“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.”
Who could have possibly said this? Pope Francis? JFK? A nutty old man being interviewed at election polls by the New York Times? All are wrong answers. This quote comes from Socrates, and is an unfriendly reminder of the perpetual cultural obsession with war over something that barely exists─generations.
Surprisingly enough, the most recent generational battle can be marveled at between the two generations that the elders tend to lump together as one: Millennials and Gen Z. Better known as the ME generations or i-Generations, the ongoing battle for the spot of the better generation has spawned ugly debates on numerous topics online from mundane things like hairstyles and fashion choices, to problematic discussions over who-caused-what and who’s-solving-what.
Before we name a few, let’s start with the most important piece of information that will, by the logic of these reactionaries, identify who the more correct party is─birth years. That’s just the issue though, as there is no definitive line in the sand for which years belong where. The most widely accepted years for Millennials and Gen Z as of 2021 is seen via Pew Research Center, which defines Millennials being born between the years 1981 and 1996, with Gen Z being between 1997 and 2012. Logistically, this timeline makes the most sense, as it gives each generation an equal 15 years.
However, this is not the only timeline to consider. Back in 2004, authors of the 1991 novel Generational Theory Neil Howe and William Strauss declared the birth years of millennials to be between 1982 and 2004, with no term yet made for the generation following. By their definition, today’s millennials include nearing 40-year olds and high school seniors.
Clearly, Pew Research, Howe, Strauss, and numerous other sociology outlets have varying definitions of where generations start and end. One thing is for sure, however, and that is that no matter what year one is born, no one is safe from the war with the little (or big) man. Getting back to those Internet wars I was talking about earlier, it seems as though since the “OK, Boomer” meme skyrocketed into the public sphere, Millennials and Gen-Zers are at each other’s throats. In March of 2020, a male Baby Boomer made a predictably out of touch TikTok with notions toward young adults as a whole, calling their progressiveness a phase that is based on government reliance. While no lack of said young people were annoyed at this man’s video, with a slew of memes following its post, it sparked a lot of Gen-Zers on TikTok to clap back at the very lumping of their characteristics with millennials. TikToker Isabella Avila took to their own account to scold elders for confusing the two.
“Just because you’re so old and can’t remember the difference, doesn’t mean it’s okay to lump us together,” they said. This attitude can be ascribed to a classic case of young people finding the now “old” people uncool by their definition, since they aren’t making the trends anymore. While we cannot say for sure, it is probably safe to assume the average millennial may have seen these TikToks, rolled their eyes, and went on with their day. This sentiment, however, does not ring true for a great deal of self-proclaimed 90s babies, who responded in what was possibly the most point-proving retort—diss tracks—yes, at teenagers. Sarah Hester Ross’ in particular went somewhat viral, given her embarrassingly cruel delivery to what were mostly insignificant remarks made by children towards adults. Although what began as seemingly harmless jabs at millennials for their incessant use of the laughing emoji and wearing outdated trends from their younger years, what would ensue was a toxic sense of superiority from both respective generations.
World events that closely followed these miniscule TikToks began an uprise in bogus claims by many Gen-Zers in regards to their so called “activism”. With a rise in Black Lives Matter protests and riots ensuing across the country, which, according to many teens, (especially white teens), is all thanks to them. Nevermind the preceding generations of black activists that have catapulted change for decades on end, the Gen Zers, only 14% of whom are old enough to vote, are the ones responsible. While it’s no new concept that the younger generation among the most progressive of the population, attributing the success of justice for minorities is inherently problematic, especially when it’s by self-righteous teenagers who have only recently been considered the generation they are so proud of.
So proud of it, in fact, that Gen Z is using their greatness as another attack on millennials, once more claiming they are the first and only generation to care about social issues, something their predecessors had plenty of opportunity to correct. Expectedly, Gen-Y has their choice words for these bogus accusations, given that evolutions in social sectors are by no means something to credit a single and entire generation for. As this all occurs, the Boomers and Gen-X seem to be sitting back and letting it all fester, likely knowing these are the same battles they once had when they were younger.
That’s just the issue though—generational wars have been a thing for literal centuries, yet we all have fallen victim to it somehow, without enough people acknowledging how ridiculous it all is. Fighting over something that is virtually a theory, (generations), is just further feeding into the habitual task of ignoring changes that need to be made, but rather blaming the elders for not doing it so the youngsters don’t have to be troubled with it. And sure, there’s plenty of stuff to blame Boomers and Gen-X for—they raised us after all, right? Maybe, but this is where the idea of Generational Theory comes in. The fact of the matter is, the concept of generations can be considered just as pseudoscientific as something as astrology or MBTI. Think about it, do you really think your entire character can be defined by the alignment of the stars as the time of your birth, or how you decide to answer questions on a certain day? Surely we’ve come far enough as a society to reject these utterly nonsensical means of personality evaluators, so why are generations still a thing? While they can serve as a good benchmark for comparing different age groups in a socioeconomic sphere over time, it is not at all something to base an entire personality off of.
The bottom line is, everyone is raised differently, and while we all like to feel a sense of belonging, no single shared experience amongst the majority of a range of birth years is going to correctly group us all as people. Generational wars are not something worth engaging in, but rather evaluating what these generations can do to improve life for oncoming generations—who will surely use us as a scapegoat for their problems, making fun of us all in the process.