Return of teen/20-something entitlement thread

[yankeeyosh]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/01/22/materialistic.youth.ap/index.html

Resume your comments.

[NewMrs.]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/01/22/materialistic.youth.ap/index.html

Resume your comments.


My sister-in-law is 22 and my sister is 20. Both of the girls are still college undergraduates. Maybe I'm biased, but I can definitely see the materialism in my sister-in-law but I don't really see it that much in my own sister. My sister-in-law demonstrates no sense of any kind of financial responsibility. However, she's also the youngest in the family, and her parents don't really make her accept any kind of financial responsibility, so this may explain it.

[sondra_finchley]

My sister is 18, Im almost 30. My brother is 25. I have a considerable amount of difficulty engaging with my sister because I see her as one of those "materialistic" types, even though our parents raised us all more or less the same. (other than the driving issue- she definitely had more and better access to the car growing up than I did). Shes pretty self confident, but her general attitude really gets under my skin most of the time. She showed up to Christmas with this goddamn cell phone and was texting people in the middle of a family party which to me seemed uncalled for and rather rude- to go along with some pissy aloof attitude she had through most of her stay at Christmas. I dont think she has some sort of entitlement thing, but I definitely feel that she has more of a hankering towards the "mainstream"- absolutely no one needs Coach shoes "because they are Coach" (as per her answer). Gah!

Real world (and not the MTV kind) catches up with everyone in the end. Besides, its tacky to flash money around like you have it- plenty of people fake like they do, yet thats all these kids see.

God, am I officially old now?

[NewMrs.]

My sister is 18, Im almost 30. My brother is 25. I have a considerable amount of difficulty engaging with my sister because I see her as one of those "materialistic" types, even though our parents raised us all more or less the same. (other than the driving issue- she definitely had more and better access to the car growing up than I did). Shes pretty self confident, but her general attitude really gets under my skin most of the time. She showed up to Christmas with this goddamn cell phone and was texting people in the middle of a family party which to me seemed uncalled for and rather rude- to go along with some pissy aloof attitude she had through most of her stay at Christmas. I dont think she has some sort of entitlement thing, but I definitely feel that she has more of a hankering towards the "mainstream"- absolutely no one needs Coach shoes "because they are Coach" (as per her answer). Gah!

Real world (and not the MTV kind) catches up with everyone in the end. Besides, its tacky to flash money around like you have it- plenty of people fake like they do, yet thats all these kids see.

God, am I officially old now?


Actually, when I was closer to 20 I knew a bunch of people who acted this way. (I'm 29 now.) I grew up with a neighbor girl who was completely obsessed with name-brand clothing. One of my good friends in college drove me crazy because whenever we had "girls night out" she would be on her damn cell phone all evening taking various calls from her mom and her boyfriend.

Also, I attended a private liberal arts college, but I went there on a huge financial aid package and I suspect that many of my classmates did also. However, alot of the kids that were dirt-poor and at college on scholarship spent alot of time and money trying to impress other students that were just as poor. And since they had no money, it all went on the credit card. I knew one girl who would go to the mall and blow $80 on a sweater and a pair of socks because she was going to be runnng into the guy she liked that night and she wanted to impress them. Yeah, neither of them were rich.

So this same kind of stuff went on when I graduated from college in 1999.

I feel that I'm getting old now also. My husband works on a college campus, and he likes to come home and repeat to me the stuff that he overhears the students saying. Then we laugh at the kids. :)

[yankeeyosh]

I think if you go down the age line, it gets worse. I don't know where the tipping point is, but even I would say that 20 year olds are much more entitled, on average, than 28 year olds at the extreme edge of the generation.

[wordsmith]

My sister's six years younger than I am, and is a shopping fiend the likes of which I never was and never will be (not particularly expensive tastes, she'll drop a buttload on Target crap), but of a buy, buy, buy mentality for sure (we were also both raised by the same frugal parents). I'm not really sure at all that it's a generational thing, though, so much as a personality thing. My aunt is the same, and she's a Boomer.

