Mehak Gupta Grover
The term millennial generally refers to the generation of people born between the early 1980’s, 1990’s and 2000s. Why i call them as ‘New’ millennials is because our society has become more individualistic, greedy and selfish. Our society has become dependent upon technology. Millennials are particularly vulnerable to the potentially negative effects of social media. The numbers alone tell a powerful story of self- obsession. More than 95 million photographs are uploaded on Instagram everyday and more than 1.32 billion people are active users on Facebook everyday- publishing details of their lives. Is social media turning a relative modest species into a pack of publicity- hungry narcissists? Or were we already inherently self- absorbed?
But what does this mean? What kind of hunger is this satisfying? And whose?
The focus on greed (can be monetary greed or self-obsessed greed) as an issue reflects concern about the growing gulf between the rich and the poor. Everything seems to be based around money and owning things. The more we have, the more successful we are. There’s nothing wrong with having enough, but there is pressure on people to go for more and more, leading to misuse of drugs and alcohol.
The world today is a wonderfully exciting place. With the barriers between us reduced by modes of mass communication such as internet, anyone is free to choose from the vast body of knowledge and information available to all of us. To me, western culture encompasses a certain efficacious organisations of life, economical penchant, liberal freedom and focus on development, etc. But, simultaneously, it has a dark side- capitalism, hedonistic immorality. We are free to take what we want from western culture. We can take the cleanliness, the effecient organisations, a greater freedom granted to the individual and what not. It is up to us to take only that which can help us live the life we aspire.
When I was little, there was this great invention called ‘outside’. Now, this term means pollution, sweat, tiresome. Everyone is busy with their iPhones, ipads, parties, fashion, selfies and the list is endless. These so called ‘new millennials’ are getting highly influenced by their peers. What is crucially important now-a-days is how other people see us and a huge focus of our life is geared at creating a positive impression of ourselves- like taking a perfect selfie! It is a pretty unique pressure and has created a painfully pressured state of mind. The desire to be liked, respected and admired can be considered a normal type of healthy narcissism which we all need in life. But, when the hyper posting becomes a compulsion, there could be problems. It also becomes a kind of negative reinforcement that collides with society’s appearance, status, wealth, etc . It has become more of a ‘ME’ generation- looking in the mirror all day long and letting other’s see doing it (selfie-obsession). One big change to have come about in this lifestyle is the concept of ‘party all nights’. A bustling bar culture is the hallmark of any sophisticated society these days.
Why today’s ME generation is more confident, assertive, entitled and more miserable than ever before? They tend to lack empathy, react aggressively to criticism and favour self-promotion over helping others.
If the only way we know how to cultivate self-worth is through the online substantiation of being special- which is usually short lived; in the long run we may feel shallow and empty inside. Over time, our self-esteem may plummet because the validation is in a sense and artificial. Sometimes, this digital self-expression we speak of is already a product of loneliness and depression, which may continue to linger undetected.
Society is becoming increasingly escapism, and I believe leading to a surge in psychological issues.What are we running towards? And why are we doing this? Why people have started living in the virtual world instead of the real world? Why can’t people realise that happiness in virtual life is short-lived?
One has to and needs to move with the upcoming times; but that doesn’t mean one has to forgo his basic instinct.
We are people of a morally awakened country ‘India’. Its culture is the first and supreme in the world. In words of an American author Mark Twain- ‘ India is the cradle of the human race, the birth place of human speech, the mother of history, grandmother of legend and the great grandmother of traditions. India has two million gods and worships them all. In religion, all other countries are paupers; India is the only millionaire.’
It is impossible not to be astonished by India. Nowhere on Earth does humanity present itself in such a creative burst of cultures and religions. Modern day India represents the largest democracy in the world with a seamless picture of unity in diversity unparalleled anywhere else. And, still, we are more inclined towards western lifestyle, forgetting our culture; this is so woeful!
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