The Generation of Change (The Millennials)

    I put a lot of effort into this essay and the process to originate my ideas took a lot of in depth thinking and reflecting. Most of what I said about my generation was from observations I made and research that backed up my observations and thoughts. I feel that all of the songs I chose were meaningful and carried a message. Each song helped me explain what I wanted my readers to gather from what I was saying.  I did find this essay to be challenging but yet so interesting and educational. I learned a great deal of information and research on my generation (Generation Y) and other generations before me. Some of what I learned surprised me and I never realized how much time does actually change peoples’ views and the way they live their lives.   I feel that my introduction and conclusion are all supported within my writing. I hope everyone who reads my essay will get the message I’m trying to get across and will realize the reality of the generation of Millennials and who we really are.   On a good note I go to listen to a lot of good songs and got to fully examine their lyrics. I found new meanings and messages in the songs that I had not previously known. It was cool to apply my new understanding within my essay.  Please enjoy my essay and I hope you find it as interesting as I have!
   The Generation of Change  

   Millennials have a lot of spare change to go around.  No I’m not talking about change as in currency. I’m talking about the kind of change that affects people lives! Every generation will experience change of course. However Millennials are experiencing a great deal of changes at such a rapid rate. There has been large changes in technological advancement, religious views, gay rights, and political views. With so much change right now are pockets are full!    Recently there was a transition in this country. Gay marriage is now legalized in all 50 states. Currently, 68% of Millennials favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally, up from 44% in 2004. (Pew Research) Most of us Millennials are now open to the idea of gay marriage since we are predominantly more liberal. According to Pew Research Over the past 10 years Millennials have remained the most liberal and least conservative of the four generations, and the only generation in which liberals are not significantly outnumbered by conservatives. A song was released that took notice of gay issues in this country. This hit song topped the charts. It was sung by “Macklemore”. The song was “Same Love” He related hate to religion with these bold lyrics “(Gay is synonymous with the lesser/It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion, gender to skin color the complexion of your pigment, the same fight that lead people to walk-outs and sit-ins, it's human rights for everybody, there is no difference”). These lyrics gave the listener the idea of how being gay is a human right. This is very important because this a new kind of view Millennials have accepted. With our liberal Millennial views we do not agree with conservatives and do not agree with their view of gays. “Macklemore” had this message to say in his song (“A pre-conceived idea of what it all meant for those who like the same sex had the characteristics, the right-wing conservatives think it’s a decision, and you can be cured with some treatment and religion man-made, rewiring of a pre-disposition”). “Macklemore” is pointing how conservatives view being gay as a choice. Even now Conservatives disagree with the legalization of gay marriage (Almost two-thirds of Republicans oppose the Supreme Court's backing of gay marriage, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll). “Clearly “Macklemore” believes religion has caused hate and segregated views of one another.  Since Millenials are now more liberal, the conservative views are no longer the majority.   Do you feel like religion isn’t an influence in your life? Don’t worry you are not alone. According to Pew Research “nearly three-quarters of the Millennials (72%) now thinks religion is losing influence in American life”. Church was once an important and common activity among older generations. With Millennials this is not so anymore.  A study by Biola University found that although church involvement was once a cornerstone of American life, U.S. “adults today are evenly divided on the importance of attending church. Half (49 percent) say it is "somewhat" or "very" important and the other 51 percent say it is "not too" or "not at all" important”. There is a trend towards irreligion that has been increasing since the 1940s. 29 percent of Americans born between 1983 and 1994 are irreligious, as opposed to 21 percent born between 1963 and 1982 (public religion research institute) Millennials are breaking away from religious aspects. “Millennials are forging their own path when it comes to church attendance and religion” (Public Religion Research Institute) “Many of these young people are veering sharply away from organized religion and towards the “nones” category, an opaque motley of agnostics, atheists, and the “free range faithful,” according to the public religion research institute. Millennials in these times should be singing “losing my religion” by “R.E.M.”. The lyrics perfectly convey how Millennials must be feeling and they go like this “that's me in the corner that's me in the spotlight, I'm losing my religion”. Millennials now are losing religious associations and do deny that religion plays an important role in their life. “Macklemore” however related hate to religion with these bold words “(Gay is synonymous with the lesser It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion, gender to skin color the complexion of your pigment, the same fight that lead people to walk-outs and sit-ins, it's human rights for everybody, there is no difference”) Clearly “Macklemore” believes religion has caused hate and segregated views of one another.    