As part of the readings for this mysterious fourth essay, I ran across this little gem from Lev Grossman.
Some of you may have already read it in the book. Some may have not (it is in Chapter 14). Either way, I think it's worthy of discussion.
You can read the article HERE.
300-400 words on your honest responses to this article. I think this is a topic that all of you should be able to weigh in on. Is this your generation? Is this you? Or is some other agenda at work here? In the new post-depression American economy, do we have the luxury of never growing up?
-- MP
I feel that this truly is our generation, which is sad but its true. Today it seems like laziness is what people do and things that should take up a small part of life and being drawn out. Along with laziness I feel like the maturity level is below where it is supposed to be for the age groups that are discussed. Within education the people who are in college for 6 1/2 years when they are pursuing a 2 year degree, they are just wasting their time and money by staying in college for that long. This really becomes a problem when the student does not care at all about their schooling or getting their major. I feel like some college students feel like school is a free ride to part all of the time and not need to grow up. However, if this is the preparation for the real world after college, there will be an overflow of professional partiers in the world. The underlying problem with schooling, getting a career, and settling down and having a family is the maturity and laziness of our generation. It seems like everyone is starting to get married later and later in life. The maturity level to get there is not quite there for our generation because many do not want to be tied down or committed to one person, they would rather have fun and do what they want when they want. At a certain age this is acceptable, but once you enter your late twenties and thirties this becomes immature and gross. By postponing getting married, people are also postponing having a family, that is why in today's society there are many older families. It is shocking to me that people are starting families when they wont even be alive to see their children graduate college because they are so old. The laziness that comes along with this is the fact that people do not want to pay for a wedding, a house, a family, which is a shame. Today money is a big part of life, unfortunately it seems to be eating peoples time as well. There does come a point when everyone does need to grow up a little bit in order to be successful in the world. Living on your parents couch playing video games and drinking beer all day is far from a successful life at age 30. While some parents condone and accept this behavior from their lazy children, it is a huge problem that is motivating the slow down of our generation. Saying that it is okay to be lazy and immature and not doing anything with your life is a total lie, because it is not okay and there will be no successful future for you if you do indeed chose to go down this path.
ReplyDelete-Kaitlyn Huml
The first point that I would like to touch on that I completely agree with is "You need a college degree now just to be where blue- collar
ReplyDeletepeople the same age were 20 or 30 years ago, and if you don't have it, then you're way behind." In
other words, it's not that twixters don't want to become adults. They just can't afford to." This is true because of how much different our economy runs than it did when our parents were in our shoes. Jobs pay more now but there are more expenses, kids today know that if you want to pay off your debt to a credit card company or a school before you DIE, you need to have a high paying job which gives you the idea to stay in school moving on to a grad program so you can get a better job, or will have a better chance at one since you are deemed "more intelligent". Emerging adults are not a problem in our society, they are an evolution. I agree with the fact that we are heading down this road (I know I'm going to be in the same place as some of the kids mentioned in this story when I graduate) because of the shift in the economy. There are many reasons in my opinion for the evolution of emerging adults. Of course there is the reason that I touched on (finances) but graduating college and moving on into the real world is a scary thought. Being lazy and doing nothing is not a solution, if you want to go to school and get a bachelors degree and get a job when you get out of school, then you need to show some initiative and do it. Even if it does involve moving 6 times or trying out 20 different jobs, eventually the pieces will all fall into place and you will feel right and be where you want to be. I don't think it is right to say that our generation is "lazy" because the majority of us are not, I think it would be more appropriate to describe the world being against us because it is true, there is a very slim chance that you will get out of school with a bachelors degree and be able to get a job to sit in for life, related to your field. If you can get out of school and begin to pay off your debts with a job as a waiter so you can go back to school, then do it. We need to do whatever we can do to grow up and get on with life, I for one am scared of graduation but I know eventually I will find my place because I am motivated to do so.
