- Question
- Are millennials lazy?
- Position‹2 of 3›
- No, millennials are not lazy.
- Argument‹3 of 3
Millennials value finding purpose over how much money they can make
Work for work's sake holds limited appeal to a generation that doesn't believe in it anyway. Millennials who follow their dreams will be able to make equivalent income to their parents.
The argument
Purpose is an object or goal that needs to be attained, and it is what drives human beings to live a pleasant life. Without purpose, life is considered meaningless and often leads to an individual experiencing depression and anxiety. That is the ground the argument stands on: pursuing purpose is not an indulgence or an avoidance of work but a condition of living well, so a generation organising its working life around it is doing something demanding rather than something easy. In terms of millennials, the idea of purpose is different compared to older generations — not absent, but sought in different places. The change is best understood as a change in what was available. Before the 21st century, following your dreams was considered a risk. Art, music, and entertainment jobs were something only lucky people could get, and the odds were poor enough that pursuing them looked less like ambition than like recklessness. This led to more people picking jobs that paid well even if it wasn't enjoyable — a rational response to the options in front of them rather than a difference of character. Currently, millennials have found a way to work and have a good amount of money with a job they like. The demand for entertainment has skyrocketed, leaving many slots open for new artistic stars, so the path that was once a gamble has become a career with real routes into it. Lil Nas X dropped out of college in 2018 and went viral with "Old Town Road" in the same year. Because millennials are following their dreams, their lives are happier — and the choice being read as laziness is in fact the pursuit of work that means something.
Context
Western 20th Century culture put a huge premium on work for work's sake and on financial self-betterment. The American dream was to reach a higher economic status in life than one's parents, and Margaret Thatcher (UK Prime Minister, 1979-1990) is said to have declared: "A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure". Millennials have reacted against that explicit 20th Century materialism, and have placed 'Purpose' - social, environmental, psychological, political - at the heart of their quest for self-actualisation.
Premises
Counter-arguments
The idea of purpose is a misunderstood concept. Often, people get purpose and dreams mixed up. A dream is an idea that someone wishes could be reality. A purpose is more rooted in responsibility. A child dreams of being things that are impossible. They dream of flying like birds, going to the moon, and meeting aliens, and even dream of having the same job as their parents. Of course, humans cannot fly like birds, and the only alien life on planets so far are bacteria. Money is a very important aspect of life. Nothing important in life is free unless it’s a gift. Cars, houses, and school is very expensive. Without financial stability, an individual would not live well. An individual living off minimum wage struggles to get money for groceries and a good place to live. Because of the risks, the main purpose in life should be to have a sustainable life.