In this current generation of millennials technology has advanced quickly and changed our entire world. Technology is required for many things, especially college. College is something very important to Millenials. According to pew research “Millennial college graduates ages 25 to 32 who are working full time earn more annually—about $17,500 more—than employed young adults holding only a high school diploma” . This shows how college is necessary to Millennials as with a college degree they earn more money than those with a high school diploma.   Being millennials means we grew up with technology but then later got to see it advance quickly and rapidly. With growing up with technology and being required to use it we are in a sense addicted. A study done by researchers in which college students were asked to unplug from all technological devices for a day. The study showed that “four in five students had significant mental and physical distress, panic, confusion and extreme isolation when forced to unplug from this technology for an entire day”. All these side effects were brought on from simply just unplugging from technology. This should reveal how addicted Millennials actually are. Social media is something that the great majority of Millennials are familiar with. A study done by Tom Rosenstiel, director of Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism and moderator of a panel on media and information showed that over the last five years, “Millennials' use of social networking sites exploded compared to older generations. In 2005, only 7 percent of Millennials used social networking sites; now 75 percent do. About eight-in-ten Millennials (81%) know what a selfie is, and 55% have shared a selfie on a photo sharing or social networking site such as Facebook, Instagram or Snap-chat”. (Pew Research) Millennials on average dedicate almost two hours a day to mobile media, surpassing television, radio, magazine, tablet and desktop computer use. (Pew Research)   Social Media is a rising technology among Millennials.  An extremely somewhat repetitive style of lyrics were made by Daft Punk in their song Techno-logic. The lyrics are repetitive and last a long time because they are meant to display how often and how much we come into contact with these techno-logic terms and phrases [Buy it, use it, break it, fix it, trash it, change it, mail, upgrade it, charge it, point it, zoom it, press it, snap it, work it, quick, erase it, write it, cut it, paste it, save it, load it, check it, quick, rewrite it, plug it, play it, burn it, rip it, drag and drop it, zip, unzip it, lock it, fill it, curl it, find it, view it, code it, jam, unlock it, surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it, cross it, crack it, twitch, update it, name it, read it, tune it, print it, scan it, send it, fax it, rename it, touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it, turn it, leave it, stop, format it.] (“Technologic”- Daft Punk lyrics) These are all newer technology terms that Millennials are familiar with since the vast majority of Millennials use computers in everyday life.    With so much new technology in our generation a great problem is presented. What if there is too much of it? A recent scientific study done by UCLA psychology has learned this, “Adults and children's social skills may be declining as they have less time for face-to-face interaction due to their increased use of digital media. Our generation is in a sense losing social skills. Based on a SDL survey “most Millennials use at least two internet devices every day. A minority use three or even four — 37 percent in the US. The survey also found that “19 out of 20″ Millennials (globally) own smartphones and check them an average of 43 times per day (in US it’s 45)”. Every time in the Styx song “Mr. Roboto when I hear the word “dehumanize” I tend to relate that to the Millennials since they are so reliant and familiar with a great amounts of new technology. To me “the problem's plain to see, too much technology, machines to save our lives, machines, dehumanize”. (“Mr. Roboto” – Styx) If you think about our generation we rely heavily on machines and technology and feel we need them in our lives to live function normally. The increased use of digital has taken away social skills which are human characteristics. If you are losing your social skills you are in a sense becoming less human.   The Millennial generation has been experiencing a great deal of drastic and new changes. The changes have not only affected Millennials but the entire current population. Millennials have seen a lot of change but can Millennials pockets even handle all this new change without great problems created for the future? Or will their pockets burst and create a mess for generations to come?

              Becoming less religious   “Losing my Religion,” by R.E.M.     Too much technology   “Mr. Roboto,” by Styx     Human rights for all   “Same Love,” by Macklemore     Everyday Technology   “Technologic,” by Daft Punk                                        Works Cited  

1. Lewis,      Ryan. Macklemore Ft Ryan Lewis. Same Love. Ryan Lewis, 2012.      CD.
2. Young,      Dennis D. Mr. Roboto. Styx. Styx, 1983. CD.
3. Bangalter,      Thomas. Technologic. Daft Punk. Daft Punk, 2004. CD.
4. Buck,      Peter. Losing My Religion. R.E.M. Scott Litt, 1991. CD.

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