-David Hacker
I think that this article does bring up an interesting trend in my generation. The way people are growing up and becoming independent is a lot different than then way it was for my parents. When they turned 18 they became responsible for themselves and had to pay for school themselves, but I am still financially dependent on them for school. This is not to say it as free of a ride as the article makes it seem. There is a time limit and expectation placed on me. I do see and have friends where it has and will take them four years to graduate and even some have no idea what will come next for them. Both of my cousins even though they have graduated and are no longer living with their parents still get some financial help from them. I do think this is an overall trend, but I don’t think that it is something that everyone has the luxury of. Not everyone has a family to fall back on or has a family that will support a continued adolescence. I know my family won’t allow be to have a free ride after school, they expect me to come out of college as an responsible, self providing adult. And I do think that college is a continued adolescent and I also think that its good to experiments and figure out your path, but I also think that people push it too far. I don’t think that you should stay a child forever and I think there comes a point where people need to grow up and be responsible for themselves. I also don’t think most people have the luxury of continuing their adolescent path forever. I think people should stay young in the sense of pursuing happiness but I also think you have to accept some disappointments along the way in order to grow up and I think people in my generation aren’t as willing to accept those disappointments.I don't think its laziness as much as fear of waking up one day miserable and with regrets.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in this economy is one of the scariest thoughts imaginable. This economy where finding a job is equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack is definately off putting. We spend thousands of dollars that we don't have getting an education that may be irrelevant in a few years. This intimidation shows through our generation as laziness. We're terrified of being rejected, so we try less and less. As horrible as this phenomenom is, it's becoming more and more apparant in out generation. The whole idea of college being a place to learn and a stepping stone to finding a job has been warped into the idea that college is a time to party and have fun. The learning aspect is there, but most college kids have a difficult time balancing fun and work. And how could they not? Walk outside a college campus during a thursday night and see what you find. Kids drinking and partying on the street, music blasting from loud speakers, basically just a mass amount of people. Although we should be able to fight the peer pressure and focus on our studies, the distractions are almost infinite and entirely too hard for the average student to fight. This college, partying life style continues, even after graduation, as a sort of pattern. Most people nowadays graduate in over four years, which just elongates the time a student has to party and not care about the real world. This is a problem that is tough to solve. How do we all of a sudden put in the minds of all college students that partying should be rationed and not taken advantage of? Unfortunately it's an almost impossible task. We, as the new generation, need to focus more on the events taking place beyond graduation. We need to focus on the loans taken out to pay for school and to get the most out of what we're paying for. If we increase of productivity and drive, we'll be creating new habits of hard work which will show in the end.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this is our generation. This generation is so laid back compared to how things were before. As soon as my mom was done with high school, she was taking the next step in her life finding a husband and job, but these days people are waiting to find a job, waiting to start college right after high school. Everything is like in slow motion these days.Today, I think more people are gettting spoiled and are trying to take the easy route with everything.
ReplyDeleteI know many people hate growing up and getting out in the real world and I think that is this generation. it actually came into a real life situation and many people that are older are having troubles dealing with it. People were always told you were an adult at 18, but somewhere things changed with that statement and now it is taking longer to be a full adult and want all the responsibilities that it comes with it.
When I think about why this is taking place, many thoughts come into my head. Are people not wanting to get married because of how high the divorce rate is these days? Are people not wanting to move on with life because of how the economy is? So many questions, but it's hard to say.
I did think it was interesting when it said only 32% of people graduate by 21 and that it takes 5 years to graduate now instead of 4. I see that alot now even with myself. I am 21 and still have about a year left of school. I think that people learn at different levels and I know I find myself saying at times I'm not in a rush to get into the real world. I think it all has to deal with what generation you are in and how others act around you is how you will end up acting.
Many people are getting married and finding there soulmate later in life in this generation because they are taking more time to get through college and find a good paying job. Sometimes I wonder if that is a bad thing or not though. If people get married later in life, maybe we won't have that many divorces since hopefully the person will be a full adult by then and be more mature.
I think this is another article where alot of things could just factor in. People seem to me that they just aren't maturing and going on with there life like they used to and it could be for many reasons. Maybe it's all that fast food people are sucking down and it is causing people to mature and grow up slower. Ha! Just a thought.
Hopefully one day someone will figure this out and why there are now Twixters.
