The Millennial Muddle

I recently heard an interview on the CBC Radio program Spark (http://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark) about the topic of the Millennial generation being what the sociologist being interviewed called “emotionally challenged.” He elaborated by explaining that research shows that this generation is characterized by emotions such as boredom, anxiety, and loneliness. He stated that 25% of millennials (presumably in Canada) disclosed, when interviewed (or perhaps it was surveyed), that they have been at some time diagnosed with depression. Amazing!

Fulfilling Basic Needs

As discussed at

http://gordonfeil.blogspot.ca/2016/11/love-that-never-dies.html, we all have the need to love and to be loved and valued. One way we experience fulfillment of that need is to be involved with people. Another way is to do work that seems to have a positive impact on people.

Separation Through Connection

I’ve long observed that life for people now in their 20s and 30s is quite different than it was for me at that age. There is this feverish attachment to being “connected” through social media and smart phone apps such as Whatsapp and simple texting, but it appears that this electronic connectivity has tended to replace spiritual and relational in-the-flesh contact to a significant degree for countless millennials. Many of them are lonely even when surrounded by people.

I observe too that many of that generation seem to have a prolonged adolescence. 28 year olds behaving like 18 year olds used to. The high number still living with their parents is perhaps a reflection of that condition.

The Disintegration of Employment Opportunities

Work is a problem also. I remember Peter Gzowski reminiscing about having been hired by MacLeans magazine at age 24 as the managing editor. This was (and is) Canada’s premiere news magazine. Age 24! He related that when he looked into it, he found out that he was the only person who had applied for the job! It was much easier at one time than it is now to find paying work that made a significant contribution to people’s lives.

Jobs for millennials now tend to be more of the “drawers of water and hewers of wood” variety and it looks like it will get worse --- no jobs. We are in a society and era in which the economy can scale up without creation of more jobs. For example, how many extra people would Facebook have to hire if their user base increased by several hundred million? Probably none. One academic study has shown that the majority of jobs will be replaced by automation in the not distant future. Read about it at http://uk.businessinsider.com/clsa-wef-and-citi-on-the-future-of-robots-and-ai-in-the-workforce-2016-6.

All generations will be affected, but millennials will be particularly hard hit it seems to me.

What Can You Do?

If you are a millennial, what can you do? Get off of social media except for professional contact networks such as linkedin. Close you facebook account. Start meeting real people in your community. Get to know your neighbors. Get involved in service groups and church groups where good things are being done. Get more involved with your family members and real life friends. Get as much formal education as you can reasonably obtain. Develop spiritual discipline. Work your mind and work your heart in your efforts to learn and to relate.