[yankeeyosh]

My sister's six years younger than I am, and is a shopping fiend the likes of which I never was and never will be (not particularly expensive tastes, she'll drop a buttload on Target crap), but of a buy, buy, buy mentality for sure (we were also both raised by the same frugal parents). I'm not really sure at all that it's a generational thing, though, so much as a personality thing. My aunt is the same, and she's a Boomer.

Maybe...but something's up. It scares me when I hear some of the stuff coming out of my 20 year old brother's mouth (e.g. he consistently tells me my salary sucks).

[wordsmith]

Maybe...but something's up. It scares me when I hear some of the stuff coming out of my 20 year old brother's mouth (e.g. he consistently tells me my salary sucks). And we were raised by the same parents.

Nothing scares me that comes out of my sister's mouth. She just likes to buy lots of purses and shoes, whereas I don't even carry a purse and have been wearing the same Skechers for a couple of years. It's more a discrepancy in interests than it is values. I also don't worry that she's overly entitled. She's a recent grad and makes just under a grand a month paying her dues working her way up to an event planner position part time at our town's civic center. She could be pissed that they won't pay her full time and benefits, but she knows that getting the foot in and living rent-free at home while she does it is worth her time. I'm sure she has classmates that would be pissed to be making under 12K a year, but that ain't her.

[yankeeyosh]

Nothing scares me that comes out of my sister's mouth. She just likes to buy lots of purses and shoes, whereas I don't even carry a purse and have been wearing the same Skechers for a couple of years. It's more a discrepancy in interests than it is values. I also don't worry that she's overly entitled. She's a recent grad and makes just under a grand a month paying her dues working her way up to an event planner position part time at our town's civic center. She could be pissed that they won't pay her full time and benefits, but she knows that getting the foot in and living rent-free at home while she does it is worth her time. I'm sure she has classmates that would be pissed to be making under 12K a year, but that ain't her.

Naaah...she sounds all right.

[vxmike]

God, am I officially old now?

I'm 24 and feel the exact same way. Entitlement attitudes are out of control these days.

I make 5x what my younger brother does and he lives a better lifestyle than I do....with debt and no savings at all.

[winneythepooh7]

I don't really think it's a "Gen Y" thing. I had similar materialistic attitudes when I was that age too. I've completely changed though. People grow up and realize that they can't have a champagne appetite (or even drop a ton of cash at Tarzhay) on a beer pocketbook.

[yankeeyosh]

I don't really think it's a "Gen Y" thing. I had similar materialistic attitudes when I was that age too. I've completely changed though. People grow up and realize that they can't have a champagne appetite (or even drop a ton of cash at Tarzhay) on a beer pocketbook.

Yes, perhaps, but you cannot deny the trends. Studies done by organizations like Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) clearly show that young people are getting more materialistic. TRU, for instance, shows that in the last fifteen years or so, teenagers have consistently increased their spending far above inflation. And this is in an era of skyrocketing tuition. You can say that's true of everyone, but that's the problem...people are not showing young people the way.

Now, there are some very good young savers, and people who do not spend anywhere close to what they make and who stash away money very responsibly...many of whom reside right here. I am consistently amazed at how much some of you know about savings and personal finances...like you've worked for Dean Witter for twenty years. I am somewhat hopeful that if the Generation is more educated about personal finances, it could be the start of a trend in reverse.

[Millenial]

i think parents contribute to many young people's materialism as well because it was "something they never had".

[cache]

Yes, perhaps, but you cannot deny the trends. Studies done by organizations like Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) clearly show that young people are getting more materialistic. TRU, for instance, shows that in the last fifteen years or so, teenagers have consistently increased their spending far above inflation. And this is in an era of skyrocketing tuition. You can say that's true of everyone, but that's the problem...people are not showing young people the way.

Now, there are some very good young savers, and people who do not spend anywhere close to what they make and who stash away money very responsibly...many of whom reside right here. I am consistently amazed at how much some of you know about savings and personal finances...like you've worked for Dean Witter for twenty years. I am somewhat hopeful that if the Generation is more educated about personal finances, it could be the start of a trend in reverse.