I think this article gave a good picture of thr truth about our generation, and I think there are good reasons for it. As our society, economy, pop culture seem to grow and get faster, the only way to seem to be able to battle it is to slow down. With parents and relatives who are divorced ,and either on disability, or working jobs they have never enjoyed just to get by, it's a harsh picture to look at. It makes me want to take my time with my own choices, especially things like marriage and a career. I can't imagine myself marrying at my age now, in my mind the idea seems ludacris, and even 25 seems to young. I also can't imagine working at one job for too long, and I definitly feel i need to spend time in my life at least for the next few years mostly to explore myself and what I really want out of all of this. Like the woman in the article, it's hard to know where to start. There is so much to look into, to learn, places to work. Also, the financial aspect is a big factor as well. It is true most of my friends between 19-25 are still either recieving help from their parents or living with them. This is true especially through college, which just so happens to take up alot of this time. Then, coming out of college, most of the time with little to no experiance in your field and a huge pile of debt, getting married, having a family, settling down is something that is hard to achieve. Also, it is true that friends are the new family. I feel that my friends are a tight knit group, and I look to them for alot of the support that a family might have given at this time in life in the past. In all the confusion and craziness of everyday life in 2011, it gives me comfort to feel that I am part of that group and that we all have a secure bond, love and understanding for one another. Like my friends, and others my age it also becomes custom to live together at certain times as well. Being around others you care about, and that know you, but you are not obligated in a relationship too also gives more of a feeling of freedom of expression , and space to search for ourselves while still being together with others.
ReplyDeleteThe twixter generation is most definitely our generation today, and unfortunately I feel like I am a twixter. It is not the fact that I am lazy, it is the fact that I do not know what route I would like to go down in life for sure. I want to make sure that when I finally make my decision that I have made the right one, and do not want to end up being the unhappy person that I see so many of the older generations being. From the time that we were kids, we heard people saying well if I would have just done this instead of this I would probably be so much happier. I feel like our generation is taking these words to heart and trying to actually find the right path in life. Essentially we are all on a pursuit of happiness, and our generation is viewing this extra time without the full responsibilities of being an adult as a way to find their happiness. As a person, you have K-12 school and then college which often times you are not living for yourself. At these times you are either doing what your parents want, or what you need to do to get a job later in life. It is the time that we can truly find what we want with out life. Another thing that could be looked at a little later down the road would be the divorce rates. If the divorce rates go down during this twixter generation, it could prove to be an important phase in life. Many people that were getting married at the green ages between 18-21 probably ended in a divorce, and it is probably because of the fact that as a person they did not truly know what they wanted. So essentially the twixter generation could be onto something that is really great.
ReplyDeleteI think that their is more than one reason for this extended adolescence some have to do with the parenting, some have to do with the children, and others have to do with the progress or lack of progress our country has made depending on how you look at it. The biggest reason for this longer childhood is that our country is over populated with natural and naturalized citizens. There are also too many illegal immigrants but they do not present a problem for our countries educated work force. Illegal immigrants just present a strain on public funds which leads to less money being available for public works projects but then again that money could just get wasted somewhere else. Another reason is of service based economy labor and work force jobs have declined over 60% sense 1960 this forces many people to get an education that would have just went to work at a factory after high school or maybe before they even left high school. There is also the problem of rising college costs people either get used to their parents paying their way or they have too much debt to get a good job. My mom paid for all of her college on her own and she finished paying her loans of while she was in the hospital giving birth to her second child. Today this is almost unimaginable many people need to pay off their loans before they can afford to start a family. I also think that education has gotten harder and that many degrees require more out of the students that are trying to obtain them than in years past. So this combination of school costs rising and the potential for many students to stay in school longer puts a huge financial strain on our generation. This strain make it a lot easier for us to just put it off and just try to have fun while slowly chipping away at large amounts of debt. The last thing I am going to blame for this today is our hurting economy and the lack of jobs. How seriously do you think a college graduate is going to take themselves if they are just waiting tables at a restaurant spending most of their time with students and other people that do not have Degrees?
ReplyDeleteAs much as I would like to say that our generation is selfish and ambitious, I have to admit that we are raising awareness of global warming, recycling, and poor animal treatment. I think it is fair to say that our generation wants to do things right, and it takes a little more time. I feel that college students take a long time before settling down because when they make a final job decision, they want it to be flexible so that it can work for the rest of their lives. (For instance, graphic design allows for different jobs within the same category.) College kids almost want to be perfect, though they accept that it’s impossible, but the time before their “real job” is kind of like a grace period; it doesn’t really count.
