[2Wycked]

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (hereafter referred to as Always Sunny) is a show on FX that has spawned many seasons. Do note I only own through the first six seasons and only watched a smattering of episodes in the seventh season. I really thought the show started to decline a bit in the fourth, accelerated in the fifth & I was thoroughly unimpressed with the sixth season. Note that I rewatch any show multiple times if I like it – the fact I only watched it through once is telling.

Overview Of Setup & Characters

The show has been called “Seinfeld on crack.” They do draw on the idea of a show “about nothing.” Further, the characters are even more self-absorbed, self-destructive and bizarre than anything on Seinfeld. In fact, the characters actually track the Seinfeld characters.

The show is set in Philadelphia (surprise!) and is centered around five people called “The Gang.” Two of the members own a bar called Paddy’s Pub and most of the show is centered around this bar. It is poorly run, as the characters are all self-absorbed and constantly hatching crazy or ridiculous plans. They are ineffective, lazy and often cruel.



Dennis Reynolds A clear-cut narcissist. He lives out most of his fantasies in his head. He does bed women, but they are usually repulsed by his rank self-absorption. He rarely displays empathy or compassion and is, in general, an asshole. He is the brother of Dee and the one of the co-owners of Paddy’s Pub. He went to UPenn and thinks he is far more intelligent than he really is. He pretends to the be the leader, and technically is, but is only interested in the worship and status.



Ronald “Mac” McDonald: The other co-owner of Paddy’s Pub. He came from a terrible broken home – his father was a drug dealer and his mother is apathetic towards him. He is a codependent & Dennis is the narcissist he needs. His catchphrase is “What’s up bitches?” He feels superior to the rest of the group. He feels he is the strongest of the group and the protector. He carried on a relationship with a pre-op transsexual and claiming to be “putting time in” before the surgery. Hilarious.


'
Charlie Day: The omega of the group. He is the janitor of the bar, doing all the work nobody else wants to do. He lives in an apartment with Frank. He is nursing a serious crush on “The Waitress” at a café "The Gang" frequents. He probably is the most compassionate of the group, as he is the only one who will regularly display levels of compassion for others. That being said, he is an alcoholic & drug addict. He has poor personal hygiene and is completely unable to function in normal society. He clearly hates himself and suppresses his natural talents for songwriting and the piano. He might be the most interesting character on the show.



Dee Reynolds: A stereotypical inverted narcissist that will vacillate between compensatory narcissism and strong codependency depending on the situation. She is a caricature of the modern American female. In way, it is done brilliantly. She is supremely superficial and completely self-absorbed. Her internal view of herself will never match up with the way she sees herself in reality. She vainly tries to be seen as a member of “The Gang,” but the other three males sense her qualification and toy with her. She wants to be an actress and comedian but she never will accomplish either of those goals.

The Rank Narcissism Of "The Gang"



Let's talk a bit about Seinfeld. It was a phenomenal show that features genius-levels of writing and jokes. However, it was the precursor for this show. Recall the character of George. He is a classic codependent. George was continually labeled highly unattractive by women who watched the show - he was the classic inverted narcissist with little going on for him. The other characters - Seinfeld, Elaine & Kramer all displayed levels of narcissism, but nothing of the clinical level. However, their issues bled into the Millennial Generation and created an even worse generation - exemplified by Always Sunny.

The characters on the show are all narcissists of some degree. I doubt any one of them could go to a psychologist and not get diagnosed with a strong case of narcissism. They are a group that desperately needs each other, but they only care about themselves. They need each other so they have victims to prey on psychologically.

They really are a group of shitty people. The more I think about it, the more I am reminding of how sick our society is and how sick my generation is.

However, consider the picture. Charlie & Mac are leaning away - they are the only characters who have displayed the ability to change. Dennis & Dee know they are the key psychological members of the group. Charlie has his back completely turned, Mac just has a downward gaze. Charlie knows he is the omega - the low man on the totem pole. Mac knows he will always play second fiddle to Dennis - the role he doesn't want to play, but the only role he can play in this relationship.

Charlie knows he could bounce & it would affect the group the least - that is why his back is to them. They call his garbage-man job "Charlie work," their way of reinforcing his inferiority. As for Mac, Dennis needs him as much as Mac needs Dennis; that break won't happen. His downward gaze reflects he gets no affection from Dennis - he needs to worship Dennis in order for their relationship to exist.

