HUMAN (noun): A human being, especially a people as distinguished from an animal or (in science fiction) an alien.
HUMAN (adjective): relating to a characteristic of people or human beings.
- A member of the species Homo Sapiens: A human being.
- A member of any of the extinct of the genius Homo, such as Homo Erectus or Homo Habilis, that we considered ancestral or closely related to modern humans.
KIND: A group of people or things having similar characteristics.
HUMAN KIND: Human beings considered collectively.
I gave you the above definitions as a basis for what I am about to talk about. Generations. Yup, generations of human beings that grow up at different times with different purposes, different values, different motivators, but still all human beings. If you want a great explanation for how we are collective group of individuals who have arrived at where we are today, then I suggest that you read the book; HUMAN KIND “A hopeful history” by Rutger Bregman. The book will explain to you how we have changed as a people, surprise you about its findings and make you hopeful for where we can go.
For many years now I have heard people (I should include myself in there once or twice) say things like “this generation doesn’t do this”, or “this generation doesn’t know how good they have it”, or my favorite, “this generation doesn’t know how to work that hard”. Typically, I hear these statements come from someone older (from a previous generation) making a statement about the current or younger generation. Get off your high horse and get over your self-centered pity.
To put this in perspective, I’ve included the list of generations as they have been categorized from Purdue Global. https://www.purdueglobal.edu/education-partnerships/generational-workforce-differences-infographic/
Traditionalist (or Silent) 1925 – 1945
Baby Boomers 1946 – 1964
Gen X 1965 – 1980
Millennials 1981 – 2000
Gen Z 2001 – 2020
I think the next generation is being called Generation Alpha ………..
I won’t bore you with describing each of the things that represent each generation, like What Shaped Them, What Motivates Them, Their Communication Style or Their World View, you can read that yourself in the link I provided. The article is about handling each generation in the workplace.
Now I know there was, an always will be just one greatest generation. Human kind at that time went through WW1, WW2, the great depression and the transition from a US policy of isolationism to a global super power. I get it. My parents were from that generation. My father fought in WW2. My parents experienced the depression and survived, but it doesn’t make what any other generation experiences less important or their lives any easier. It did set the ground work for our success. As generations change, everything surrounding that generation changes proportionately.
I’m tired of hearing people make general statements about the younger generation and “they don’t want to work hard”. Just because you run into 1 or 2 individuals that prove your point, doesn’t mean everyone from generation is like that. Now maybe I’m slightly jaded on that one. I have one son who has been through 10 years of schooling to become an MD, and another son who works 2 jobs, produces his own music, produces music for others and plays in a band. I have a nephew that owns his own gaming development company, I have a nephew who has volunteered for Special Olympics for over 20 years, I have a niece who is at the executive level. But I am sure there are many other examples of similar hard work between the ages of 26 – 40. Maybe, just maybe, a majority of them do work hard. But maybe they have garnered the ability to meet challenges as they arise. Meaning they work hard when needed, not work hard, just to work hard all the time. They have realized they don’t need to work, work, work, just to work, work, work. What about that OLD adage (from a time of the greatest generation) “Work smarter, not harder”.
I don’t think we give the younger generation enough credit. I’m sure if they don’t work hard, to some degree, they will not see success at the level they want. Which in turn, will cause most of them to work a little harder to achieve the success they would like to see. I’m sure that is how past generations have learned. Maybe, just maybe, the younger generations understand the balance between work life & home life. Maybe they don’t live to work, but work to live, unlike my father-in-law. My father-in-law (now 87) worked for DuPont. You can blame him and his work associates for bringing high fructose corn syrup to the market. When my father-in-law has dreams at night, they are consistently about work. His days back in DuPont. Whether he is at a sales meeting, working with a group in the lab or at a conference. What a wasteful night’s sleep. Nothing is ever about fantasy, being an athlete and scoring the winning goal, or saving someone’s life. It is about work. The only time he had vivid and we thought sometimes questionable dreams, was when he was coming off anesthesia from a 10 hour back operation. Those were funny. All he ever lived for was to work. Let me tell you something folks, your work associates will only miss you for so long when you’re gone. Then they will need to get back to work. What’s wrong with the 4-day work week? A company can get that same amount of work done, make the same amount of money and produce the same products.
Maybe, just maybe the younger generation has it as hard today as baby boomers (myself included, at the outside end of the generation) did at the same age. Even as some things for the new generation have gotten easier to do or work with, other things surrounding their generation have become exponentially harder. Check out the link below to a TED Talk by: Scott Galloway, Professor at NYU. “How the US is destroying young people’s future”.
Stop right there. I’m not hating on America. I think America is, and always will be great! I don’t give a fuck what the MAGA side says. So, what if we collectively as a Country help pay off college debt for some? It sure would have helped me when I earned my first job and then got married. Doing so, doesn’t automatically cause someone to stop working hard. Maybe, just maybe they would work harder to make more money, to spend more money, helping out our economy. I can put a plan together in an hour with all the excess wealth in America and it wouldn’t hurt a single person. Just because things were tough for one generation, doesn’t mean we need to be spiteful to the next generation. Unless, that makes you feel good because someone didn’t get something you didn’t get. Our job is to give each successive generation more opportunity at success than we had. Maybe, just maybe the younger generation would turn around and help us as we get older. That is our job as a human race, as human kind. That is how we continue to grow as a nation. I believe human kindness is as reciprocal as hatred, just more powerful!
Maybe, just maybe there is a better way to do things and the younger generation has the answer. Wasn’t it JFK (age 43, second youngest president to only Teddy Roosevelt 42), who challenged this Country by saying, “Don’t look at things as they are and say how come, look at things as they cold be and say, why not!”