ReplyDeleteOur generation favors happiness over income. As a result, we’ll wait and prepare ourselves for a huge, money making job and play around with what we do and don’t want. We treat life like dating; we see what life has to offer, and then we decide what fits us best. It’s not fair when the article says were not thinking long-term. Sure, not everyone considers health care or Social Security, but students do realize that these decisions will shape the rest of their lives. It’s not about immediate gratification; it’s about doing what feels right for now and seeing what becomes of it in the future. Students do want to have a sense of purpose and importance in their work. Why should people work hard at something they’re going to loathe for the rest of their lives?
Twixters aren’t brainwashed by household expectations of the 1950’s. For us, social norms are debatable, and we don’t feel the need to conform to standard or expected norms. Our generation wants to do things to advance themselves before settling down and never seeing what life has to offer. Marriage requires commitment, not to mention sacrificing a lot of time and energy. Marriage can seriously get in the way, and especially fail when a partner is still living as if he or she were still single and pursuing their own dreams instead of sharing them.
We’re the gypsy generation; home means nothing to us. We go where the wind takes us, but we still control the sail.
Disclaimer: I do not live with my family.
-Stouffer
The twixters are not concerned about the money when they are in their 20s, they are just busily seeking and realizing their dream. To me twixter isn’t just a trend, a temporary fad or a generational problem; it is a much larger phenomenon, of a different kind and a different order. We stand in the intermediate phase between adult and adolescence, grateful for the seemingly inexistent iron cage of responsibility that even chokes our parents to death. “This new period is a chance for young people to savor the pleasures of irresponsibility, search their souls and choose their life paths.” As colleges struggle to get their students ready for real-world jobs, they are charging more for what they deliver. The resulting debt is a major factor in keeping twixters from moving on and growing up. So I don’t think twixters are happier though they live a better life in the eyes of their parents. The dilemma is there—it is easier and easier to go to a college or get a degree, but it is harder and harder to find a job, especially the one that is your heart’s desire. So it is understandable that a lot of twixters go back to school for graduate and professional degrees. Twixters just want to accomplish too much as if they are idealists, rather than saty in the same area doing a mediocre job. We cannot judge them as wasting time and money; instead, we should treasure our chance of self-actualization, which can be fostered in the college. You cannot blame a person who spends too much time seeking what he or she exactly want to get from college—that is what college for. Rewarding career outweighs the health care or social security, to those whose family are affluent enough to afford a 6-year college learning or 2-master-degree diploma. Writer has good comment—"They want something that's more like a calling, that's going to be an expression of their identity." If twixters are ever going to grow up, they need the means to do it—and they will have to want to.
ReplyDeleteThis article really had quite the effect on me. It is scary to read about other people in their 20's who still do not know what direction they want their lives to move in. It is odd to think that in ten years one could be expected to have a a wife and kids. It does seem that people are taking a lot longer to become the adults they want to be. It is scary to think of all of the responsibilities that come with adulthood, and it makes perfect sense why "twixters" are caught in the state of suspended adolescence. In my mind I can see myself jumping from job to job after college, trying to find one I could stand to do for an extended amount of time. The thought of getting a job at one place and working there for the rest of my life scares me. As corny as it may be, to quote Zach Braff,"For a lot of people, the weight of all the possibility is overwhelming." This statement really does sum up my feelings on growing up. It seems that there are so many different life paths to take, and it is scary to jump right in and possibly take the wrong one. It gave me hope when the article mentioned that the period of limbo after college was a good transition period, and a period of valuable soul searching. Growing into adulthood is strange event, and being on the Earth for 18 years shouldn't magically turn you into an adult. Maturity takes time and maybe some people take longer than others to become productive members of society. And the next time someone calls me lazy, or tells me I have no drive, I'll just say that I'm celebrating and "reaping the fruit of decades of American affluence and social liberation"
ReplyDelete-m. labyk
This article was very interesting to me because a lot of the points that were brought up were points I had been thinking about myself. First of all I have noticed that more and more people are graduating after five years or more instead of the original four years. It is now common to stay in school for that long and spread your course load out rather than cram to get out in four years. Although I still plan to graduate in four years I will continue on to get my master’s degree, adding more time onto my schooling. Also it is becoming harder and harder for anyone to get a job these days and although college graduates are at the top of the list for job openings, sometimes they do not have enough experience to qualify. My mom was just telling me about one of her friend’s son who took six years to graduate from the University of Miami with a degree in chemistry and now continues to work for Greater’s Ice Cream because he is unable to find a real job. He told his mom he cannot find anything with a degree in chemistry and he might have to go back to school to get a different degree that might or might not help him find a job. I know that I am quite different from some teenagers who do not even try to go to college and who plan to fend off their parents for a while but I still am alright with having to move back into my parent’s home after school at least until I can afford a place myself. My parents might not be so happy with this but it is something that is occurring more and more today. Although it seems like people now have the luxury of never growing up, this is far from true. It might be alright to hold back from getting married or having kids a few more years but as far as schooling and getting a real world job go, people should try their best to get them as soon as possible. In our world, money is everything and items are getting more and more expensive so having a well paying job has also become very important. Overall I can relate to this article seeing as though I know people in this stage of life and I believe it is something that will continue for more years to come.
