Young V. Old
“War against the Youth” notes explicit differences exist between the millennial and baby boomers: they possess varying perceptions on various aspects of life. Marche’s argument about the differences between the young and old is intriguing as it points out some harsh, yet ignored truths. The logical order in life is to allow the old to encourage the young to grow and develop themselves. However, the young are highly disenfranchised by the rigged system established by baby boomers (Marche, 2017). This paper discusses impending dangers posed by the differences between the old and the young in America.
A typical assumption is that the old take control while the young follow. The adoption and literal application of this concept rig the system to serve the comfort of the old at the expense of the young. Hence, before the young reap from their hard work, they experience enormous losses regarding time and resources used therein (Marche, 2017). Also, too many older adults who pension and health care from a system with insufficient resources. Unfortunately, the education system, the government, and other sectors are reluctant to accept the reality. Indeed, they are part of a rigid system that dictates that should anyone seek to deviate from the norm, then he or she is poised for failure. Hence, the young are trapped in a cycle from which it is hard to free themselves.
Even with professional qualifications, the old view the young to be ill-equipped to handle certain job allocations. In perceiving the young as mentioned, the old reinforce the rigged system (Marche, 2017). The system makes it hard for the young to establish themselves in the corporate sector because it requires them to attend internships after college or pursue professional training, which is usually expensive. Additionally, Young professionals have to do favors to secure a job that can sufficiently provide for them in their forty’s (Marche, 2012. Nevertheless, it is important to void the various years of experience and certification from relevant credit bureau among other job requirements imposed to disenfranchise the young. Notably, the differences witnessed in America also occur worldwide (Dangerfield, 2017).
America is characterized by a larger percentage of the old than the young (Marchie, 2012). In most cases, the young suffer the most negative implications (Cole, 2017. Additionally, the country expends many resources taking care of an aging population, at the expense of empowering the already disenfranchised youth. However, it should be noted that part of the reason why the old generation is left with meager retirement plans is investing in ‘unproductive youth’ (Marche, 2012).The number of young people who are employed but still living with their parents has been on the rise and Marche blames it on the differences between the young and old. As earlier noted, the old who are usually in positions of power in the corporate sector believe that the young are not qualified to take up huge responsibilities. Hence the young end up opting for lesser positions that do not earn them much to afford living independently, thus, resulting to loss of talent and energy presented by the young.
There is seemingly unending conflict between the two generations which ends up hurting both. Although the system is rigged, there is hope for a solution if the relevant parties put enough efforts into initiating and maiming positive change. The baby boomers should embrace the millennial’s ability to pursue and execute change, rather than protecting the doctrine that the old take control while the young follow. Consequently, the many years of experience, and regalities imposed to disenfranchise the young from the job market should be abolished. However, the young should embrace the fact that the old have adequate experience in relevant fields and should initiate learning from them. Finally, the old should entrust the young with responsibilities, for it is by doing so that the young gain experience in propelling a country’s forward.
References
Cole, N. (2017, January 20). The real reason Baby Boomers And Millennials don’t see eye to eye. INC. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/nicolas-cole/the-real-reason-baby-boomers-and-millennials-dont-see-eye-to-eye-written-by-a-mi.html
Dangerfield, K. (2017, July 23). From baby boomers to millennials: Which generation speaks to you? Globalnews. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3587440/generation-traits-millennials-baby-boomer-generation-x/
Marche, S. (2012, March 28). The war against youth. Esquire. Reteived from https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a13226/young-people-in-the-recession-0412/