this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2024
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In my observation, a big part of social progress is each generation pointing out the hypocrisy of the previous. "All men are created equal" so how can you enslave black people? If men can vote, why can't women? How come straight people can marry but gay people can't? How is it fair to send an 18 year old to war but not let him vote?

A lot of these hypocrisies were so internalized that a lot of people of previous generations never even thought about them. It was like a mental blind spot. It took young people with fresh thinking to point them out and fight to fix them.

So, speaking as a Millenial, I'm asking what my generation's blind spots are. What injustices are we perpetuating without even thinking much about it?

For reference, Millenials are currently in their late 20s to early 40s. Not running the world, but also not fresh eyed college grads.

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[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 58 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Or readers, you can just say fuck OP's premise and agree that we shouldn't be trying to make enemies of strong allies right now - especially when we have so much existing consensus to continue a full-throated joint fight against.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago

Seems like an overreaction.

OP is asking how they can be better, I don't see hate in that.

[–] j4k3@lemmy.world 19 points 8 months ago

I hate the idea of answering for my fellow idiots in my age group.

I think "generations" is a useful abstract thought, but it is really only usefully clear in more distant hindsight, and one where the conclusions have little actionable consequences. On the individual level, it is a poorly fitting stereotype.

I'm a hardcore roadie that almost died on a bicycle while commuting full time and riding over 400 miles every week for years. Do I get a say in my generation label and efforts to make change? My supercharged camaro always stayed at home. I didn't have to ride.

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 11 points 8 months ago

Only things I really see are an unwillingness to vote, which is dangerous for democracy and civil rights, being somewhat gullible online / not doing proper research before jumping to conclusions, and still a slight divide in gender roles and expectations. Luckily, all those things are generally fixable.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago

I'm right on the GenX/millennial cusp, but since I was interested in technology as a kid, I align more with millennials in general.

How we treat transexual people will be our embarrassment. Not everyone, of course, but as a whole, it wasn't something we ever talked about in the 90s, and if we did it was a joke.

We're still learning, and there are many of us who want to be better, and others who will fight it because it makes them uncomfortable.

We'll get there eventually.

[–] oohgodyeah@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago (3 children)

How is it fair to send an 18 year old to war but not let him vote?

Where do you live where you can enlist at age 18 but don't have the right to vote‽ Not in the USA...

[–] Burninator05@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago

OP was giving examples of things in the past. In the US the voting age was 21 until 1971 when it was lowered to 18. During the Vietnam War draft lots of 18-21 year-olds were drafted to fight a conflict they had absolutely no say in.

[–] Spiralvortexisalie@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I believe OP is referring to the demands of the young people during the period between World War II and Vietnam War in the United States when 18-21 could be drafted but not vote, which resulted in passage of the 26th Amendment.

[–] ettyblatant@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Also, Vivek Ramaswamy has talked about raising the voting age to 25 unless you serve in the military. Which is in effort to keep young people (especially Swifties!) from voting Democrat.

[–] davidgro@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

"Would you like to know more?"

[–] ApostleO@startrek.website 2 points 8 months ago

"Service guarantees citizenship."

[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

Not in the USA…

Not anymore, thanks to the 26th amendment to the Constitution.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

How come straight people can marry but gay people can't? This has the foundations in religion I believe. It's a strong belief that marriage is between a man and a woman since it's in the Bible I guess?

Millenials seem to be a lot more open to all humans being free to be who they want to be, which means humanity is moving further away from traditional religions ideas about good and bad.

Could be good or bad depending on if there is an actual god behind those religions or not.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Could be good or bad depending on if there is an actual god behind those religions or not.

Spoiler: There isn't.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Must be nice to be certain.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

It is.

I realize your comment is a smooth attempt at saying "Only a fool doesn't acknowledge that there is a chance that they're wrong" and sure, there's a chance that I'm wrong, but are you making major life decisions based on the chance that dragons could awaken and attack mankind? Do you worry daily that you might be punished by Bigfoot because you ate the wrong food on Friday? Are unicorns disappointed in you because you masturbate too much?

Who knows, maybe a magical, horned Sasquatch riding a dragon will cleanse the world of all non-believers. After all, there's always a chance, but I'm not going to waste any of my time worrying about it until he shows himself.

[–] theywilleatthestars@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

The hypocrisy calling out happens between the young generation and their parents. Millenials are more likely to be the older cousins to Zoomers than parents. Zoomers would be calling out the hypocrisy of Gen X, which would probably look something along the lines of "You spent your youth acting like caring about anything was lame and now mainstream art is just commentary about itself instead of anything sincere."

[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

I didn't use the word hate. That said, you don't bicker about minor things when the house is actively on fire. Focus, get some bigger wins collectively.

These types of introspective self improvement moments are for the quiet times, we're not in the quiet times - those are a luxury that you earn, maybe. Much better use of our energy today than this.