Wow. These charts are evidence that education is too important to leave to educators. Busy parents need to understand that the education system, including post-secondary school, competes with, not supplements, their values and beliefs.
No wonder 18-29 yr olds feel that nobody is listening to them. They're unhappy, don't think either party is worth supporting, feel that capitalism has not delivered for them, and as a result don't think America is the best place to live - and your reaction is "they must be indoctrinated at school"??
Right. Because they have no understanding of economics, which leads to poor decision making. And they really do live in the best country in the world. Too many professors undermine their faith in America with postmodern drivel.
"For the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, happiness has decreased in all age groups, but especially for the young, so much so that the young are now, in 2021-2023, the least happy age group. This is a big change from 2006-2010, when the young were happier than those in the midlife groups, and about as happy as those aged 60 and over."
"[and in] the NANZ countries is loneliness significantly higher for the Millennials than for the Boomers."
Doesn't seem like the root here is poor financial literacy or "postmodern drivel," no?
This is the most affluent generation in history. They have the greatest educational opportunities, a myriad of modern devices that make life easier, and incredible medical care. If they are unhappy, it is likely that they are being talked into believing so. They have been so conditioned to think the world is all about them that they don't even know the greatest source of happiness in life is putting other people first. Indeed, they are victimized by their affluence in that they spend way too much time on devices instead of interacting with people and therefore are lonely.
I am one of these younger people whom you dismiss with such casual and withering contempt (though a Millennial, not a Gen-Zer). For the record, I have a master's degree in economics from an Ivy League institution. In case you're not aware, graduate-level economics departments are anything but "postmodern". Mostly there is just math - lots and lots and lots of math. I'd wager I understand economics at levels you don't even know exist. But I don't really want to talk about that right now.
What I do want to talk about is your attitude and your broader epistemological outlook. Quite frankly, it disgusts me -- and I make a conscious point to feel disgust as seldom as possible, as I feel it's dangerous. You speak in sweeping generalities, you look at nuanced issues in juvenile, simplistic black & white terms more appropriate to my 2yo nephew than to an accomplished man of your generation & stature, and you seem to have failed to construe any possible explanation for *two entire generations* coming of age with middling happiness & the most ambivalent feelings about capitalism in a century than "they must all be brainwashed en masse by woke professors".
I think it is you who has been conditioned to think that the world is all about you. And I think this is reflected in your inability to even begin to genuinely or sincerely try to comprehend why younger people who are *not* you are unhappy and disillusioned. I suggest you follow your own advice: instead of being so judgmental, dismissive, and disdainful, why don't you try putting these younger people you dismiss before yourself, by making an earnest effort to relate to our experiences? As you ironically pointed out yourself, you would indeed be happier for it... but I won't hold my breath.
As an important data point. "Generations" are statistical constructs; they don't apply to everyone, or may be anyone, of a particular age. Please don't use this data as a justification for judging anyone.
I find "Politics and Sausage Making's" comments to be sad at best and I am 65 years old.
#1- Values Gap- this data seems very skewed. As if those 4 values are the only ones that exist? If Gen Z eschews those values, then what DO they value? Where is that data? (looked at the source deck and it is just as skewed- paints a very specific picture of younger generations). It would certainly better explain their unhappiness (which is not likely the result of "being talked into believing so")
Morgan Housel = Brilliant. Could listen to him all day.
"If you tell people what they want to hear, you can be wrong indefinitely without penalty." - sadly 100% true.
This is a great point. While I don't doubt that the response data themselves are being presented faithfully, the questions themselves do seem to lean towards yes/nos on things that older generations tend to value.
Taking a look at the source deck myself, I also noticed I didn't always agree that the presented data implied the subjective conclusions that were drawn (i.e. on the slides with the circled numbers). For example, one of these conclusions was: "(8) Multiple national surveys are showing an unusually low level of interest among the youngest voters in the presidential election." But the supporting data on the next two slides only shows that 18-45 year olds are less likely to be "extremely" interested, and in the 2024 presidential election specifically -- an election, I might add, between the same two octogenarians on whom we already rendered a choice four years ago. Meanwhile, the U.S. Election Project "Voter Turnout by Age" graph shows turnout among the 18-29yo band -- while still lagging behind that of older age groups -- is closing the gap, increasing by an average of 2.6% with each election (vs. 1.1% to 1.6% for the other three bands).