Nothing healthy here.

It's Always Cloudy In America: The Inefficacy Of The Millennial Generation



Inefficacy is generally defined as lacking the power to achieve the targeted result. That is my generation in one word.

The Millennial Generation is a generation of narcissistic people who think they know more than they do. Read this sobering article from the The Last Pyschiatrist.

Let me analyze Always Sunny & my generation through this article. I need to quickly highlight a couple quotes before we move forward.

Quote:

Anyone who writes for a living understands this; Neal Stephenson (Anathem) writes with a fountain pen; I can only write on a computer. But-- and you should try this-- using any other medium makes one think differently.

I can attest to this. I have to shift my thinking when writing by hand. Personally, I may stop posting on the forum during July so I can focus exclusively for hand-writing for my bar exam. My writing online is marred by quick trips to Google/Wikipedia or checking ESPN. My writing by hand is so much more focused and better when I do it by hand.

Quote:

And, rather than the internet bringing diverse people together, it seems to foster tribes of the like-minded, who never closely examine anything different(ly).

Diversity is skin-deep in American society. I remember one of more controversial remarks in my CRT class when a presentation was given on the lack of diversity in the professors at the school. They claimed there was only one LGBT professor on staff. I inquired into the political/philosophical views of said professor. They gave me a blank stare and said it was important to have gays on staff.

I responded if you judge people on the content of their character, what matters most is the diversity of ideas. A group of four white males, one a communist, one a libertarian, one a conservative and one an anarchist will produce more intellectual content than a black male, lesbian, Asian transsexual and poor Hispanic who are all solid liberals. The blank stares I received were telling. Narcissistic diversity only considers immutable characteristics, real diversity values immutable characteristics over immutable ones - without ignoring the contributions race or class might bring.

I was going to quote more, but let's just get into the grit of it. My generation - the Millennial Generation - is the greatest bunch of self-absorbed narcissists this world have even seen. I wonder if every civilization ends this way - a bunch of entitled fools who think wealth & privilege are their birthright.

Any way, Always Sunny shows this. All the characters clearly have been raised, as children, poorly and their narcissism is their way of compensating for that childhood. The school system enforces this, as children do best learning from their parents or other family figures. Children do not do well learning from strangers. If the school system was doing the most to help students, children would not bounce from teacher to teacher each grade level - they would have the same teacher from kindergarten through, at least, 8th grade.



Which brings up the next point. TLP notes that my parent's generation - teachers - really is dumb, they just don't know it. You see this in the teaching profession. Right now, with no training, I can assure you I can teach any cohort up until high school. I could easily riff on English, writing, history and social science with no training. Math might need some work, but that could be done quickly. That is the issue - the people who teach this have no passion, no desire.

I have many female friends who are teachers. None, not one, has a passion for knowledge. They call their passion for raising children as the passion for teaching. I had a very infamous Facebook status update in which I called them all out and it got dumped on BAD. All the females had delusions about their knowledge base & intellectual depth. I told one dumbass I recently reread Dante's Inferno. She responded saying I was making books up because she had never, ever heard of Dante.

I was dumbstruck by that statement. She was so narcissistic that she couldn't even fucking Google one of the West's best writers, Dante Alighieri. She went on to graduate with honors & is considered a great teacher even though all she does is watch MTV/chick flicks & jump on alpha dick.

Which highlights the narcissism of my generation. They know how to put on a great show - or not (the flipside) - but have nothing to back up their bluster. You see this in Always Sunny, as the characters are often outed to be bullshitting. In one episode, Charlies claims to be an expert on "Bird Law" and the real attorney he was arguing with just gave him a look that says, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

The art of bullshitting is a narcissistic trait, but one that doesn't prove narcissism. Everybody who succeeds in life needs to be able to bullshit.

However, we see the insecurity bubble up in society as "Teacher Appreciation" days/weeks/months. As TLP observed in the article, on some level the teachers get their deficiencies. They need inordinate amounts of praise in order to shore up their flagging egos. The more students continue to fail, the more we will need more social praise for teachers. Unable to come to terms with their professional failure, they more they need social approval - although it doesn't end there.

