining stuff but its a great film other than the fact that in the end he descides to encourage the kid to follow his dream.

I think our governments promote the idea of chasing your dreams too readily against pied piper goals. Perpetual education, stars in their eyes. By the time youth realise the value of their youth its too late, they have been drouwned in the sewers outside of town where the pied piper led them.