See, I disagree. To you, the chicken came before the egg, but it is the other way around for me. I don't think people are more materialistic for materialism sake, I think that average people have greater access to credit and debt spending, so they are taking advantage of it when it first becomes available(18-25). Then, responsibliity kicks in somewhere around 25, and people either find a way to pay for their lifestyle, go bankrupt and do it all over, or tone it down.

Of course, people want to continue the lifestyle, so they demand higher salaries before giving up their debt-spending ways.

[abby]

As I said yesterday before my host from hell deleted everything, I think this is a terribly unbalanced article.

[ar211]

I posted this just before the site crashed yesterday.

I just want to add that having shows like "The Real World" and "My Super sweet 16" are not helping this problem at all. It gives some teenagers (not all) a warped view of what they should expect and be entitled to in life. As long as we have a media and a culture that glorifies consumerism and materialism, this will be a major problem. I don't see this getting any better in the coming years.

[wordsmith]

Upbringing should trump pop cultural influences, though, you learn your priorities from those who most closely raise you far more than outside influences, however pervasive. Kids who have less materialistic influences from their parents/those who raise them are going to be largely less consumed with super materialistic preoccupations than ones who lack that influence. Irresponsible parenting magnifies the idea that reality TV shows that glorify mega-consumerism are a reasonable reflection of real life...responsible parenting does a lot to influence kids to make the distinction between entertainment and a reasonable lifestyle.

I say it comes down to parenting, overwhelmingly.

[redsail]

I say it comes down to parenting, overwhelmingly.

I agree, but its sad how bad parenting is these days...

[Winter Storm]

Upbringing should trump pop cultural influences, though, you learn your priorities from those who most closely raise you far more than outside influences, however pervasive. Kids who have less materialistic influences from their parents/those who raise them are going to be largely less consumed with super materialistic preoccupations than ones who lack that influence. Irresponsible parenting magnifies the idea that reality TV shows that glorify mega-consumerism are a reasonable reflection of real life...responsible parenting does a lot to influence kids to make the distinction between entertainment and a reasonable lifestyle.

I say it comes down to parenting, overwhelmingly.

Could not agree more.

My parents raised me to be frugal, unmaterialistic and responsible with money. I think last year is the first time I ever really took a credit card and splurged for the first time in my life. I've just come from a background where I learned money can be here today, gone tomorrow and to spend it very wisely.

My sister however (who was raised under different circumstances) is the total opposite. She's never lived on a budget, doesnt even know how to create on and thus has raised a spoiled, materialistic child, who just recieved her first car, for free, only a weeks after getting her license. While my sister has splurged on everything from cars, to houses, to trips, jewelry and Ipods, my neice is appoaching her high school graduation with not one thin dime put away into a college fund.

[yankeeyosh]

See, I disagree. To you, the chicken came before the egg, but it is the other way around for me. I don't think people are more materialistic for materialism sake, I think that average people have greater access to credit and debt spending, so they are taking advantage of it when it first becomes available(18-25). Then, responsibliity kicks in somewhere around 25, and people either find a way to pay for their lifestyle, go bankrupt and do it all over, or tone it down.

Of course, people want to continue the lifestyle, so they demand higher salaries before giving up their debt-spending ways.

Well, I'm not giving credit card companies a pass...yes, they are a factor. And no doubt, student loans might increase the demand for higher salaries. But I think responsible spending habits should be taught early...well before adulthood, and Boom parents...who tend not to be good models..may need to take the brunt of the blame.

[ar211]

I agree with all three of you. I was fortunate to be raised by parents who knew the importantce of modesty, and sharing what you have with those who are less fortunate. The key deinfitely is effective parenting. I know many people who take for granted the fact that their parents can provide them with whatever they think they need.

I also come from an affluent town, so growning up, I met a lot of spoiled kids, but upon meeting their parents, I understand where they got it from. It's hard to teach your kid to be humble and modest when you own several luxury cars, and wear designer labels all the time. Now that I'm older, I'm very thankful that my parents were never caught up in these things

[redsail]

It's hard to teach your kid to be humble and modest when you own several luxury cars, and wear designer labels all the time.