Consider the vast majority of teachers are women. Maybe if they became wives & mothers they would not need to command small armies of children - they could just give birth to their own. A main contribution to teacher narcissism is the fact that teachers can just walk away or just pass on a troubled kid to another grade.

Bringing it back to Always Sunny & my generation, we are just products of a severely deficient system. We are products of not just a narcissistic society at large, but a school system steeped in narcissism. All of the characters display serious issues, most relating to narcissism. Many of them just live in worlds of their own creation with as little reference to the real world as they can handle. I remember watching a movie in which video games went full viral in the sense you could live whatever life you wanted inside your head with the game. That sort of game would absolutely destroy civilization.

Conclusion

Martin Luther King Jr. once remarked "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." He couldn't be more wrong. Humanity rises and falls. If evolutionary psychologically is true, then female sexuality will always collapse any civilization. All there are always peaks and valleys - there is no inexorable bend towards a utopia.

Captain Capitalism has a closing line, "Enjoy the Decline!" It is sad when, maybe it is for the best.

However, part of me is sick. I am sick to be part of this self-absorbed generation, the other part of me is sick to know we will collapse as a society.

I just packed another hookah. I just poured another vodka-7up. It won't be a long night, but it might be a long life.

[aphelion]

YA'LL STAND BACK WHEN 2WYCKED IS DROPPING WISDOM ON YA'LL

[OSL]

Quote:

I responded if you judge people on the content of their character, what matters most is the diversity of ideas. A group of four white males, one a communist, one a libertarian, one a conservative and one an anarchist will produce more intellectual content than a black male, lesbian, Asian transsexual and poor Hispanic who are all solid liberals. The blank stares I received were telling. Narcissistic diversity only considers immutable characteristics, real diversity values immutable characteristics over immutable ones - without ignoring the contributions race or class might bring.

Agreed.

This made me think of another point.

Which one of these two groups is more diverse?

GROUP A:

US Citizen from New York
US Citizen from Los Angeles
US Citizen from Seattle
US Citizen from Miami

GROUP B:

A South African
A Brazilian
A Swede
A Singaporean

Easy right? Group B.

------

Okay let's try that again.

Which one of these two groups is more diverse?

Group A:

Terrell Smart, New York (African American)
John Choi, Los Angeles (Asian American)
Emma Smith, Seattle (White/Euro American)
Fernanda Rodriguez, Miami (Latin American)

Group B:

Angela Chung - Capetown South Africa
Cassia Nakamura - Sao Paulo, Brazil
Anders Nguyen - Malmo, Sweden
Roland Chang - Singapore

-----

[Duke Castile]

Fucking bravo!

[Chunnel]

Great post and commentary

I also think its important to note that Frank's fathering (or lack thereof) created the severe narcissism in Dennis and Dee, who constantly sought his approval but never received it. D&D lash out their personalities on Mac and Charlie, who are seeking attention and wanting codependency. All the while, Frank sits on like an evil genius watching what he has created over the years.

[AntiTrace]

Quote:

The Millennial Generation is a generation of narcissistic people who think they know more than they do.

Remember that little cliche about the pot and the kettle? Digging the writing style but don't kid yourself, you're the pot.

[2Wycked]

(06-14-2013 09:54 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

Quote:

The Millennial Generation is a generation of narcissistic people who think they know more than they do.

Remember that little cliche about the pot and the kettle? Digging the writing style but don't kid yourself, you're the pot.

Really? I would love to hear how you reached that conclusion.

[Basil Ransom]

(06-14-2013 09:54 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

Quote:

The Millennial Generation is a generation of narcissistic people who think they know more than they do.

Remember that little cliche about the pot and the kettle? Digging the writing style but don't kid yourself, you're the pot.

That's like saying a man can't criticize men as a group, because the critic is a man himself.

[Emancipator]

"I told one dumbass I recently reread Dante's Inferno. She responded saying I was making books up because she had never, ever heard of Dante."



But another top notch post



Another thing in the current school system that increases narcissm is all the colleges requiring kids to talk about themselves in their essays and applications, heck this happens in HS, The best marks I've gotten was when I made a personal observation in my essays.

Here's an article I remember reading on the very issue, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-17...lfish.html

"Quick quiz: Which of the following is not an essay topic on the latest version of the common application to gain admission to U.S. colleges?

1. Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

2. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?

3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

4. Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?

