Generations@Work

In the mid-1980’s I was a new father and a grad student. Many a morning was spent with my (now) older son singing along with Mr. Rogers before heading off for the child care center or sometimes my office at school. Little did I or my son know that we were in the analog company of a subversive. Minister, teacher, children’s television show host; all a ruse. Our new friend Mr Rogers, it seemed was really engaged in a scheme to undermine the very foundation of our nation’s economic success - our work ethic. And here I thought it was Habermas and the critical thinkers of the Frankfurt School that would undo the Puritan ethic’s cultural power. And just how, you ask, did Mr. Roger’s (Fred to many) succeed where radicals and miscreants of all manner and stripe had failed? He told my son, along with so many others of his generation, that he was SPECIAL. And, of course, I was complicit. As a parent I parroted this word over and over again until this message was ensconced as a cellular memory in my son’s deepest unconscious mind. Little did I or my son realize that this nice kindly man in his cardigan sweater would turn his generation into narcissistic ingrates, unwilling to comply with the boss.

How do I know it was Fred? I heard it the other night on 60 minutes from Uncle Morley Safer and a very smart looking reporter from the Wall Street Journal named Jeffrey. Jeffrey, along with a few other “sources” - all consultants - were rather gleefully telling old Morley about young workers in America. They told us yet again all about the pampered, entitled, self-indulgent, oblivious-to-anyone-but-themselves Millennials. You know, the story all of the Boomers love to tell because it makes them look so good by comparison. The Boomers, of course, are paragons of Smithian virtue, and thankfully so, because were it not for the Boomers’ nose-to-the-grindstone attitude (and, oh yes, once in a while we (grudgingly) mention Generation X) our economy and society would have simply collapsed while the Millennials partied on, oblivious. And the coup de grace, the high point of this searing social journalism, came at the moment when Uncle Morley asked Jeffrey who had rendered this generation so unwilling to look beyond their own noses: why, it was none other than Fred Rogers. Guilty as charged.

It gets worse for all of us. Certainly the Millennials lack a work ethic, a byproduct of the fact, according to one insightful corporate consultant, that they all spent their summers climbing Mt Everest or at archeaological excavations in Peru to please Harvard admissions officers rather than mowing their neighbors’ lawns. As a former paper boy, of course, I can attest to the fact that getting up at 5 a.m. on cold winter mornings to make my appointed news rounds made me who I am today. CBS, though, can’t leave it at that. No. This is prime time and we need a BIG word to describe this phenomenon. And we, or rather the consultants and journalist we interview, have one for us: narcissism. Now there’s a worthy descriptor for these young ne’r-do-wells. The Millennials, it would seem, are simply the most narcissistic generation in American history.

What’s wrong with young workers today? Here’s the answer according the experts who spoke with Uncle Morely: Millennials have spent so much time staring at their own reflection in the pool that they have fallen in love - with themselves, their yoga classes, their lattes, their iPods, and all of the other accoutrements of the Me Generation. This is not the first time I have taken note of this now ubiquitous critique.

In previous posts I have taken up some of my concerns about the seemingly endless salvo of verbal munitions fired in the direction of young workers. But the persistent charge of narcissism will not go away. I made a promise to myself that I would not be baited again into this plebian argument; but, now that it has the gold standard impremateur of legitimacy (i.e. 60 Minutes), well, the topic deserves one more try. After all, I really liked Mr Rogers.

So, I will say again. Are their young people now or soon-to-be in the workplace who were over-protected and spoiled? Of course there are; this is America. This is the land that lives by one golden rule: He who dies with the most toys, wins! The philosopher and social critic Christopher Lash, in a momumental work Culture of Narcissism, called this phenomenon one of the central facts of social life in America. This work was published in 1991, long before the Millennials matured. There is a caution here. Why stop with the Millennials as narcissists. What drives the Boomers? Is it our love of work? Our sense of obligation to society writ large? Or is it the mortgage payments on the 15,000 square foot exurban McMansions, the leased luxury sedans, the ski chalets and golf resort condos that really push us to the office night and day? And who was standing on the side lines at all the games, recitals, and other performances basking in the glow of their children’s alleged achievements? Who told their kids that the Ivies were the route to success and made it an obsession since they were old enough to hold a pencil ?

People should be careful throwing around such serious accusations, particularly with such an appalling lack of humility and self-awareness. Enough. And oh, by the way Uncle Morley, you cannot indulge those who so easily level these charges against an entire generation and then add that they are also pretty bright and tech savvy. Everyone knows this. It’s not the same thing.

In the interest of balance and fairness, here is a quick summary of some of the other facts about Millennials.

This generation is taking many of the casualties in Iraq,

This generation has nearly single handedly revived civic action in this country.

This generation is showing a remarkable zest for entrepreneurial work, both social and commercial.

This generation is likely to lead this country away from our carbon gouging consumables. The social change economy is powered by young people who are working hard to make a difference. Millennials world-wide are staffing the growing number of NGOs challenging the growing power of authoritarian and autocratic regimes and governments around the world, sometimes putting their lives at risk in the process.

The narrative of narcissism is culturally problematic as a critique of a single generation. It also offers no real way of inter-generational engagement. Those who promote and perpetuate this narrative by definition place themselves in a position of superior virtue which would be hard to back up if the light where shone in their direction.

This generation is like every generation, a product of it’s history and culture. This generation’s warts are our warts. And this generation’s great promise is a reflection of the the better angels of our society.

What Fred Rogers saw was the special light that burns in all of us. He was special.

By the way, Jeffrey, journalist from the WSJ, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood first aired in 1968, years before the first Millennial was born. How is it that his influence skipped a generation? I’m sorry, did I just let a fact get in the way of your story?