Maybe a over generalized statement, but parents like that tend to teach their kids to live like them. Status is everything in many people's eyes for some reason.

[ar211]

Redsail,

Yeah, that statement was a bit of a generalization, but at least from what I have seem over the years, it more often than not tends to be true. i have known many parents who consider success to be how much money you make, aside opposed to actually enjoying what you're doing in life. It then often times trickles down to their kids who think that if they don't live up to their parents success and ideals, they will have "failed" Again, these are just my opinions and observations.

[yankeeyosh]

Redsail,

Yeah, that statement was a bit of a generalization, but at least from what I have seem over the years, it more often than not tends to be true. i have known many parents who consider success to be how much money you make, aside opposed to actually enjoying what you're doing in life. It then often times trickles down to their kids who think that if they don't live up to their parents success and ideals, they will have "failed" Again, these are just my opinions and observations.

I agree wholeheartedly. I've mentioned this time and again, and have been hounded all the time, but I think that in some circles of this generation, there is tremendous pressure to succeed and live up to one's parents expectations. Many Boom parents want "trophy" children, and their kids are meant to be direct projections of themselves. So they set high expectations for their kids, and if their children don't succeed, the parents feel like "failures". It is certainly not everyone...on QLC, I suspect the majority of overachievers and those who have instant sucess in the workforce are that way because of self-pressure (which can be just as bad in some regards) and not parental pressure. But it's out there...and those who don't succeed might have the wind taken out of their sails, and self-esteem goes down the tubes.

[wordsmith]

I don't think this is confined to boom parents, nor do I think that anywhere near "all" boom parents are like this. I think that there are horrible parents and outstanding parents regardless of generation.

My grandma isn't a boomer...but she taught her kids that material aquisitions were very important...something some of them grew up to embrace, and others, it didn't stick to. Why? She's in the so-called "greatest" generation, the one that's supposed to be more grounded and not prone to spendthrift ways, not embracing of silly consumerism. Well, ti goes back to my original "It's in how you're raised" theory...my grandma grew up in poverty in Appalachia. Tin roof shack, outhouse, no plumbing, electricty-style poverty. Backwoods, barefoot and pregnant poverty. Stills protected by guys with shotguns poverty. So based on her experience, becoming very materialistic later in life was a compensation for this, a kind of Scarlett O'Hara-esque, "I'll never be hungry again" type of compensation. She was never well-off, just working class, but it was always really important to her to have nice things once she was outta the mountains. I think that upbringing and experience trump cultural/generational influences, I really do.

[ar211]

Words,

I agree with you entirely about the parenting aspect, and how this is not specifically related to boomers only.

I guess the point I was trying to make with my MTV comment was the fact, that kids who already have parents who spoil them and don't teach them modesty and restraint, are most likely the ones who then get the false perecptions of the real world by what they see on TV. It comes down to the fact that they don't know any better since they grew up without having to worry about money, or having their evey wish granted.

[NewMrs.]

So based on her experience, becoming very materialistic later in life was a compensation for this, a kind of Scarlett O'Hara-esque, "I'll never be hungry again" type of compensation.


Oh, I loved that book. I remember very well that whole part about how Scarlett went crazy picking cotton and feeding her family after General Sherman burnt down Atlanta.

Sorry for the threadjack, but that was my favorite book as a teenager.

[29 forever]

I'm not sure it's a generational thing, just an attitude. I'm on the borderline of Gen X being born in January 1976, and I see many people right around my age who are very materialistic. I'm glad I just never fell into that "Keeping up with the Jones'" type mentality. Actually I'm quite the opposite, I'm more of a hippy, I live as simply as possible, shop for clothes at thrift stores, buy a lot of food at co-ops/farmer's markets, and I barter with like-minded people for goods & services. I'm sure a lot of these materialistic people would see me as "white trash" or whatnot, but I don't care too much for appearances. I'd rather be happy with my lifestyle and have as close to zero debt as possible.

