heyhey,

I really WANT to have an intelligent conversation about this with you. But all you're saying is that our generation is lacking in something -- and you can't even identify what it is. We don't have life experience? Maybe that's because we're YOUNG! I don't understand what you're setting as a requirement for living a fufilled youth. What should I have done by the age of 20 that would make it so I really had "experience"?

What I'm trying to say, also, is that even if you come up with 100 things on that list, some of them will be irrelevant -- there are simply problems that our generation does not have to worry about. I tried to make the case that there are NEW problems that our generation must face, and I think any mind thinking about that critically and rationally will see it. It's HARD to compare two generations in terms of their struggles, their accomplishments, etc., because there's no standard for comparison that isn't biased towards one generation or another.

One more thing. This is really bothering me. You mentioned TMZ -- the only thing you have to say about it is: "Are you fucking kidding me?" Where's the criticism? And remember who made that show -- who makes reality shows, and who is responsible for nearly EVERY show on TV: execs in their 40s and 50s! Don't be an idiot, man. Of course I know what garbage in, garbage out means. I was saying that YOU didn't, and you had no idea how you were using it.

Heyhey: I have a problem with nearly everything you said. I was born in the 80s, so yes, I'm "Generation Y." Here's a few thoughts I had while reading your comments.

"Overall sense of entitlement. No real sense of paying ones dues. Clueless to anything that was created before they were born."

For the most part, this is pretty accurate. But I think this is more a reflection of age and maturity than a generational issue. I think it takes time for human beings to develop a sense of maturity and responsibility, and that time is certainly prolonged by the general lack of worry of our generation -- and it comes from not having direct threats. The article talks about Gen X "surviving AIDS, Reagan," etc... as if those were tough times. We're "surviving" Bush and modern-day terrorism, aren't we? I don't understand what the real difference between these things are. New generation, new problems.

"Have yet to invent their own sense of style, music, etc but are willing to re-hash things from 20 years ago, and then trash the people who invented it.

Overwhelmed with their own brand of irony (dumb ass mustaches and beards, dressing like geeks because after all 'it's hip to be square'. Gotta let people know your thinking about what your place is in society don't you?) Think American Apparel ad and you'll know what I'm talking about."

YOU couldn't get more ironic than this. You say our generation has no style, and then you DESCRIBE it immediately afterwards! By the way -- I have no idea what mustaches and beards have to do with irony. You're also touching upon a phenomenon that the fashion industry has observed for decades: style goes in cycles. Yeah, modern styles have their roots in OLDER styles, and those older styles have roots in even OLDER ones! We're not "stealing" anybody's styles.

"Almost no sense of adventure or creativity. (I met a guy in his 20s not that long ago, showed him a picture in MOJO magazine of Iggy Pop from the 70s bleeding in some club in LA. The Gen-Y guy was not only genuinely shocked by what he saw, but had no clue who that person was. His quote: "oh my god...what is this guy doing?" Not making that up.)"

What the hell does knowing who Iggy Pop is have to do with ADVENTURE or CREATIVITY? You provide NO reasons for this seemingly anecdotal observation. EVERY generation has its creative people. They definitely manifest themselves differently in every generation, but if you really want to say that our generation has no creative people then you might want to conduct a genetic study on why our genes are lacking the creative alleles.

"Also, is it me or do most of these people that live the real 'Gen-Y' life, don't they all look like children of privilege to you? Doesn't it seem like their whole lives up to this point have been nice and cozy with a little red bow on top? Everything has been paid for an taken care of. I don't recognize any sense of...struggle..for lack of a better word. The ones that annoy me the most are the 'rock' bands or whatever they call the music now. All these kids look like dressed down sons and daughters of dentists and investment bankers who have now decided to rebel with their own brand of downloadable 'rock'."

You sound like somebody who wants kids off their lawn. You know what you sound like to me? You sound old. You sound EXACTLY like how the boomers described Gen X. It sounds like this is a cyclical phenomenon as well: a generation ages, has a selective memory, and applies standards that do not exist anymore to a generation that is changing faster than they can keep up with. Maybe MORE things are taken care of than your generation, but it's not like our generation doesn't have any problems. There's an increasing level of mental disease, especially in the United States, and that's a reflection of the new demands that our generations have to meet -- both Gen X and Gen Y.

I'm also not sure what you mean by "garbage in, garbage out" when you describe computer usage. You praise home computing and then call it garbage. Make up your mind, old man, and seriously, look in a mirror: you sound like your DAD.