Millennials are the generation born between 1981 and 2005.  We are 83 million strong and generalized to the max.  They say we’re narcissistic and annoying and selfish.  They say we’re doomed.  They say a lot of things about us - we’re spoiled and entitled - but a closer observation will show you that we’re just like any other young generation.  In an article exploring the  bashing of millennials, Sarah Hedgecock writes, “Young people have always tended to be confused and self-involved ... by virtue of being young people.”  The same things that are being said about us were said about every previous generation.  All that really binds us is our birth cohort.  We are individual people with different backgrounds, but each of us was affected by the same significant events and advances in science and technology.

One major thing most of us share is technology usage - we’re more connected.  They say that makes us spoiled, but really it just makes us a product of the times.  GenXer’s and Baby Boomers went through the same cycle when they were young.  The Silents thought Rock and Roll was much too loud.  GenX wanted to use all those dumb computers for everything.  The new generation is new, and therefore cannot be trusted.  The X’ers and Boomers seem to be mad at us a lot, too - most of the negative study findings about us come from them - but maybe they’re just jealous.  They didn’t get to grow up with so much cool stuff: widespread touchscreens, easy internet access, or charter schools.  They say we’re spoiled to want stuff like flexibility and meaning in the workplace, but really, if they grew up at the same time, wouldn’t they?  We are also statistically the most hopeful generation, and the most disappointed with the current political system.  We want change, and we know if we want it badly enough, we can make it.

I think I mostly fit into this definition.  I am connected.  “The Millennial generation, also known as Generation Y, is the first to come of age with cable TV, the Internet and cell phones, so technology is essentially baked into every Millennial’s DNA.” claims a Newswire article.  I have friends and family overseas, and I can chat with them face to face without leaving my house.  I want meaningful work, and a flexible schedule to do it in.  Maybe that makes me spoiled.  Or young and self centered.  You choose.  Like many Millennials, I am disappointed with the political system, or maybe just the way it’s working right now.  It seems like politics is all about talking without saying anything.  But, again, I am only one infinitesimal spec of data in a sea of people.  When one article published contradictory data on us, they said “This is all very confusing. Perhaps it should be when we're using a couple thousand subjects to guess the collective opinions of 86 million people.”  One thing they say they do know for sure is that Millennials are more open minded, and that is how I try to be.  A lot of Millennials I know try not to get caught up in any of the parties so they can look at the issues politicians present without tinted vision.  So that’s one more box of comradery checked.

And yes, I like touchscreens, but don’t we all?