5. Discuss an accomplishment or event -- formal or informal -- that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community or family.

6. Discuss a particularly significant Facebook status update. What prompted it? Where were you when you posted it? How did you feel when only four of your friends “liked” it?

The common application, which is now accepted by more than 500 colleges, is the best example of how the admissions process has become an exercise in encouraging 17-year-olds’ narcissism. Also new this year, rising high-school seniors will be allotted 650 words in which to indulge themselves. Was that because the 500 they have been given previously just didn’t do these topics justice?
Changing Standards

The college essay as absurdist self-reflection isn’t new. When I applied to Middlebury College some two decades ago, I was asked to answer the question: “What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received?”

Alas, this was no passing fad. “Many people involved in the admissions enterprise believe -- or want to believe -- that personal essays are essential,” Eric Hoover of the Chronicle of Higher Education wrote in a blog post after interviewing a number of admissions officers. “As long as students are free to write autobiographical vignettes and creative riffs on quirky topics, then nobody can say the process is just about numbers, which it often is.”

Well, often it’s not. More and more colleges are dropping the SAT requirement. Measures of every sort of diversity -- race, geography, religion, sexual orientation -- compete with grade-point averages.

It’s discouraging enough that colleges have increasingly discounted hard measures in favor of essays, which are often “edited” by the adults in their lives. Hoover interviewed Danya Berry, a member of the common application’s panel of counselors, who said the essay requirements are a way to measure writing skills: “If you can’t write a succinct, five-paragraph essay, you’re not going to succeed in college.”

Fair enough. Yet the essays themselves don’t ask college students to do the least bit of critical thinking. They are merely exercises in what Twitter users label #humblebrags.

Of course, this generation of social-media-savvy teens already excels at trying to show how each moment of their lives is filled with significance. There is no need to encourage it. How about asking applicants about a favorite author? Sure, it’s possible it will become an exercise in how reading “Old Yeller” (does anyone read that anymore?) reminded you of the death of your pet turtle. But it’s also possible that it will make you offer some insights beyond your own, no doubt fascinating, autobiography.
Historical Influence

What about a historical event that influenced you? Again, there will be plenty of opportunity for reflection on your own life when you reveal that the Emancipation Proclamation actually released your great-great-great-grandparents from bondage.

Or that learning about the Holocaust made you change your view of Judaism and whether God is good. Or perhaps that reading about the women’s suffrage movement turned you into an ardent feminist. But it won’t be all about you.

How about an invention that most changed your life? You might write that it’s the cell phone or the iPad. You would at least have to reflect on why that is the case, know something about its development, what life was like before it, and even -- here’s the key -- construct an argument for why this particular thing was more influential than other things.

The navel-gazing essays require only telling a story, a “narrative” about yourself, as college administrators have it. Sure, there’s a beginning, a middle and an end. It could be in a “five-paragraph” format. But it doesn’t reveal much about how you think -- just how you feel.

The thrust of the essays I’m proposing would be different. They would suggest that you are aware of the important ideas, events and leaders who came before you, who made it possible for you to spend the next four years of your life in this thing we call college.

(Naomi Schaefer Riley is the author of “The Faculty Lounges and Other Reasons Why You Won’t Get the College Education You Paid For.” The opinions expressed are her own.) "

[bacon]

2wyked great job on this article.

I also wonder if the millennials obsession with all things celebrity is a vehicle for living vicariously through them helps in some way fuel their narcissism. The celebrity reality show craze began with the Osbournes in the early 2000s and as I was in high school at the time it seemed like everyone watched it. These type of shows gave people a documentary style intimate look into celebrities lives inside mansions, expensive cars etc and the "good life" so to speak. I think watching shows like that can fuel escapism as they relate to these celebrities through these type of shows and people come to think they are similar to them or that the connection they make with them via television is real as they may see these celebrities as role models, a friends etc since they are exposed to so many intimate moments of the celebrities lives. So by watching these shows the millenials can feel that the "know" Ozzy Osbourne or said celebrity because they are exposed to so much of a celebrites private life and this can help the narcissistic escapism into fantasy rather than facing the often grim reality of their life of no mansions, expensive cars, glamourous vacations etc.

[AntiTrace]

(06-14-2013 10:03 AM)2Wycked Wrote:  

(06-14-2013 09:54 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

Quote:

The Millennial Generation is a generation of narcissistic people who think they know more than they do.