[workaholic?]

i agree with the pop culture statement before....there are shows on like Super Sweet 16 and Laguna Beach that are completely warping the minds of teenagers and what they expect from their parents. I often wonder when I watch Laguna Beach, "Where are their parents?" and "Do they even go to school?" Some crafty editing has made it seem as though these kids are adults off on their own doing whatever they please, except they act like most teenagers do. Also, in Super Sweet 16, i just can't believe the complete lack of respect those kids have for their parents, except i almost don't blame them, because their parents just let it happen. If i'd have pitched fits like those kids do over not getting a $5,000 dress or the right center pieces or not having P Diddy at my party, i'd have gotten slapped with a heavy hand and a heavy dose of reality.

[yankeeyosh]

i agree with the pop culture statement before....there are shows on like Super Sweet 16 and Laguna Beach that are completely warping the minds of teenagers and what they expect from their parents. I often wonder when I watch Laguna Beach, "Where are their parents?" and "Do they even go to school?" Some crafty editing has made it seem as though these kids are adults off on their own doing whatever they please, except they act like most teenagers do. Also, in Super Sweet 16, i just can't believe the complete lack of respect those kids have for their parents, except i almost don't blame them, because their parents just let it happen. If i'd have pitched fits like those kids do over not getting a $5,000 dress or the right center pieces or not having P Diddy at my party, i'd have gotten slapped with a heavy hand and a heavy dose of reality.

Outside the History Channel, a movie, or PBS, I hardly watch TV. It is such a wasteland these days that I can't stomach it much.

[wordsmith]

I'm not sure it's a generational thing, just an attitude.

This is my thought as well. It's easy to look back at past generations and say, "Well, materialism wasn't rampant like it is now," but reread "The Great Gatsby," which is ALL about rampant unrestrained materialism during the jazz age, and its effect on society. And that's just one example. It's nothing new, and it's not confined to any one era.

[yankeeyosh]

This is my thought as well. It's easy to look back at past generations and say, "Well, materialism wasn't rampant like it is now," but reread "The Great Gatsby," which is ALL about rampant unrestrained materialism during the jazz age, and its effect on society. And that's just one example. It's nothing new, and it's not confined to any one era.

The Great Gatsby was excellent in depicting the Lost Generation, born in the last couple of decades of the Nineteeth Century (which I call Gen 'R' for Roosevelt). Per Strauss & Howe, it is very analagous to some segments of Generation 'X'...many had a "fractured" childhood and adolescence, and they decide to reclaim their youth as adults. The Roaring Twenties were pretty similar in many regards to the go-go Nineties.

[wordsmith]

This is what I'm saying. Every era has its excesses and people who embrace that.

[yankeeyosh]

This is what I'm saying. Every era has its excesses and people who embrace that.

Yes. Never explicitly said it was confined to today's youth. I do think there will be a sea change in the next ten years...I really think the younger teens...the "real" Millennials...will reject materialism as a whole.

[ar211]

Yeah, materialism definitely is nothing new, but I think it is definitely admired in our society much more than it used to be. It'd be interesting to see how the affluence of this era compares with that of the roaring 20s.
Like I initially said, for young adults who's parents did not teach them the values of money and modesty growing up, they area probably the most likely to be sucked into a materialistic lifestyle.

I agree with the comments about TV too. I feel that MTV indirectly encourages young people to flaunt their money and lifestyles, and that being spoiled is something to be admired. One has to wonder if things will continue down this path, or if people will one day wake up.

[cache]

Yes. Never explicitly said it was confined to today's youth. I do think there will be a sea change in the next ten years...I really think the younger teens...the "real" Millennials...will reject materialism as a whole.

I agree....but things will continue to go back and forth. Just like every history lesson, it does not take long to forget and repeat..

[yankeeyosh]

I agree....but things will continue to go back and forth. Just like every history lesson, it does not take long to forget and repeat..

Yes. If you understand the theory of Strauss and Howe, there are cycles going back to the Arthurian days that have periods which last over the course of nearly a century...history indeed repeat themselves.