The last several slides of that deck dwell for quite a bit on media use patterns (slides 32-38 are entirely devoted to pearl-clutching about TikTok), but these slides suffer from the same disconnect between data and inference. The implication between the lines seems to be that mainstream media use has "collapsed" (a rather loaded word if you ask me), while younger people are instead now getting their news from stray Facebook comments and 15-second TikTok shorts. But the data do not actually paint this picture at all, as the survey questions only pertain to what media platforms people *use* daily -- for whatever purpose.
And even if we do entertain this premise, just for the sake of argument -- the data still show YouTube beating out other social media platforms for ages 18-49, and by a decent margin. YouTube is not even really a "social media site" in my book. Sure, there is a "Comments" section, where you can have your one-or-two-sentence reaction drowned out by 5,000 other people if you like -- but by & large, the information flows unidirectionally, from whomever makes the video to whoever watches it. Sounds very much like television to me. Top politics YouTubers run their channels full-time, they employ support staff, they have good production values, and they invite guests and experts on to comment... also very much like television. And speaking of television: lest we forget, cable television networks have their own direct presence on YouTube, too! The MSNBC YouTube channel has 6.8 million subscribers; FOX News' channel has 11.3 million. If you want to see something from Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow, you can find it right there -- and without having to wade through the rest of the program + 15 minutes of prescription drug ads. Those subscriber counts are on par with or greater than the subscriber counts for top English-speaking non-cable political channels on YouTube (cf. Ben Shapiro with 6.8M, TYT with 5.8M, Brian Tyler Cohen with 2.5M). Long story short -- sure, young people's media use differs from that of older generations -- that goes all the way back to Gutenberg -- but this whole underlying idea that the only news we hear is unreliable social media gossip & innuendo is nothing more than reactionary scaremongering.
Wow. These charts are evidence that education is too important to leave to educators. Busy parents need to understand that the education system, including post-secondary school, competes with, not supplements, their values and beliefs.
No wonder 18-29 yr olds feel that nobody is listening to them. They're unhappy, don't think either party is worth supporting, feel that capitalism has not delivered for them, and as a result don't think America is the best place to live - and your reaction is "they must be indoctrinated at school"??
Right. Because they have no understanding of economics, which leads to poor decision making. And they really do live in the best country in the world. Too many professors undermine their faith in America with postmodern drivel.
Looking just at happiness:
"For the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, happiness has decreased in all age groups, but especially for the young, so much so that the young are now, in 2021-2023, the least happy age group. This is a big change from 2006-2010, when the young were happier than those in the midlife groups, and about as happy as those aged 60 and over."
"[and in] the NANZ countries is loneliness significantly higher for the Millennials than for the Boomers."
Doesn't seem like the root here is poor financial literacy or "postmodern drivel," no?
This is the most affluent generation in history. They have the greatest educational opportunities, a myriad of modern devices that make life easier, and incredible medical care. If they are unhappy, it is likely that they are being talked into believing so. They have been so conditioned to think the world is all about them that they don't even know the greatest source of happiness in life is putting other people first. Indeed, they are victimized by their affluence in that they spend way too much time on devices instead of interacting with people and therefore are lonely.
I am one of these younger people whom you dismiss with such casual and withering contempt (though a Millennial, not a Gen-Zer). For the record, I have a master's degree in economics from an Ivy League institution. In case you're not aware, graduate-level economics departments are anything but "postmodern". Mostly there is just math - lots and lots and lots of math. I'd wager I understand economics at levels you don't even know exist. But I don't really want to talk about that right now.
What I do want to talk about is your attitude and your broader epistemological outlook. Quite frankly, it disgusts me -- and I make a conscious point to feel disgust as seldom as possible, as I feel it's dangerous. You speak in sweeping generalities, you look at nuanced issues in juvenile, simplistic black & white terms more appropriate to my 2yo nephew than to an accomplished man of your generation & stature, and you seem to have failed to construe any possible explanation for *two entire generations* coming of age with middling happiness & the most ambivalent feelings about capitalism in a century than "they must all be brainwashed en masse by woke professors".
