Meet Generation N

As Barack Obama thrilled his supporters on Monday with his clarion call to action for the poor and the oppressed, young people across the country -- though in numbers somewhat smaller than were enthralled by their leader's words four years ago -- nodded in agreement. For this was about them, and Obama’s speech told them once again how great they are. Obama spoke to the "N Generation," those millions who, because they are the beneficiaries of the miracles of internet technology and instant, worldwide communications, believe firmly they know all and are entitled to everything; as the old song by Queen shouted, "[they] want it all and [they] want it now."

Hundreds of colleges across the nation administer the CIRP Freshman Survey (TFS) each year to their incoming students. Hundreds of thousands of young adults take this survey, which covers a wide range of demographic and psychographic topics. San Diego State University psychology professor Dr. Jean M. Twenge and her team studied these results, and recently released a report painting a disturbing picture of America’s young adults.

Today’s young youth are more narcissistic than ever. This generation is more likely to find role models in vapid Hollywood tabloid starlets like Kim Kardashian than revolutionary business leaders such as the late Steve Jobs, who gave them the iPhones that are now glued to their hands, or Marc Andreessen, whose prescience and skill launched Mosaic, the world's first graphical web browser less than one generation ago.

These young people live on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; public stages in which they are the stars, demanding absolute and immediate attention from their peers. Self-worth is measured in "Likes" and "retweets;" what was had for breakfast becomes breaking news. Heaven forbid if someone ever "unfriends" them.

Of course, they are not completely to blame. Parents and adults share responsibility for creating this monster. For decades, parents were told by so-called parenting “experts” that offspring would be best raised on the belief each is special and entitled to all life has to offer. Now, trophies are awarded to every child on the team or in the class so no child's self-esteem is bruised by virtue of being "left out;" letter grades from "A" to "F" give way to vague and slippery narratives. We encourage every teenager to pursue their passion in college -- something to which they are "entitled" -- regardless of the marketable value of the skills they gain after many tens of thousands of dollars spent on that education.

And now, we simply have what we have. “What's really become prevalent over the last two decades is the idea that being highly self-confident - loving yourself, believing in yourself - is the key to success,” Twenge told BBC News in an interview. “Now the interesting thing about that belief is it's widely held, it's very deeply held, and it's also untrue.”

When the curtain is pulled back, the result is not pretty. But, the damage is already done; and because they lack any ability to self-assess, members of the vast N Generation cannot possibly fathom the reality that failure to meet personal goals is their fault. Their consuming sense of entitlement, a byproduct of deeply ingrained narcissism, causes them to lash out at the imaginary phantoms that obstructed them from the success to which they had a right.

It is this delusion of entitlement that served as the catalyst for the recent "Occupy" movement. Participants demanded jobs from the “corporatists” who "destroyed" the entitlement economy. They demanded (and continue to demand) student loan debt forgiveness from the federal government because suddenly they cannot find employment fulfilling their need to shoot to the top of the business ladder, despite having double-masters in English literature and art history. They blamed capitalists for corporate greed while posting updates from their $500 phone, all while shooing bums away from their tent city.

However, there is another side to this delusion. It is the side that begets desperation, depression, and violence. According to Twenge, “since the 1960s and 1970s, when those expectations started to grow, there's been an increase in anxiety and depression.” And, this anxiety and depression is unchecked by normal behavioral restraints. Narcissists don’t empathize, or understand the needs and feelings of others. They are only concerned with themselves, and how they feel in the moment.

This leads to unpredictable conclusions when reality comes crashing in. These people are more likely to resort to violence when trapped against a wall; something that may very well help explain the uptick in mass murder among young, white males over the last few decades. They vent their frustration with “society” by shooting up theaters and classrooms, unable to fully comprehend the evil of their actions.

It is not only isolated incidents of violence. The 2011 riots in England, which left five dead and caused more than $300 million in property damage, were fueled by a generation of young Brits who grew up without ever hearing the word "No." “They are essentially wild beasts,” British journalist Max Hastings wrote after the riots. “They are products of a culture which gives them so much unconditionally that they are let off learning how to become human beings.”

America is heading down the same path as the U.K. and, unless somehow checked, it is only a matter time before the small outbursts of violence among the various youth protest movements spark a fire that will prove extremely difficult if not impossible to extinguish.

And agreed. Every youthful generation is selfish and rebellious as a whole.

Yes, but the article author does have a point too. There is something more insidious and all-encompassing about the current generation's self-preoccupation. Possibly the credit and the technology make self-absorbtion more cosseting.

No I don’t envy them their position either, all the more so as it’s really not their fault. I know it’s traditional for each generation to blame the previous one for all of the world’s problems, but in the case of teenagers of today, and even the twenty-somethings of today, I think they have a genuine beef, because of what you said. We can hardly complain that they are self-absorbed, if we (the previous generation) did not teach them to love others. We can hardly complain they are ill-disciplined if we never disciplined them. We can’t even blame them for leaning left, as it is us who have allowed the statists, secularists and disparagers of Capitalism and the American way to dominate Education and the media.

Well spoken. Especially the last part. You may be a bright point of your age group. I have not worked with many that are.

I’m witnessing one of my supervisors trying to teach an affirmative action candidate of a client about beam deflection. She is completely lost and he does not understand why because he assumes she was both taught and learned something in school. She apparently didn’t learn much about mechanical engineering or beam deflection either.

At another client of ours the manager finally came clean to say that they just do what they can. Most of the people are there because it is required. 20 to 30% of the people do the work in spite of the others who are hopefully just merely in the way. Being in the way is the best you can hope for. Heaven help us if they actually become assertive and try to do something then you have to undo what is wrong or they present an even bigger barrier. They hire we conslutants because we have no restraints but money and job satisfaction to get the best in our skill sets. So far we have escaped the attention of affirmative action since we are and will remain too small.

I’ll take my young man to lunch soon and throw him a line for his frustration.

“I actually don’t think they do know it, not yet.”

I don’t see how they wouldn’t know it; I can’t believe the number of young 20-somethings that don’t have a car (even a used one), that have to shack up with roommates (or stay in their parents’ homes), and work part-time.

It is frightening; because this is a long-term phenomenon, Dems are racing to replace their young white voters with brown ones as quickly as possible. They were successful in 2012 because the demographic race had already been lost to Hispanics; we’ve been importing them for decades while we wouldn’t breed.

Thanks.

We had a big bank come to solicit my company’s business, and it was two older white gentlemen accompanied by a young black fellow (who would be the rep on our account; I guess the other 2 were “mentors”). Every time I asked the young man about different services we were using at other banks, the other two would chime in with the answers; I was asking the young man because they specifically had said he would work with our account. After an hour and a half I thanked them for their interest, showed them the door, and tossed the business cards in the garbage. It was such a waste of my time (and the young man’s as well); they weren’t doing him any favors.

Teach him about the products, then accompany him on sales calls.

The affirmative action students I ran into at a state school were even worse off; they were wasting time and money taking classes that white guys wouldn’t have even been accepted without (”remedial classes”), and as freshmen they knew very quickly they were years behind the other students (including African students, who were on average at least as bright as most of the white kids, and usually more motivated). The token students rarely finished the first semester, never mind the first year.

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