THE DUMBEST GENERATION
by Mark Bauerlein C 2008
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin - New York- Publishers
Is the young generation (just now heading for college) really DUMB or simply ignorant of the ways of the work place? Bauerlein has it that the expectations of this generation are so out of sync with reality as to be unrealistic of what they have to offer the workplace and the world.
page 193...
"The attitude is even more harmful than the knowledge deficiencies we've seen earlier. An ignorant but willing mind can overcome ignorance through steady work and shrewd guidance. Read a few more books, visit a museum, take some classes, and knowledge will come. And unwilling mind, can't, or won't. It already knows enough, and history, civics, philosophy, and literature have too little direct application to satisfy. for many young Americans, that translates into a demoralizing perception problem, a mismatch of expectation and ability..... a national pathology...'
The author seems to believe that NARCISSISM is the key ingredient of the young psyche. And this comes from the education they received in which they are frequently complimented and told they are great. TWIXTERS have a rising statistical propensity to finish college and then go back home to live with their parents. Could the economy be to blame?
page 170...
"Instead of seeking out jobs or graduate studies that help them with long-term career plans - internships, for instance, or starting low in a company in which they plan to rise - they pass through a series of service jobs as waiters, clerks, nannies, and assistants."
Guess which part of the workplace is growing? SERVICE JOBS!
Bauerlein sites the TWIXTERS as most interested in SOCIAL NETWORKING... that means BLOGS and other Internet driven opportunities to reveal the self and make connections.
I think each generation has its ways. Perhaps the Twixters were born to negotiate socially.
