The Next Greatest Generation: Why Millennials Will Save Us All By Joel Stein

Joel Stein, a celebrated Times Magazine writer of the article, “The Next Greatest Generation: Why Millennials Will Save Us All”. Stein’s article was to influence the people before the millennial generation that millennials are just like the generations before them because they grew up with the same establishment, both were rebellious teens, and both were prejudged before they were able to create their success. However, Stein does not easily give the millennials their recognition. While Stein attempts to use statistical data to prove that millennials are the greatest generation, his argument is unsuccessful because he uses stereotypes and offensive humor. In the beginning of his argument, he fails to use data that supports how great the millennials
In the article, Stein replies, “Poor millennials have even higher rates of narcissism, materialism and technology addiction in their ghetto fabulous lives” (28). To elucidate, although Joel Stein may be speaking from statistical evidence, he still hammers the millennial generation and is still viewed as pro­x. Stein makes a strategical error because it makes millennials look less ambitious. Joel Stein also gives the millennials an offensive name, “ghetto fabulous.” No matter how much the article’s point may change later on, Stein’s strategy is still unsuccessful because it made many readers doubt his work and credibility. Further into the article, Stein writes, “More people ages 18 to 29 live with their parents than with a spouse, according to the 2012 Clark University Poll of Emerging Adults. And they are lazy” (Stein 28). Although Stein uses more statistical data, his strategy of poor word choice while concluding his evidence costed him the loss of readers. Another example of Stein’s word choice, the author replies, “Millennials got so many participation trophies growing up that a recent study showed that 40% believe they should be promoted every two years, regardless of performance. They are fame­obsessed” (Stein 28). To clarify, Joel Stein began his article with negative comments toward the
That only credible information for millennials are quotes given by well­ respected academics. According to Gary Stiteler, an Army recruiter interviewed by Joel Stein, “The generation that we enlisted when I first started recruiting was sort of do, do, do. This generation is think, think about before you do it” he says. “This generation is three to four steps ahead” (qtd. in Stein 32). After reviewing the article, one can easily realize the few examples of praising for the millennials. However, there is a surplus of praise for Generation X throughout the entire front page of the article that is front loaded with statistical data. Instead, Stein uses statistics as written, “58% more college students scored higher on a narcissism scale in 2009 than in 1982” (Stein 28). To inform the reader, that statement is used by Joel Stein from the National Institutes of Health. To clarify, Joel Stein is not feeding his audience any facts that praise the millennial generation for their hard work but only uses quotes from well­respected academics which gives his article an unbalance of factual data. Also, the millennial generation at its youngest age is only eighteen, so there is still plenty of room for