ReplyDeleteI can relate a lot to this article. I feel like this is a lot like what I’m going through in my life right now. I’m 21 yrs old and I just changed my major. The major I chose and the profession I desire to hold requires that I get my masters degree. So I am looking at a lot more schooling, a lot more loans, a lot more debt, and a lot more time not being grown up as this article sees growing up to be. For me, it wasn’t my chose to delay my adulthood, I just couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do with my life than after I decided I realized I made a mistake a year later and decided to do something else with my life that would take a lot longer to achieve. I’m not the only one like this though. I feel like it is our generation given the statistics in the article about how students are borrowing more money than being given it like earlier generations and that with more people going to college a degree loses its value. I think with my generation it will take a lot more time for us to be financially stable. I don’t even want to think about when that will ever happen for me with all of the loans I took out for school. If that’s what we have to do in order to accomplish are dreams than I guess we’ll just have to deal with it and not let it hold us down or make us quit. I also feel that doing all of this makes you work harder for a degree and makes you more proud of what you done and what you’ve accomplished seeing as how you sacrificed so much to get it. I plan to just keep my head up and go after it and have faith that everything will workout.
ReplyDeleteI think I enjoy the new 10 years of discovering yourself. Why rush to get married and have kids, when you can still do that at 30 something. I never want to look back on life and regret that I did not do something. More young adults and realizing that they want to enjoy their money and time more, and they do not need to seek it through having a family. I do think that friends are the new families now too, there seems to be a kind of bond that lets you express yourself in a different way. I think credit card debt is also playing a role on the situation because they are placing more young adults in debt and can not get their lives started because they are stuck in a vicious paying cycle. Obviously, there are young adults that are already moving on with their lives, but I feel like the majority of us are going to enjoy the ride while we can.
ReplyDeleteThis article was pretty interesting and I know a lot of people who can relate to this. They're not sure what they want to do, they don't want to get married early, they just want to be kids for the rest of their lives. I can definately understand where they're coming from because it is a whole hell of a lot easier living with your parents at home than getting a house/apartment for yourself.
ReplyDeleteThis works for some people. I can definately understand why they don't want to push themselves so hard to get a degree or move out, because it's really stressful. School is hard and everyone has some kind of drama going on in their life that comes up at a really bad time. I myself am trying to get out as soon as possible. I don't want to live with my parents and I do not want to turn out like my mother. So that makes me strive and work even harder to make sure that I'm not. And so far that has worked out great for me. The sooner I can get out, the better.
I definately agree that people are marrying and having babies later in life than they used to, but it has become so much harder to get where you want in life today. There is so much pressure on people to do good, get good grades, manage a job and pay bills. And things today are so much more expensive than they used to be, so all of that adds up.
People I talk to even say that they don't want to get married or have children, and I can't even fathom that. I want someone to grow old with and have babies with, and I can respect that they don't but are you really going to switch from guy to guy, or girl to girl, for the rest of your life? It'll get old soon and eventually I think they will settle down.
