Different generations have different belief systems; however, there has always been a rift between the ‘baby boomer generation and millennials. This paper is a reading response to some topics discussed over time regarding entitlement among youth, what beliefs older generations hold that are not true to millennials, how ecological habitat has changed, and its implications on young people's economic opportunities.
Issues concerning youth and climate change have been controversial for the longest time; it is, however, important to understands the facts behind both before passing judgment and tagging each of them as anything aside from what it truly is. All industries rely on at least two ecosystem services to further their economic agenda. Sadly, the increment of cash flow has led to devastating implications on earths’ natural barrier. The ecological crisis has become so bad; the United Nations urged each nation to include ecological crisis mitigation in their 2021 budget if they plan to survive the next wave of climate change disasters. However, YouthStats: Environment and Climate Change," (2015), a survey done by the United Nations, shows young people are the only ones taking global warming seriously.
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Different generations had different vices to fight against; for millennials, it's an external evil called climate change. The youth's future is fading with each ice scalp melt; with the under-representation of young people in leadership positions, all millennials are left with are social media posts, standstills, and demonstrations. This is where the issue of entitlement appears. The older generation believes the ecological crisis is a myth; this sidelining held more water when former president Trump refused to acknowledge climate change, calling activists lazy youths who refuse to work or go to school to receive grant funds meant to save the world from the global crisis.
A review of James Cairns’ book, The Myth of the Age of Entitlement , done by Loreto (2017), shows how the older generation views efforts put in by millennials. In chapter 5 of the book titled, Millennial Blowout: Eco-disentitlement vs. Ecological Justice, Cairns talk about the cost the earth had to face to allow social and economic development to thrive; however, he suggests that young people, in a sense, chose the struggles they are now facing in terms of ecological crisis (Loreto, 2017). Therefore, the calling of actions like demonstrations to support their cause, a show of entitlement, stating that they expect handouts and the older generations to ‘fix’ these issues for them are among the issues of concern. The chapter further says the impossibility of youth development without causing more damage to the ecology, citing that ignorance is seen more if young people expect to close the economic gap between them and the older generation.
The argument provided in chapter 5 of Cairns’ book fails to acknowledge a diverse group that is the millennials; they come from all social classes and are affected by issues differently. YouthStats: Environment and Climate Change (2015) talks of millennials in third world countries as most hit by ecological crisis issues and most active in physical labor; they cannot possibly be grouped under Cairns ‘entitled’ youth.
It is easy to identify distinct discrimination against young people, being called entitled when it suits others, and receiving acknowledgment over our issues when they are trying to cover up their bad judgment. To a certain degree, I agreed with the thought of some youth being entitled, but after going through the different views cited here, there's a clear overlap on what we were forced to believe was an entitlement and what it is. The older generation's picture of entitlement shows a young person who sits pretty with their hand out expecting to receive from their predecessors who work hard for their keep.
References
Loreto, N. (2017). The Myth of the Age of Entitlement. A Research-Based Analysis. https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/the-myth-of-the-age-of-entitlement
YouthStats: Environment and Climate Change. (2015). United Nations. Office of the secretary general envoy on youth . https://www.un.org/youthenvoy/environment-climate-change/
