Thoughts on the "Me" Generation

June 29, 2011

By Tracy Steffenson

I absolutely hate the fact that we've become a country where all that matters is "me" and "now." America was once a country where people worked together to form a society which looked out for each other while pulling their own weights, like ants; instead we have become a society of individuals, a society of wolves.

Look at the problems that our country is facing right now. People had been buying houses they couldn’t afford and are now losing them, getting furniture and electronics on financing, drug-abusing athletes are our children’s rolemodles, greedy labor unions causing companies to move overseas and even greedier CEO’s and Government. Why? ‘Cause It's all about "me." 

A perfect example are the people who want big families but have no way of paying for them. No worries, invisible people who work their rear end off will gladly pick up the tab for you. Stop acting like children wanting mom and dad’s cash. Hands outstretched and palms up waiting for the handout. Uncle Sam’s wallet is empty people, wake up.

Another example of how it is now “all about me” is when you are trying to purchase something from a store and have to wait for the employee who WORKS there to finish a personal conversation with a non-customer standing right in front of the register (or on a gosh darn cell phone). And they both look at you like you are the one being rude. Ummm no it’s not me this time.

What about fashion. Nope not going to talk about runways or anything like that. I am talking about the funny “for a cause” T-Shirts. I am all for a cute and funny T-shirt which raises both awareness and funds for a cause, but there are some of them that are not funny in the least and make, lets say cancer survivors, very upset and feel disrespected. But you know what, the people selling the shirts (who some don’t event donate to the cause) say, it’s all about me!

Look at our schools, we have kids that are attending wearing pajamas and fuzzy slippers, jeans with so many holes in them you hope they don’t bend wrong, and same goes for the really short shorts kids wear now a days. There are teachers who don't shave and dress as casually as the kids do, destroying the first line of respect, visual, and kids are allowed to drink pop and eat chips in class. It’s all about me!

We've somehow developed into a society that embraces the least common denominator. A society that thinks it's OK to wear slippers to work and talk on the phone while going to the bathroom.

The problem is it's all about numbers. The people with a sense of society and unity just plain got outnumbered. While we were working, there were others sitting at home cranking out kids like a Pez dispenser and we now get the opportunity, no privilege, to have to pay for them. 

In a cruel twist of economics and socialism, we get to pay for those who think it is all about pleasure without the pain and hard work that comes with it. The ones who surround us with outstretched palms batting their eyelashes like we owe it to them. And, I have to say, something about that really bothers ... me.