Generation 0
James Poulos, Ed. ·
Jan 27, 2011 at 12:39pm
No, I can't tell either if that's a letter O or a number Zero:
College freshmen are more miserable than they have been in 25 years. That's not an opinion: The New York Times is reporting this, based on new survey of more than 200,000 college students. Here's what you need to know:
- Women have less positive views of their emotional health than men. (Which may make you wonder: Are men happier—or just less realistic.)
- The economy is lousy. (You didn't need the New York Times to tell you that.)
- There's a lot of pressure to get an MBA or PhD (If it's any consolation, you'll soon discover how incredibly mediocre most people with advanced degrees are.)
- College kids take a lot of prescription pills. (Yep.)
- Experts believe you will be less successful than your parents. (Hence, the pills.)
- Guys like sports—and it can be a lot of fun to hit somebody. (I miss college.)
I'm not going to lie to you: It gets worse.
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: Generation 0
I would blame a lot of the misery on the hook-up culture. In previous generations, college students actually dated and even hoped to meet their future life-mate. Now, it seems to be little more than drunken, empty debauchery - hardly a prescription for happiness.
Jul '10
Re: Generation 0
There is no question that life is dismal for those seeking to remain in the blue zone. High taxes, business-hostile aparatchiks, dreadfully depressing government anti-merit work environments where no one has been fired since before Cain slew Abel.
Time to move to civilization, boys and girls. Look up the states that are hiring, that have job growth, that have lower payroll taxes. And as you adjust to your new surroundings, be prepared to jetison some of that cultural bagage. Start with that sense of entitlement, and the identity politics thing. Do you really agree on policy based on the color, gender, or accent of the person promoting the policy? If so, you may be a bigot, and need to work on that to fit in among people who work for a living.
Experts believe that your current town, and nation, have mindlessly and recklessly spent themselves into oblivion, and their solution is to suck those of you too stupid to move someplace smarter dry to pay for the retirement of the people who engineered this debacle. Hence the pills.
You won't miss the museums and theater nearly as much as you think.
Edited on Jan 27, 2011 at 1:05pmMay '10
Re: Generation 0
The difference between people with MBAs & people without them is that the people without them imagine that an MBA will enhance their earnings, make it easier to get a job, give them a competitive edge, make their teeth whiter and brighter and get them "in" with all the popular kids. People with MBAs know better.
Jul '10
Re: Generation 0
To the rank and file liberal arts major, college is kindergarten but with a driver's license. The workload is minimal, the classes are all mushy feel good claptrap, and your future prospects are dismal because you're in a mushy, feel good major. What I dont understand is how these same miserable students think their misery will somehow diminish with more letters after their names. At what point do you leave the womb of education, get a real job outside of academia and just learn about life? And yes, mediocre is a bit too kind of a word to describe most of the PhDs I have met over the years.
May '10
Re: Generation 0
Isn't the answer obvious?
Jul '10
Re: Generation 0
If the college guys are less miserable it's because they get free milk without having to buy the cow. No commitment, no responsibility, no problem.