[yankeeyosh]

Yeah, materialism definitely is nothing new, but I think it is definitely admired in our society much more than it used to be. It'd be interesting to see how the affluence of this era compares with that of the roaring 20s.
Like I initially said, for young adults who's parents did not teach them the values of money and modesty growing up, they area probably the most likely to be sucked into a materialistic lifestyle.

I agree with the comments about TV too. I feel that MTV indirectly encourages young people to flaunt their money and lifestyles, and that being spoiled is something to be admired. One has to wonder if things will continue down this path, or if people will one day wake up.

Well, it's very unfair to compare the wealth and excesses of the Nineties and Oh-Ohs to that of the Twenties. First of all, you had a pharaohic system in place that denied the chance for millions of people to earn a living simply because of the color of their skin. You did not have the technology, and while things were changing due to the Good Roads acts of the previous decade, people were far more isolated. Yet, there are some similiarities. You had a society finally getting over the stifleness of the Victorian period and the turmoil of World War I. Early in the decade, there was a sharp recession, but things quickly recovered. The stock market boomed, and a large middle class blossomed. The plasma TVs and iPods of today were radios and automobiles back then...people...especially youth...saw so many new products on the market and they felt they needed to keep up with the Joneses. As a result, you saw a period of substantial materialism, and high hopes that it would last forever.

Of course, you probably know what happened on the 29th of October in 1929...the rest is history.

[LaFille]

i'm so sick of hearing how spoiled my generation is. perhaps the same people who constantly criticize should have taken a look at their parenting skills before we became such an issue for them. honestly, it seems to me that some older generations think we have all been raised in affluence and privelidge that they never experienced growing up -- and now that we growing up, they get a kick out of watching us struggle.

[LaFille]

This is my thought as well. It's easy to look back at past generations and say, "Well, materialism wasn't rampant like it is now," but reread "The Great Gatsby," which is ALL about rampant unrestrained materialism during the jazz age, and its effect on society. And that's just one example. It's nothing new, and it's not confined to any one era.
very good point. people have such short memories when it comes to criticizing someone else.

[beeblebrox]

I agree on the materialism of my generation. I see girls on the subway all the time with their Coach purses and other designer labels. To me, it's gross to see such outward displays of materialism. Once I got my job, I decided to save my money and not spend the extra that I don't use each month. I live within my budget.

My only recent purchase of outward materialism is a Pink RAZR phone because I've wanted one for so long and my current phone is on its last legs where replacing the battery is as much as buying a new phone. So, my RAZR, I'll definitely replace the batteries on because it's so cool.

[yankeeyosh]

i'm so sick of hearing how spoiled my generation is. perhaps the same people who constantly criticize should have taken a look at their parenting skills before we became such an issue for them. honestly, it seems to me that some older generations think we have all been raised in affluence and privelidge that they never experienced growing up -- and now that we growing up, they get a kick out of watching us struggle.

Well, according to the generational stereotype, yes, that's what it is. And granted, a lot of us have, since we grew up in the go-go Nineties. But poverty and just plain struggling never disappeared.

[vinsanity]

i'm so sick of hearing how spoiled my generation is. perhaps the same people who constantly criticize should have taken a look at their parenting skills before we became such an issue for them. honestly, it seems to me that some older generations think we have all been raised in affluence and privelidge that they never experienced growing up -- and now that we growing up, they get a kick out of watching us struggle.

this post I actually agree with most. yes, it's ridiculous to see kids copy what they see on MTV, but most of us aspired to a lesser degree for designer accessories and what have you when we were that age, too. and we all knew kids from our high school years that did indulge in those aspirations.

the way I see it, materialism is pretty much unavoidable in most cases. it has engrained itself as part of the American dream. we've already discussed that the concept is shared by both the affluent families and the Scarlet O'Hara types. but IMO, the attitude tends to be stronger with the latter. giving your kids things "you never had while you were growing up" is a strong romantic notion in the saga of the American family. I'll be the first to say that it's a very noble thing to reach for, but people do tend to take it a little too far.

