By Matthew Dunn
Every generation has its unique defining characteristics. For those born during the early part of the 20th century there was the Great Depression and the Second World War. For the baby boomers there was the post-war prosperity, the new waves of pop culture, and the rebellions of the youth. The generation which has now termed "millennials" would have a defining characteristic. This defining characteristic would be neo-liberalism.
Neo-liberalism is an economic philosophy which was created in the post-war years by very prominent economists from the Universities of Chicago and Vienna. These economists basically argued that the state was an inefficient at conducting business. They believed that the private sector could run things more efficiently, and that everything should be run for profit. This eventually would lead to greater wealth for all. With the exception of some experiments in Latin America during the 1970s neo-liberalism was not really considered a viable solution for the world economies. Most of the developed nations of the world developed mixed economies with private business along with government involvement with strong regulations.
However, the recessions of the 1970s promted some people to believe that all was not well with the current way of doing things. It was just at the end of the 1970s that Ronald Reagan became president. Reagan and his staff were great supporters of neo-liberalism. They made it their goal to try and institute the philosophies of the neo-liberal economists onto the United States, as well as the rest of the world.
Reagan often pointed to making life better for consumers and giving people more choice. Many people of the baby boom generation began to rally around the philosophy of neo-liberalism. New markets and products began to be created that were marketed to people. One of the particular markets that sprang up was the rebellion market. Rebellion and individuality some of the core values of the 60s counterculture became ways to market products. It was at this time that the baby boomers began to give birth to the millennial generation.
These millenail children were born around the years of Reagan's presidency would experience a world filled with neo-liberalism. As people became consumed with making more profits and becoming more and more concerned with only themselves, a fundamental shift began in the class system of the United States. The middle class began to dwindle and the upper classes became even more wealthy. Labor unions, once very powerful organizations which had the power to crush companies with strikes, were either crushed by the national administration (as in the case of the striking air traffic controllers) or saw their jobs exported to developing countries (as in the case of auto workers and textille workers).
For children born during this time it seemed almost magical at times. The most important of the new products, the PC and the internet, made it possible to be entertained all of the time. It seemed as if boredom slowly was vanishing and we literally had the entire globalized world at our fingertips. We naturally had been raised in this neo-liberal environment of choice and we sincerly believed that we could do anything that we put our minds to. Millennials also began to question the traditional norms and morals of the existing culture, such as relationships, and believed that they needed to all live their own personal journeys of self-discovery. Millennials were taught and began to believe that they could have whatever we wanted, as long as we kept our dreams alive.
In this new world of choice and individuality we had plenty of model portrayed for us on television and in the media. First we had Jerry Seinfeld and his friends who never seemed to have a job, and never really had any real concerns. They seemed to go through life without a concern for the well being of anyone but themselves and seemed perfectly happy. They had no greater purpose in life and it was actually advertised in the theme of the show because it was a "show about nothing". We also ha had Howard Stern on the radio, who has made us laugh at his degenerate cast of the handicapped, drug addicts, and other social outcasts. In addition to this, he has helped a whole generation of men become turned on listening to his interviews of naked women. In contrast to Stern's male dominated audience, women were given Sex in the City, in which four women tried to reconcile being career driven but also obsessed with relationships with men. Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and especially Samantha, made it socially acceptable for women to be single, promiscious, and prosperous. In the world where these ladies live there are no great tragedies for women except when the department store is sold out of our favorite pair of Jimmy Choo's. And lastly our generation experienced the wonders of MTV, which made music a visual art form and created reality television which showed us that people with no exceptional talents could be stars.
However, under the mystiques of Jerry, Howard, Carrie, and the Real World, the Reagan babies have become increasingly insecure. Fantastical desires are now able to be met at anytime, but millennials increasingly feel under pressure in their daily lives. They feel as though we must maintain a level of comfort that they have grown accustomed to, in a world that income inequality increasingly dominates. Debt seems to be a feature of the millennial generation, that drives their decisions in family and work.
Neo-liberal economics have created the world of the Reagan babies. The philosophy has become part of each and everyone of our lives. We have an incredible amount of choice in what we can purchase, but that choice has come at a price. Many millennials will have to work harder than their parents, and will face a very uncertain future, with the safety net increasingly under threat. It seems as though millennials live from crisis to crisis. Millennials as a group are always mentioned as having very little retirement savings, but even those who do are constantly forced into boom and bust market cycles. Millennials have had a hard time in the job market. Many families used to be able to make it on one salary alone, but families today, seem to need to need two salaries at the minimum. The neo-liberal revolution promised infinite choices to millennials but it seems to gives millennials plenty of choice of things to be stressed over.
Millennials are frequently the targets of outrage from older generations. They are portrayed as nihilistic, narcissist, and tech obsessed. These are the things that they have been instructed to be by the world of choice and individuality that was promoted to them. However, we now see the millennial generation, starting to break away from these ideas. They are beginning to see the power of social solidarity and how collective action can improve their lives. It is up to them now, to make the choice as to what kind of future, they wish to see.