Remember that little cliche about the pot and the kettle? Digging the writing style but don't kid yourself, you're the pot.

Really? I would love to hear how you reached that conclusion.

You rebuke the millennial generation of narcissists using an overarching narcissistic theme and air of superiority that could only come from a true narcissist.

It's not a bad thing. Its actually a combination that makes for some good reading.

[Beyond Borders]

(06-14-2013 09:54 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

Quote:

The Millennial Generation is a generation of narcissistic people who think they know more than they do.

Remember that little cliche about the pot and the kettle? Digging the writing style but don't kid yourself, you're the pot.

Fucking hell. That was a little uncalled for.

[Walderschmidt]

(06-14-2013 10:38 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

You rebuke the millennial generation of narcissists using an overarching narcissistic theme and air of superiority that could only come from a true narcissist.

It's not a bad thing. Its actually a combination that makes for some good reading.

That cliché is a tu quoque argument. That is to say, it is a logical fallacy.

It does not discredit 2wycked's argument.

[lurker]

1. Our generation will never come close to reaching the narcissism of the Boomers that produced us. Mostly because they debt-financed our chances for gratuitous largesse right to the Chinese.
2. K12 teaching has always been a predominantly female profession. It used to be, along with nursing, the profession women entered in the largest numbers. We now demand women have "access" to high-profile, high-paying white collar professions. Guess where all the higher-IQ women went?

[A War You Cannot Win]

Agreed. This generation is worthless. The greatest tragedy I have seen personally is young men being deceived into throwing themselves to the meat grinder; to serve in combat and possibly die or be laid low for the welfare/warfare state. To support a generation of adult children who refuse to take accountability for themselves and take responsibility for the repercussions of their actions. To further someone's politically agenda. To further expand the profit margins of someone else's bank account. To obstensibly defend the 'freedom' of a country of fuckwits that don't deserve even the slightest fraction of the meaning of the word. A legion of narcissist plebeians so obsessed with the content of their Facebook they never really live, but just slowly decay from the day they left the womb. Community, honor, brotherhood, loyalty. Just pretty words from a time past, that may have not really existed at all.

Betray before you are betrayed.

If you're not taking advantage of someone, they're taking advantage of you.

You should feel no compunction for coercing people to fall to your will. It is amusing and pleasurable to dominate others.

I'm living by the above three statements and I'm having the time of my life. Beats being a slave for the faceless, ubiquitous masses.

[AntiTrace]

Nah I'm not trying to discredit any argument. 2wyked and I are on generally the same wavelength, he is just more passionate about it than I ever will be.

To be honest, I'm not even sure what argument is being presented. Then again, I'm not the most book smart cat out there. I had those days, then high school came and I found the joys of marijuana and females, my education has suffered from that day on.

Is it that our current generation is inefficient? On what terms? The fact that people are more worried about celebrities and facebook popularity than on meaningful things that could bring some utility to civilization? Well that is nothing new. It's the same repeating record in regards to the masses that has been playing since the beginning of civilization. Very few people end up achieving something that forwards society as a whole, but those that do shoulder the rest of society. Right now there are kids in our very generation who are working on the next leap forward in scientific achievements. A highschooler developed a revolutionary new vehicle to deliver cancer medication that holds much promise. Another highschooler just developed a revolutionary new charging method for personal gadgets. Some kid built a functioning nuclear reactor for a science fair project. Its a bell curve, and when you focus on the middle all you are going to see is mediocrity.

Is it that our school system is defective? Sure it is. Some teachers suck. Some students suck. Some parents suck. Put all those three together and its a recipe for disaster. Is it different from generations past? I would say so. And it is due to the narcissistic attitudes that 2wyked presented. Gone are the days where the student was to blame. The majority of people do feel they should be handed everything. Didn't get an A on the final? Well the teacher sucked, not my study habits. And some parents facilitate that belief.

But the fault does not fall in the school system. It falls on the parents. Again a point brought up by 2wyked. But it also falls on the students. You can't blame teachers anymore, the ball is out of their court. They can't even look at a student wrong without fear of reprisal. Hell a student can make up a bold face lie and get a teacher canned without a proper investigation. And that ones that are passionate about their job have to put up with all that bullshit. Their hands are tied. I'm not even going to go into the issues of standardized testing, management (principal/superintendent/school board), long hours, or shit pay. Its fucked. How do you fix? Hell if I know.

