How different are the current generations of youth in China and the United States? (China's "Me Generation" "Millennials" in the USA)
These youths share some common similarities but in my opinion, the Me Generation in China and Millennials in the USA have distinct differences.
In the globalising world, the youths are becoming more tech-savvy and immersed in the digital age. They use social media like Facebook to express their thoughts and opinions carefully. However, as a result, they become more antisocial and lack the ability to build human relationships well with others. In the article “China’s Me Generation” by Simon Elegant, it clearly shows the wide variety of electronic devices that the youths use for work such as iPods, computers and the latest model smartphone. “While she phones a colleague, the dinner-table conversation moves on to snowboarding to relative merits of various iPods to sudden onrush of credit cards in China.” This shows that they keep themselves up to date and learn to use these technology to their own benefits, neglecting management of the relationships they have with others. This is again reiterated in the Beijing Review article by Li Li, where it mentions that education in China cause youths to “rarely care about other people’s feelings and cause psychological handicaps”. Thus, we can see how being tech savvy may cause these youths more harm than good. Similarly, for the US Millennials, it is mentioned that they are “too happy at home checking Facebook”, such that they delayed getting their driver’s license. Hence, the evolution of technology in both countries have been significant, but they also have caused certain problems to arise, creating a cause of worry for the older generations with regards to the future of the country.
The youths in both countries also face similar problems when growing up, due to the rapid advancement of globalisation. The problem of unemployment has been a pertinent issue in both countries. Chinese university graduates who coincidentally fall into the “Me Generation” are finding it more difficult to be employed by white-collar jobs. Since the youths become increasingly dependent on their parents, they become spoiled and are unable to be self-sufficient. In the article ‘Beijing Review’ by Li Li, it shows that the “social stratum of youths live off their parents”. University graduates are complaining that jobs were “poorly paid or too boring”, hence quitting the job and being NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training.) Thus, the problem of unemployment comes as a serious problem which may affect China’s economy in years to come where people cannot accept jobs which they think are too demanding for them. Similarly in the US, there is an increase in unemployment as well. They have become “Generation Why Bother” according to an article “The Go-Nowhere Generation” by Buchholz. The youths do not dare to take risks and “hang on to lousy jobs”. They do not work hard to get the jobs they want. Hence, most of them end up unemployed after a while as they felt that they could not do the job properly. Thus, the problem of unemployment is prevalent in both countries and cannot be solved in a short time.
However, the differences between the generations of youths in China and USA seem to be more significant and vital towards building a better world.
Since the world is ever changing and evolving, we have to constantly keep up and upgrade ourselves too. These youths in China are pursuing materialistic gains in order to benefit themselves whereas those in USA are more idealistic. In the article “China’s Me Generation” by Simon Elegant, the youths “drink Starbucks, wear Nikes, blog excessively” and place material objects top in their wishlist like “a Nintendo Wii comes way ahead of democracy”. In addition, they have a “growing obsession with consumerism, the Internet and video games”. As the name suggests, the Me Generation in China are very self-centred as they are only conscious of themselves, placing their self interest above most other things. Hence, as a result, they pursue more materialistic gains to satisfy their interests. However, this is due to the one-child policy in China, where people are only allowed to give birth to a single child during the 80s period. This results in helicopter parenting and the parents would pamper their children with whatever they want. When the children grow up to become the Me Generation, they would undoubtedly develop the self-centred mindset and pursue material gains. On the other hand, Millennials in the USA are more idealistic and want a minimalistic lifestyle. They began to live lives that were fulfilled not through material objects, but through positive mental health. Instead of spending their money on expensive clothes, technology and an impressive mortgage, they searched for freedom by abandoning the things they felt were bringing them down. They embrace change and see the bigger picture, becoming more aware of what’s going on and trying to change it. They are “diverse” as stated in ‘Save Us, Millennials’ by Timothy Egan. Thus, there is a difference in the aspirations of youths in the different countries.
The generations of youth are different in their involvement and opinions on politics in their respective countries. China’s Me Generation is less interested in politics and are less involved as they feel that they is not a need to, further showing their self centred mindset. In the article China’s Me Generation by Simon Elegant, it mentions that youths feel that “nothing we can do about politics”, justifying their stance. They have “little interest in demanding voting rights, let alone overthrowing the country’s communist rulers”. Hence, the youths in China would most probably let the political situation rest for the future. The reason for this is that the youths simply do not care. When they are told about politics, they are put off and would rather pursue materialistic gains. They have a shift in priorities and would put their self interests first in front of anything else. With better education, they put their minds into trying to create things that they deem successful. Hence, they display not much interest in politics. This could be detrimental to China’s future as the Me Generation would come into power soon. It would be critical to maintain the vision of a better future for China in the few years to come in the globalising world. With the self centred mindset, China has to come up with solutions to save its future if this persists, being a conservative state forever. On the other hand, Millennials in the USA are more involved and concerned with the political situation in the country. In the article Save Us, Millennials by Timothy Egan, it mentions that the youths are a “great, renewable resource for vibrant democracy”, showing that they could be developed to lead the country to greater heights in the future. Moreover, the youths also participated actively in the Presidential Election in 2008, “giving their hearts to Obama”. This is beneficial, considering the youths have undergone better education than older generations and are smarter when it comes to certain situations. The Millennials are known as “confident, connected and open to change”, hence this shows that they have indeed identified issues with regards to the political situation, and would want to change it. They are able to understand multiple perspectives in a wide variety of issues such as the LGBT community and immigration. Millennials are able make independent decisions that shape their future. Hence, there is a stark contrast between youth involvement in politics in both China and the USA.
In conclusion, there are indeed many similarities and differences between the “Me Generation” in China and the “Millennials” in the USA. It is important that the youths realise the crucial role they play in their respective countries for the future. With the similarities and differences, perhaps youths from both countries could come together and discuss possible solutions to potential problems, unleashing their full potential of what they have in common. As for differences, both generations of youth could observe and learn from the other party, hence improving their own generation, which in turn would help their country secure a better future. The Me Generation and Millennials are vital in paving the road to success for each of their countries, as they would soon be leaders. Therefore, the generations of youths must stand up and do something to improve the current situation themselves, if not the countries would be doomed for the future.
References:
Mr Karplus' articles and CDE Wikispace
References:
Mr Karplus' articles and CDE Wikispace