Every generation has its unique defining characteristics. For those born during the early part of the 20th century there was the Great Depression and the Second World War. For the baby boomers there was the post-war prosperity, the new waves of pop culture, and the rebellions of the youth. The generation which has now termed "millennials" would have a defining characteristic. This defining characteristic would be neo-liberalism.
Neo-liberalism is an economic philosophy which was created in the post-war years by very prominent economists from the Universities of Chicago and Vienna. These economists basically argued that the state was an inefficient at conducting business. They believed that the private sector could run things more efficiently, and that everything should be run for profit. This eventually would lead to greater wealth for all. With the exception of some experiments in Latin America during the 1970s neo-liberalism was not really considered a viable solution for the world economies. Most of the developed nations of the world developed mixed economies with private business along with government involvement with strong regulations.
However, the recessions of the 1970s promted some people to believe that all was not well with the current way of doing things. It was just at the end of the 1970s that Ronald Reagan became president. Reagan and his staff were great supporters of neo-liberalism. They made it their goal to try and institute the philosophies of the neo-liberal economists onto the United States, as well as the rest of the world.
Reagan often pointed to making life better for consumers and giving people more choice. Many people of the baby boom generation began to rally around the philosophy of neo-liberalism. New markets and products began to be created that were marketed to people. One of the particular markets that sprang up was the rebellion market. Rebellion and individuality some of the core values of the 60s counterculture became ways to market products. It was at this time that the baby boomers began to give birth to the millennial generation.
These millenail children were born around the years of Reagan's presidency would experience a world filled with neo-liberalism. As people became consumed with making more profits and becoming more and more concerned with only themselves, a fundamental shift began in the class system of the United States. The middle class began to dwindle and the upper classes became even more wealthy. Labor unions, once very powerful organizations which had the power to crush companies with strikes, were either crushed by the national administration (as in the case of the striking air traffic controllers) or saw their jobs exported to developing countries (as in the case of auto workers and textille workers).
For children born during this time it seemed almost magical at times. The most important of the new products, the PC and the internet, made it possible to be entertained all of the time. It seemed as if boredom slowly was vanishing and we literally had the entire globalized world at our fingertips. We naturally had been raised in this neo-liberal environment of choice and we sincerly believed that we could do anything that we put our minds to. Millennials also began to question the traditional norms and morals of the existing culture, such as relationships, and believed that they needed to all live their own personal journeys of self-discovery. Millennials were taught and began to believe that they could have whatever we wanted, as long as we kept our dreams alive.
In this new world of choice and individuality we had plenty of model portrayed for us on television and in the media. First we had Jerry Seinfeld and his friends who never seemed to have a job, and never really had any real concerns. They seemed to go through life without a concern for the well being of anyone but themselves and seemed perfectly happy. They had no greater purpose in life and it was actually advertised in the theme of the show because it was a "show about nothing". We also ha had Howard Stern on the radio, who has made us laugh at his degenerate cast of the handicapped, drug addicts, and other social outcasts. In addition to this, he has helped a whole generation of men become turned on listening to his interviews of naked women. In contrast to Stern's male dominated audience, women were given Sex in the City, in which four women tried to reconcile being career driven but also obsessed with relationships with men. Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and especially Samantha, made it socially acceptable for women to be single, promiscious, and prosperous. In the world where these ladies live there are no great tragedies for women except when the department store is sold out of our favorite pair of Jimmy Choo's. And lastly our generation experienced the wonders of MTV, which made music a visual art form and created reality television which showed us that people with no exceptional talents could be stars.
However, under the mystiques of Jerry, Howard, Carrie, and the Real World, the Reagan babies have become increasingly insecure. Fantastical desires are now able to be met at anytime, but millennials increasingly feel under pressure in their daily lives. They feel as though we must maintain a level of comfort that they have grown accustomed to, in a world that income inequality increasingly dominates. Debt seems to be a feature of the millennial generation, that drives their decisions in family and work.
Neo-liberal economics have created the world of the Reagan babies. The philosophy has become part of each and everyone of our lives. We have an incredible amount of choice in what we can purchase, but that choice has come at a price. Many millennials will have to work harder than their parents, and will face a very uncertain future, with the safety net increasingly under threat. It seems as though millennials live from crisis to crisis. Millennials as a group are always mentioned as having very little retirement savings, but even those who do are constantly forced into boom and bust market cycles. Millennials have had a hard time in the job market. Many families used to be able to make it on one salary alone, but families today, seem to need to need two salaries at the minimum. The neo-liberal revolution promised infinite choices to millennials but it seems to gives millennials plenty of choice of things to be stressed over.
Millennials are frequently the targets of outrage from older generations. They are portrayed as nihilistic, narcissist, and tech obsessed. These are the things that they have been instructed to be by the world of choice and individuality that was promoted to them. However, we now see the millennial generation, starting to break away from these ideas. They are beginning to see the power of social solidarity and how collective action can improve their lives. It is up to them now, to make the choice as to what kind of future, they wish to see.