Is it about the general narcissistic attitude as a whole? America has bred a narcissistic attitude since the day our country was formed. We were always told we were the best and our views were the right ones. Freedom motherfucka! The only difference is past generations had a clear goal set forth to channel their energies. Independence from England, South vs North, WW I and II, Communism, etc. A clear defined us and a clear defined them. What do we have now? The phantom war on terrorism? There is no clear "them" anymore, so there is no motivation to put forth energy towards a greater overall accomplishment. Instead Ill just instagram some shit and see how many other chodes will like it. Then Ill do it again and try to break my record of likes.

So where does that leave us? The collapse of society? It's almost like people believe we have some dark rain cloud hovering just over us with an umbrella out of reach. Well according the theories of some, the sky has been falling ever since the dawn of time. And yet to me it still seems to be way the fuck up there.

Society is not going to collapse, its going to evolve. What is it going to evolve into? Not a damn clue.

So whats a fellow to do in such times? Whatever you want. Nothing any of us do is going to change the course of societal evolution. So like my dad always told me (the guy that would spank me if I get bad grades, not go yell at my teacher) "dont sweat the small stuff"

I guess my point would be that there is nothing to complain about. We should all be happy, we are the outsiders looking in. We know the language the others are speaking, and they have no clue that we know. That gives us an advantage over just about everything in life, as dire as some may make it out to be. That excites the shit out of me.

So formal apologies Wyked. I came off us crass and sounding like I was on that there "hateraid." Ill go eat a snickers.

[Sombro]

I'm older than most, so when I see some millennial idiocy, I tend to look at it from the "Who raised these people?" angle.

Yeah, crappy culture/media and crappy teachers all abound, but parents are the last line of defense, so they shoulder most of the blame in my eyes.

That said, once someone is a legal adult, they have to own their shit. Your parents might have instilled (more likely ignored) your poor sense of character/morality, but you are 100% responsible for your actions.

[MrXY]

At least the show gave us the DENNIS system......

[samsamsam]

There will always be exceptional people that will do exceptional things. They just can't help it and yes they are the ones that are moving us along in great leaps.

But this generation, well each generation since the "Greatest Generation", lacks an overall success pattern. The Greatest Generation (well that and carpet bombing Germany and nuking Japan) pushed America to incredible heights. They lived through the Great Depression and fought a terrible war. They were savers and had principles. People understood how to sacrifice for a common good.

I tell my friends that part of the problem is there is no cause that binds us together. Occupy wall street was a joke, just a reason to hang out and feel like they were part of something. The war in Iran and Afghanistan was not fought by our country, it was fought by the volunteers and contractors. The ones at home who have no relatives fighting pay it lip service. Fucking politicians think it is a game. Really only politicians who have kids in the military and/or have served themselves should vote on whether we go to war, ok digressing.

This generation wants instant gratification. They know too much about what can be acquired so that is what they obsess about. All the distractions make it difficult for them to focus on anything. They constantly need stimulation. Fuck, I am older and I need a tv on while at my computer. At work, I popped a movie to play in the background just now. Constantly being scattered cannot lead to success which requires focus. If anything, this generation wilts upon failure and they use pot to drown out the pain. They were not taught that there will be set backs in life and you need to get up. They just assumed they will always be winning - which is easy when you argue for an A versus earning one.

2Wycked (probably a fucking Mensa kid, bastard ) can at least see it. He is standing above the drift (transformational lingo woohoo). And I feel better about my rant from a few weeks ago. http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-24...52986.html

[samsamsam]

(06-14-2013 01:35 PM)Sombro Wrote:  

I'm older than most, so when I see some millennial idiocy, I tend to look at it from the "Who raised these people?" angle.

Yeah, crappy culture/media and crappy teachers all abound, but parents are the last line of defense, so they shoulder most of the blame in my eyes.

That said, once someone is a legal adult, they have to own their shit. Your parents might have instilled (more likely ignored) your poor sense of character/morality, but you are 100% responsible for your actions.

Most parents probably didn't want their kids - ok being an asshole. But parents don't want to parent, they want to be the kid's friend.

[2Wycked]

AntiTrace:

I appreciate the apology.