College has gotten more expensive and people are having problems paying back loans and paying for tuition and everything and sometimes people don't have parents or others to help them out. I know my parents told me that I am going to have to pay for college and that just puts me under a lot more stress. And adding stress on top of classes and exams and papers makes me do bad, but I know I'm a smart person.
I think if you really put in the time and effort into all you are doing, you will see in the future that it will all work out for you and I think that's pretty much my point.
I think our generation is a very lazy generation, in today’s society people my age try to get paid the most and do as little work a possible. My grandpa tells me story of how he had to drop out of school to help his dad maintain the farm to support the family. Today you rarely find people willing to make sacrifices like these, life use to be about becoming a man a raising your own family. Today people are lazy there are thirty year old men that have the same routine as a sixteen year old kid, it’s just sad to see people like that it’s a waste of what could be. People of our generation are not very committed to much, we avoid marriage at all cost and to a lot of people life is about partying and video games. After reading this article I can see can relate to the article which isn’t a good thing, I personally don’t mind doing work I like to be active but I don’t plan on be married for a while I don’t know it just seems like a lot of responsibility I’m not ready for. But if you just look at what age you parents or grandparents got married and what age they started families, you notice back then you got married and started families at young ages. And I think a big reason why our generation is how it is, is because our parent shelter us back in the day if you could work you worked. And another thing with our generation is we have no respect you have people disrespecting each other all the time I’m guilty of it. I don’t know where our generation is taking this world but I hope the is some immediate change but if our generation stays how it is now the world is going to be a scary place.
ReplyDelete-Stephen Streets
I think the main thing contributing to the laziness of my generation is the economy. With today’s global economic state, the “twixter” generation the article describes exists globally. A few days ago I saw a news article that was about a 25 year old Spanish man who sued his parents for cutting off his allowance. The article stated that in Spain it is not unusual for ‘offspring to remain living in the parental household well into their 30s.’ Unfortunately with no real end in sight for the state of the economy I think this trend will continue for future generations as well. In America, unlike years ago a four year college degree doesn’t guarantee a job after graduation, adding more busy college years holding you back from starting your life. Except that still doesn’t guarantee you a job in the field you spent years of your life studying, and racked up a lot of college loans on. With the job market being how it is, it’s not as easy to grow up and get a job and it takes much longer. I worked at a restaurant in Chagrin Falls where two people had master’s degrees, and a good amount had at least a four year degree most of them being in their late twenty’s and thirty’s. Our generation is also much more laid back than previous ones, and our values are much different. Entertainment is one of our generation’s largest values and today it’s much different from even a generation ago. The options we get when we turn on our TVs are so much more than before, and we can even watch sports on ESPN in 3d. With the expansion of ways we receive our entertainment, our value in it grows. Years ago TV shows were more centered on the family, and shows like Jersey Shore never would have happened. I think our generation is also much less interested in politics. I bet if you asked people around my age if they could name all the Jersey Shore characters and if they knew who was the governor of Ohio, more would get the first part right.
ReplyDelete-DylanPalchesko
I think that this totally describes my generation one hundred percent. The way that people are growing up and becoming adults is a little different than the way my parents and grandparents grew up. I always hear the “Well in my day” or “Back when I was growing up” expressions right before every lecture from the people in my family who are older than me. I do agree with the people in the article who said that this Twixter phase is a good thing. (Most) Twixters definitely are not lazy. The only reason older generations might be slightly mad is because they are probably jealous of this generation in terms of us stalling in our lives. It seems like when we are young we just cannot wait to grow up but once we start to grow up all we want to do is be a kid again. I do not think that my generation isn’t growing up because we can’t; it is because we don’t want to right now. This in between time just might be what we need. It seems like it kind of bridges young people into responsible adulthood.
ReplyDeleteI am also glad that my generation is stalling in the marriage department. The article mentioned how some years ago people were getting married around age 21 and having babies at age 22. I feel like I am not “that girl”. I am just not ready to be married and have children yet. The newest statistics show that today people are getting married and having kids at age 25. That sounds more like it to me. I want to be able to have time to start my career and have a few years in a company before I have to take time off for a wedding or maternity leave.
Some of the things said in this article might be sad but in the end I am proud to be a part of this generation and I will strive to make it a good one.