Almost every time that word is used it’s adjacent to “entitled” or “narcissistic”. As a member of such cohort, I find that insulting.
Obviously, nobody thinks that sort of sweeping statement applies to every member of the two-billion-strong group. But when it’s applied to people like Talia Jane, who lost her barely-living-wage job for writing about her poverty, in a claim of a misplaced sense of entitlement to a wage that let her heat her home, I wonder: is this author merely jealous and afraid?
The nature of work is poised to change dramatically in the next 50 years. The American Dream is predicated on the idea that hard work begets success, which has lead to a fusion of identity between self and job. How often has the first question you ask someone you just met been “what do you do?” And if someone doesn’t have a job, they are considered worthless or lazy.
At some point, we will realise that there are more people than jobs. We really don’t need to employ as many clerks and attendants and supervisors as we do. And our culture will have to adapt to a situation where you don’t have to have a job to be valuable. Where your mere existence is considered worthy.
And that’s what I think Gen X is jealous of.