[Mersault]

AntiTrace, that was a fine post. You rebuffed the threads 'nigh upon us' content impresively.

Millenial generation this, millenial generation that. Narcissistic? How about thinking our generation is so different to the rest? Delusions of grandeur. We are ineffectual? What a preposterous statement. Yes, we are ineffectual, it's the human condition. However to suggest we are ineffectual relative to previous generations...oh my. How so? Because they built 19 bridges and we built 8? Or because another generation fought wars that history suggests were meaningful while we don't? We are ineffectual because GDP won't grow at the same rate? That's central banking policy, not a reflection on a generations effectiveness. Are we ineffectual because we work service jobs so distanced from the root of production? It's an empty statement. Are we ineffectual because pur quality of life, according to the markers set by the World Bank and which ever other bullshit institution, says so? Well, they don't know shit and neither does anybody who thinks their indicators mean shit in a greater context.

I see no aspiring Zarathustra's anywhere. Just a bunch of idiots carrying the genes of other idiots who came before them who in turn carried the genes of idiots before them, cognitive dissonance all over the place as they struggle or ignore the never ending conflict between free will and causality. Idiots idiots idiots.

What will be said of this generation and era? Nobody knows, however a fair guess would be to say 'huge technological improvements and no new ideas.'

Sure, the sun don't shine the sun don't shine...and on that note The Last Psychiatrist, a writer whom i actually admire a little (her tone is eh, she writes as though she just drank a litre of coca cola, however her depth of thought, although often difficult to see and be certain of, a consequence of the depth is the inevitable darkness that makes revealing such depth difficult, anyway, her depth is quite remarkable and, as a i said, quite admirable), so, yeah The Last Psychiatrist, since she pointed out the old Greek myth about the curse of Narcissus, i feel like everybody with nothing to say wants to make a point - not the thread opener here, he tried to make a point.

Look. I don't know. But we are just passing through. Perhaps we shouldn't take the importance of our generation so importantly? Shit, do you even think people in 1640 named their generation as a type distinct from those born in 1630? I doubt it. Then again, i don't know. Perhaps they did. Millenial generation? Oh man! That description irritates me. Get over yourself. Let's get over ourselves.

[Anaguma]

Young people are always narcissistic. Like Socrates said, "Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.” It's nothing new, and this generation is not any different from the previous generation.

In fact, and as I mentioned in a different thread somewhere, although I use to think the same thing about the millennials and I know a lot of people still think the same way, I don't anymore.

Rather, now I think that each subsequent generation blows the previous generation out of the water because they get the benefit of hindsight knowledge as well as the newest technologies (health/nutrition, tools, etc.), and I now think that viewing the younger generation as dumber/narcissistic/etc, is just a defense mechanism by the present generation as they get overwhelmed.

The barriers to entry for pretty much everything have risen and everything has gotten a lot more competitive than in the past, which is a testament to how each generation improves over the previous one. It's much harder now to get into good schools than when I had to apply. It's much harder to get a good job now than when I did it. Certain subjects that I didn't get to learn until college are now taught in high school.

Most people acknowledge that the newer generation would beat out the older generation in most sports, even if the older generation were brought back in their primes. Bob Cousy at his prime would not make it in the modern NBA, Mark Spitz would not medal in the modern Olympics, and Jimmy Connors' steel racket and crappy forehand shenanigans would result in his annihilation in modern tennis. I don't see why the analogy does not extend to other abilities of the newer generation versus the previous generation, including intellectual abilities and general knowledge.

[iknowexactly]

Anthill on a speck of sand. Everything.

[Duke Castile]

You're not observing one thing, there is more people than ever before, and when you add in the social and cultural influence of liberal/femenist/sensitivity/bullshit thinking/laws/social programs the bell curve doesn't account for laziness and lack of desire.

Therefore, there are more shiftless losers than ever before in the millennial generation.

The good news is that it's very nature will likely spawn people to rebel against it and produce some of the best minds and spur the most talented individuals to produce.

But to observe the generation as a whole, it's not pretty.

I'd be careful about blaming previous generations, it's true that they royally fucked up, but passing the buck is also a trademark characteristic of the millennials. "Someone must have failed me" isn't going to turn anything around.

It's sad, just in my short life I've seen the USA go from a great place to somewhere I don't want to be anymore.