A Second Take on “Generation Unsatisfied”

I felt pretty depressed after writing this post because of the way I concluded it. But the truth is that I think I have already begun to work myself out of that paralysis.

One part of it, for me, is developing the confidence to admit what I’m passionate about. When I was younger, I used to say that I liked every single color in the rainbow. I said that I could see the beauty in them all and loved them all. (I was a serious child.) But at one point, when I got older, I realized it was OK to put myself out there and say that red was my favorite color. Because I was really always drawn to red.

Generation Unsatisfied

by joannameng

Last year I read “Generation Overwhelmed” by Courtney E. Martin after a friend posted it on Facebook. I could relate to a lot of it: I, too, had been feeling “my generation’s absolute paralysis in the face of so many choices, so many causes, and so much awareness.” But of course, as Peter Suderman pointed out, Martin isn’t really talking about her entire generation, but her circle of friends.

One part of Martin’s article that surprised me was that she said our generation is “overeducated” and “knows so much about so much.” Declaring yourself overeducated sound pompous. But beyond that, does she really believe that getting a nice college education, reading a lot of news and blogs, having political discussions with your friends, and maybe studying abroad or working for an NGO means that you know too much? Maybe it means that you have a lot of information of one sort, but are out of touch with the rest of the world.