in my experience, getting over petty materialism has been more of a coming-of-age thing than anything else. my family didn't raise me growing up with very much, but we did have enough money to move out into the suburbs, where the influence of materialism really took place. like many, that influence manifested itself when I turned 18 and got myself in a mess with a car loan and credit card debt. it wasn't until I finished college SIX years later that I was able to pay both of those off working part time during school. that lesson, coupled with my major in accounting /minor in finance, has taught me to me a much wiser person with my money. the ironic thing is, now I'm doing it all over again with student loans :cry:

but I guess not everyone is as "lucky" as I am to have learned my little gem of a lesson. people older than me at work (I can only suspect) appear to be living beyond their means (I should know. I work with payroll). but that's their business. I digress.

myself, I try to find a happy balance between ridiculous indulgences (different $500 jeans for every day of the week) and depriving myself (buying everything at thrift stores and goodwill). my financial goal is to enjoy some of the finer things in life while still being able to put away money for the future. kind of hard to do on an entry level salary, but you gotta start somewhere ;):

[wordsmith]

Here is one of the Chicago Tribune's columnist's response to that AP article, which the Tribune also ran.

Don't buy into stereotype of material youths

Mary Schmich

Published January 26, 2007

There was a headline in the Tribune this week that said "U.S. youths' priority: Strike it rich."

The story came with an illustration explaining that "wealth and fame are top goals for today's 18- to 25-year-olds."

A graph showed that 81 percent of young people wanted to get rich. Fifty-one percent wanted to be famous. Only 30 percent wanted to help the needy, and a piddling 22 percent wanted to be community leaders.

With the article was a photo of a 24-year-old guy named Tim who, the caption said, "felt empty despite his material success and is shifting his focus to acting."

The caption suggested that Tim had wisely reprioritized, but it seemed equally plausible that Tim had shifted his gaze from the false god of money to the false god of fame. Really, how many people go into acting hoping for obscurity?

As I read, I readied my lecture to those 18- to 25-year-olds, a homily befitting someone who hasn't seen that age bracket in too many moons:

Life is not an "American Idol" audition.

Fame, if it comes at all, should be a consequence of your work, not a goal.

Wealth may buy fame and fame may buy wealth, but neither buys love.

My inner finger-wagger was huffing away when I decided to take a break and go over to DePaul University.

"Money is a very common goal for college students," said Katie LaBeef, 18, when I asked about the findings. She was sitting with several other freshmen in the student center. "Money is a sign of success. It's one of the ways you get what you want. Politics is about money. All the major politicians have money."

This conversation was warming up nicely as proof of Gen Next's money obsession.

Then LaBeef said she used to wish she'd be rich and live in something grander than her family's small house. She's struggling to pay for college, she said, and yet now that she's there, getting rich doesn't matter so much.

Kate Stanley, 18, spoke up. She grew up with money, but her experiences in college, especially a boyfriend who hasn't had her privileges, have put wealth in a new perspective.

"My boyfriend, he knows how to deal with problems," she said. "He's learned how to work. Unlike me. I didn't know how to do anything until this year."

So this crowd wasn't perfect proof of the statistics in the paper. How about fame? Who wanted it? A vote.

Two quick nos. One pause, and then a no. Two yeses, one from Kate Stanley, a musician.

"The only reason I'd want to be famous is so people could hear my art, what I have to say," she said. Who can argue with that?

The second yes came from Matt Roth, 19, but he was quick to differentiate bad fame (Paris Hilton) from good fame (Martin Luther King).

They all agreed that their generation is, in fact, hungrier for fame than their parents', if only because they have readier access, through the Internet and reality TV. Still, they recognized that public exposure isn't the same as fame.

"Some people," said Stanley, "you go to their MySpace page and they've got 5,000 friends and really, they're just a normal person with a Web page."

"Almost everybody has a band now," said LaBeef, "and a Web page."

This would have been a more exciting column if it had been about young money-grubbers and fame-grabbers. Maybe they were sitting in a different part of the student center.

