Why Adam Weinstein's Rage Gives Me Hope

By now you've probably seen this Huffington Post article, seeing as how it's been "liked" on Facebook nearly a million times:

Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy

Basically the article says Generation Y is unhappy because they were raised to feel that they were "special" and entitled to an awesome life, and that attitude recently collided with the Great Recession. Here's a quote that sums it all up:

Paul Harvey, a University of New Hampshire professor... finds that Gen Y has "unrealistic expectations and a strong resistance toward accepting negative feedback," and "an inflated view of oneself." He says that "a great source of frustration for people with a strong sense of entitlement is unmet expectations. They often feel entitled to a level of respect and rewards that aren't in line with their actual ability and effort levels."

You may also have seen this rebuttal by Adam Weinstein:

Fuck You. I'm Gen Y, and I Don't Feel Special or Entitled, Just Poor.

Gen Y Is Not the Problem, And Not the Point

I think the Huff Post article makes a good point. Thwarted expectations are the root cause of much of the anger, sadness, and disappointment in human existence.

But it overgeneralizes. I mean, come on, as if everybody born between the late 70s and the mid 90s is EXACTLY THE SAME.

And even if they did have unrealistic expectations at first, Gen Y has been in the workforce for quite a while now. Unpaid "internships," ridiculous corporate demands for productivity, and stagnant wages drove away the rainbows and unicorns very quickly.

You can feel that cynicism in Weinstein's rebuttal:

“Stop feeling special” is some shitty advice. I don’t feel special or entitled, just poor. ... I’ve tempered the hell out of my expectations of work... And I’m still poor and in debt... Last weekend my baby had a fever, and we contemplated taking him to the ER, and my first thought was - had to be - “Oh God, that could wipe out our bank account! Maybe he can just ride it out?” 

One commenter blasted Weinstein, accusing him of being part of "A generation that grew up with soccer games that weren't scored because we wanted everyone to feel like a winner. A generation that went to school with sliding scale grades that allowed everyone to pass every class."

Weinstein responded with rage:

I never got a trophy for participation in my life. I'm a state college grad, too. I've taught judgy head-up-rectum holier-than-thous like you. ... You want to talk to me about my entitlement? Name a streetcorner, dipshit. Better bring a friend if you have one.

I've seen plenty of debate on the topics of Generation Y and entitlement. And I've seen plenty of employees hanging on in quiet desperation through this recession.

But rarely have I seen such anger and fighting words.

I am happy to see that rage.

I'm happy because the bullshit has gone on long enough. Middle-class wages have been stagnant in America for a long time. Executives make hundreds of times what workers earn. The minimum wage is a joke. Costs for key necessities—education, health care, gasoline—have skyrocketed over the past two decades.

I have felt that pinch personally. I've worked for the past 15 months in a "temp" job with no benefits and lower pay than I was earning 3 years ago. I've been laid off twice over the past 5 years, and I cobbled together a string of contract gigs to pay the bills. During those in-between periods of unemployment, the bills piled up. Raising a family is expensive, and unstable employment is an incredible source of stress.

ALL generations are suffering in this recession. Not just Gen Y.

I can see why Weinstein and others are pissed off. They're having as much trouble as everybody else making ends meet in a depressed economy (arguably MORE trouble, since they have more student loan debt than any generation before them). Then articles like the Huff Post article add insult to injury by telling Gen Y that their misery is THEIR OWN FAULT because they didn't work hard enough and had "unrealistic expectations."

I think it's a perfectly realistic expectation to be able to feed your family and pay your rent on a full-time job. I'm glad Adam Weinstein and others in Gen Y share that expectation. And I'm glad they're mad about it:

You are welcome to work your wage slave job with more hours for less pay, but I'm sick of it and refuse to accept it. –Eshln242 

The solution to the country being fucked up is not "climb over your fellow man and grab that brass ring." It is "make the country less fucked up." And the first step to that is people standing up and saying that there is a problem. –IMissTheOldInternet 

Class warfare? Sure, I'm down... I had a conversation with a guy at the bar who was making $4 million a YEAR, and I asked him to explain to me why he should get a tax break. ... Minus all of his expenses, he nets $1.5M a year, and couldn't defend against kicking in $250k more and still net $1.25M. That, right there, I think is the problem ... the inability to come up with a rational answer to why rich people can't give a little more and still have pantsload of money and not say the equivalent of "Because!" or "I worked hard for this money". Guess what, people work just as hard as you, cupcake, and don't get paid back. –hyattch

I used to think Americans were too lazy to take to the streets about anything. Maybe Gen Y will change that. Write their own version of events. If being called "special snowflakes" fuels that fire, then maybe that Huff Post article wasn't just a bunch of tired overgeneralizations after all.