I think it is you who has been conditioned to think that the world is all about you. And I think this is reflected in your inability to even begin to genuinely or sincerely try to comprehend why younger people who are *not* you are unhappy and disillusioned. I suggest you follow your own advice: instead of being so judgmental, dismissive, and disdainful, why don't you try putting these younger people you dismiss before yourself, by making an earnest effort to relate to our experiences? As you ironically pointed out yourself, you would indeed be happier for it... but I won't hold my breath.
Bravo, Ryan. Very well stated.
As an important data point. "Generations" are statistical constructs; they don't apply to everyone, or may be anyone, of a particular age. Please don't use this data as a justification for judging anyone.
I find "Politics and Sausage Making's" comments to be sad at best and I am 65 years old.
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#1- Values Gap- this data seems very skewed. As if those 4 values are the only ones that exist? If Gen Z eschews those values, then what DO they value? Where is that data? (looked at the source deck and it is just as skewed- paints a very specific picture of younger generations). It would certainly better explain their unhappiness (which is not likely the result of "being talked into believing so")
Morgan Housel = Brilliant. Could listen to him all day.
"If you tell people what they want to hear, you can be wrong indefinitely without penalty." - sadly 100% true.
This is a great point. While I don't doubt that the response data themselves are being presented faithfully, the questions themselves do seem to lean towards yes/nos on things that older generations tend to value.
Taking a look at the source deck myself, I also noticed I didn't always agree that the presented data implied the subjective conclusions that were drawn (i.e. on the slides with the circled numbers). For example, one of these conclusions was: "(8) Multiple national surveys are showing an unusually low level of interest among the youngest voters in the presidential election." But the supporting data on the next two slides only shows that 18-45 year olds are less likely to be "extremely" interested, and in the 2024 presidential election specifically -- an election, I might add, between the same two octogenarians on whom we already rendered a choice four years ago. Meanwhile, the U.S. Election Project "Voter Turnout by Age" graph shows turnout among the 18-29yo band -- while still lagging behind that of older age groups -- is closing the gap, increasing by an average of 2.6% with each election (vs. 1.1% to 1.6% for the other three bands).
The last several slides of that deck dwell for quite a bit on media use patterns (slides 32-38 are entirely devoted to pearl-clutching about TikTok), but these slides suffer from the same disconnect between data and inference. The implication between the lines seems to be that mainstream media use has "collapsed" (a rather loaded word if you ask me), while younger people are instead now getting their news from stray Facebook comments and 15-second TikTok shorts. But the data do not actually paint this picture at all, as the survey questions only pertain to what media platforms people *use* daily -- for whatever purpose.
And even if we do entertain this premise, just for the sake of argument -- the data still show YouTube beating out other social media platforms for ages 18-49, and by a decent margin. YouTube is not even really a "social media site" in my book. Sure, there is a "Comments" section, where you can have your one-or-two-sentence reaction drowned out by 5,000 other people if you like -- but by & large, the information flows unidirectionally, from whomever makes the video to whoever watches it. Sounds very much like television to me. Top politics YouTubers run their channels full-time, they employ support staff, they have good production values, and they invite guests and experts on to comment... also very much like television. And speaking of television: lest we forget, cable television networks have their own direct presence on YouTube, too! The MSNBC YouTube channel has 6.8 million subscribers; FOX News' channel has 11.3 million. If you want to see something from Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow, you can find it right there -- and without having to wade through the rest of the program + 15 minutes of prescription drug ads. Those subscriber counts are on par with or greater than the subscriber counts for top English-speaking non-cable political channels on YouTube (cf. Ben Shapiro with 6.8M, TYT with 5.8M, Brian Tyler Cohen with 2.5M). Long story short -- sure, young people's media use differs from that of older generations -- that goes all the way back to Gutenberg -- but this whole underlying idea that the only news we hear is unreliable social media gossip & innuendo is nothing more than reactionary scaremongering.
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