But the group I chanced on is a reminder that though each generation has a unique character, as defined by its own pressures and opportunities, generational stereotypes are always crude.

"I don't have a desire to be famous," said Jocelyn Seager, 19, "but a desire to leave an impression on people I meet. I don't need to advertise myself to people I don't know. But when I meet someone new I want them to remember me."

A fine sentiment, and a timeless one, but I'm still working on my lecture, just in case. To wit:

Simon Cowell will not have a vote on Judgment Day.

[yankeeyosh]

Good article, words...as I said all along, I think the generation born after roughly 1990 will reject excessive materialism, as a whole. These kids born in '88 might be the first signs of a sea change.

[dengeist]

Actually, when I was closer to 20 I knew a bunch of people who acted this way. (I'm 29 now.) I grew up with a neighbor girl who was completely obsessed with name-brand clothing. One of my good friends in college drove me crazy because whenever we had "girls night out" she would be on her damn cell phone all evening taking various calls from her mom and her boyfriend.

Also, I attended a private liberal arts college, but I went there on a huge financial aid package and I suspect that many of my classmates did also. However, alot of the kids that were dirt-poor and at college on scholarship spent alot of time and money trying to impress other students that were just as poor. And since they had no money, it all went on the credit card. I knew one girl who would go to the mall and blow $80 on a sweater and a pair of socks because she was going to be runnng into the guy she liked that night and she wanted to impress them. Yeah, neither of them were rich.

So this same kind of stuff went on when I graduated from college in 1999.


I agree, it was like this when I was in college in the mid to late 90's as well. Those damned credit card companies agressively market to college kids. Needless to say, they weren't in school much longer after recieving those first couple of cards. Buying big ticket items with no way to pay their debt back forced a lot of kids out.

There wasn't really a cell phone epidemic though, some people had them, but there weren't any text message frenzies. We were more of the "I'll email you." kids. Then again, when I started school in '95, the computer lab was empty, a couple of years later, the school had five computer labs to keep up with the demand. Technology has changed so much over the past fifteen years it's unreal. As younger generations get older, "they won't be able to do without" things that we tend to look at as luxuries. They'll see them as necessities.

Me and a couple of friends of mine were laughing at a memory of a girl getting stuck in a phone booth in a school building lobby. We laughed for a minute, then my best friend said, "That probably wouldn't happen now because everybody has a cell phone." Then I said, "If it did though, everybody would've videoed it on their picture phone because everyone has one of those and somebody would've put it on Youtube."

[yankeeyosh]

There wasn't really a cell phone epidemic though, some people had them, but there weren't any text message frenzies. We were more of the "I'll email you." kids. Then again, when I started school in '95, the computer lab was empty, a couple of years later, the school had five computer labs to keep up with the demand. Technology has changed so much over the past fifteen years it's unreal. As younger generations get older, "they won't be able to do without" things that we tend to look at as luxuries. They'll see them as necessities.


Yep. I think that our class (entering class of 96) was the first to have a majority of the students having some knowledge of the internet before we entered college. Classes before mine seem to have "wistful memories" of more simpler times in college.

[NewMrs.]

Yep. I think that our class (entering class of 96) was the first to have a majority of the students having some knowledge of the internet before we entered college. Classes before mine seem to have "wistful memories" of more simpler times in college.


The summer before my senior year in high school (summer of 94), I heard somebody my age talk about how he was planning on "e-mailing someone" for the first time. I was too embarrassed to ask him what e-mail was because he was from a rich section of Pittsburgh, so I assumed that he was much more sophisticated than I was.

[yankeeyosh]

The summer before my senior year in high school (summer of 94), I heard somebody my age talk about how he was planning on "e-mailing someone" for the first time. I was too embarrassed to ask him what e-mail was because he was from a rich section of Pittsburgh, so I assumed that he was much more sophisticated than I was.

I was one of the first two people in my H. S. to have an e-mail account (the other was also in my grade). I got it in the fall of 92. The only problem was that I knew no one who had e-mail, so I never used it.

I remember BBS's being VERY big in my grade...before web browsers became readily available.