Why I don't think Millennials are crybabies

I saw this hagiography about the Silent Generation today. Here's the original text, with some proofreading corrections (because the author, Mari Pok, is Croatian):

Imagine being born in 1900. When you are 14 years old World War I begins and ends when you are 18, with 22 million dead. Shortly afterward the world pandemic called "Spanish flu" killed 50 million people. You go out alive and free, and you are 20 years old.

Then at the age of 29 you survive the global economic crisis that started with the collapse of the New York Stock Exchange causing deflation, unemployment and hunger. Nazis come to power at 33. You are 39 when World War 2 begins and it ends when you are 45. During the Holocaust (Shoah), 6 million Jews die. All total, there will be more than 60 million dead.

When your 50 the Korean war begins. When you are 64, the Vietnam war begins; it ends when you are 75.

A baby born in 1985 believes his grandparents have no idea how hard life is, nor that it survived several wars and disasters.

A boy born in 1995 -- 25 today -- believes that the end of the world is when his Amazon package takes more than three days to arrive or if he doesn't get more than 15 likes for his posted photo on Facebook or Instagram... In 2020, many of us live in comfort, have access to various sources of entertainment at home and often have more than needed.

But people complain about everything. They have electricity, phone, food, hot water and a roof over their heads.

Humanity has survived much more serious circumstances and never lost the joy of life.

Maybe it's time to be less selfish, stop whining and crying.

Here's my reasion:

In 1970, the median home price was $17,000, and the median household income was $8,700 (about 2 times).[Source]

⁠ Today, the median home price is $374,000 and the median household income is $68,700 (About 5 and a half times).[Source]

⁠ In 1970, the average college debt after a four-year degree was $1,070. Today it's $36,000. Adjusted for inflation, that's more than three times as much.[Source]

⁠ In 1970, blue collar jobs constituted 31% of all non-farm employment. A high school graduate could find one in the manufacturing sector without too much trouble, since they accounted for a quarter of all employment.[Source]

⁠ Today, those percentages are far lower, meaning that -- effectively -- more people need college degrees to find decent paying jobs.

⁠ So I get what they're saying about the Millennial generation not understanding how difficult things used to be. I recognize the Silent Generation was resilient and gritty in ways I don't fully understand.

⁠ But I dislike Baby Boomers using their parents' and grandparents' greatness to rag on Millennials. When my brother (that guy born in 1985) died last year, he still owed $60,000 in student loan debt for a degree he never got.

⁠ And were he still alive today, he might point out that in 2008/2009, when he *would* have graduated, the job market was in no condition to hire him.

⁠ I would also like to point out that after the pandemic hit, and he had to scramble to make up for the income lost though the service industry shutdown, he took on three gig jobs to make ends meet.

⁠ I recognize there's some selection bias going on, but I disagree with the perception that the Millennial generation is entitled. They are not -- as a whole -- selfish whiners or criers. They have their own unique challenges that other generations have not -- not even me, a Gen Xer.

⁠ It's worth remembering that.