Following is an article I wrote for the Edgewalker Magazine's first edition earlier this year. After an email I received in response to my last post "Playing the Game of Life" I've decided to publish this article on my blog.
Edgewalker Magazine
http://www.edgewalkergroup.com
The Entitled Generation (Issue 1, Jan-Mar 2009)
By: Daniel A. Freeman
The entitlement mentality seen in the rising generation has fallen from my eyes as scales falling from the eyes of the blind. Today the edge of simplicity, of thrift, and of truth, stands before me and I have chosen to engage in its path. Bruce Lee was once quoted to say, "all things run to simplicity." How often do we complicate our lives unnecessarily? How often do we put second things first and let the most important things fall by the wayside? Stephen R. Covey put it best when he said, "do first things first and second things never." When we really engage in those first things first we find that those secondary things seem to fall by the wayside and disappear. How often do we plan the first things first? Doing first things first requires bucking the current trend of the rising generation. They focus on what they need to do to achieve what society calls success. They would skip the first things and skip right on to the trappings of success at the end. What are those first things concerned with? The building of character, of the foundation of success… Living requires work, thrift, patience and mastery... something that is, many times, sadly lacking in a time where emotion and entitlement seem to run the lives of the up and coming generations.
What is it about not only the up and coming generation but about the generation now entering the workforce that leads them to believe they are entitled to everything? What makes them believe they are entitled to all the trappings of success without any effort on their part? This generation could be called the Entitled Generation. As one of this generation I have experienced the emotions and thoughts that come with it first hand, expecting things in my life to be a certain way... to just move and have everything fall into place. To speak and to have doors open. In various areas of life this is more or less true yet there is a tragic flaw in the fundamental philosophy of this new Entitled Generation. They, we, are not entitled to success... but only to the opportunity to succeed.
This is vastly different than the norm in this age and to add emphasis - We are not entitled to success but to the opportunity to succeed. In today's workforce, and the schools of our nation, young men and women feel they are entitled to that which they want now... whatever it is. Recently while speaking with a Producer for the CBS television show 48 Hours he mentioned the difficulties they have at the studio with this rising generation. He complained that after only a few months the employees, even if they are only answering phones, want to be promoted and be given the responsibility of producing shows. This producer repeated many of the things he had heard them say, "Anybody could do it," or "I could do it no problem," and "It's not that hard!" He responded to such comments with a shake of his head, "that may be but you haven't put in the time." He had been working there for over 15 years now and these young men and women felt entitled to his position, one that he earned with his time, energy, and according to his productive talents.
Those of the Entitled Generation have misaligned values and lack empathy, many times, for the needs of others and the effects of their decisions on others. Many times others suffer so that they may have what they are entitled to receive. Having witnessed firsthand, both in my life and in the lives of others, the effects of this self-centered and self-indulgent behavior the effects of it stare us in the face every day.
Success will result only from thrift and character and cannot be handed to us... to this generation. If success is acquired in such a manner it can only result in the utter destruction of its possessor. Time has shown that those who create wealth do so because of who they become in the process of its acquisition. Those who inherit wealth, if they are not taught to work and to become something and someone in the process, will squander it on self-indulgent behaviors and slowly hew down and lay waste to the tree of wealth that has been planted, cultivated, and ultimately handed to them. Wealth is not created from someone deserving something but from something else, not simply doing something, but being something.
Read it twice, even three times, for it is a subtle difference. We do not become successful by what we do alone, but by who we are. This is not to say that we are entitled to success because of who we are. We do not deserve success in and of ourselves. We deserve success only in proportion to the service we can render our fellow men. We acquire success in direct proportion to the philosophies and ideologies we hold in our minds and hearts - for from these philosophies and ideologies stem every action we take on a daily basis. Thus though all things come through our actions they do not come from our actions. They originate on the deeper level of who we are, as it is put in the Arbinger materials, our Way of Being.
To illustrate we can use the example of someone apologizing for something done to you that hurt you, and hurt you on an emotionally deep level. As they apologize you know and can feel that they don't mean it. What happens? Do you forgive them? Of course not... Can you tell whether or not they mean it? Of course you can. Well what does that have to do with anything? It emphasizes a very important point. It is not the action that is important - it is who you are being when you are doing the action. Who we are (our ideologies and philosophies) determines what we do (our actions) and what we do will then determine what we have and the life we experience... but again it is not what we do that is important, but who we are in the process of doing it.
Entitlement is an ideology that has pervaded our nation like a virus, and like most viruses it was not noticed in its initial stages. Now the tide has rushed onward and swept us along. Now here we stand, watching in shocked awe at what is taking place amongst the youth of our nation and in the world today. Where will the world be in 20 or 30 years... as this generation takes power and begins to lead the nation? Those who only consume and never produce… 'We are entitled to it,' is their cry, 'it’s ours and we deserve it.' In response to the question of why they deserve it there is no answer, only more demands. Will such a nation remain a power or will it succeed to another nation? It is reminiscent of the book Atlas Shrugged.
Perhaps there are yet enough of those who work and live and produce that in our lifetime we shall not see this occur but the future lies in our hands. We must teach our children who to be in the world today. So much is focused on what to do and what we must know... yet who are we to be? The world says to "be whatever you please, it is your choice..." and yet our nation was founded by men of principle, of value, of virtues tried and tested over past millennia. They founded a country based on such values and today it seems that there are few who teach them or even possess them such that others can emulate them.
Possessed of virtue, values, and honor the rising generations of this age can go anywhere in life and no matter the course they choose they will remain sure and solid amongst the many vicissitudes of life. Flexibility of life comes from stability of character. Yet, flexibility of character does not lead to stability of life. A foundation must be established before walls can be erected and the walls must be erected before a roof can be raised to cover and protect. Only at this point can furnishings and all the many comforts of life be added without worry as to the destructive power of the wind and rain.
Build the foundation of your character first and aid those in your sphere of influence, especially those of the rising generation, to build their foundations firm. As time continues and they erect the structures of their lives they will bless your name and change the path of the future.
And to those of this rising generation, if you sit thinking that you have no foundation left... that the storms of life have blown it all away and ruined all the trappings of success you had set aside... remember that the sun will always rise with the dawn, when the night is done - but the sun will always rise. Seek help and shelter amidst those of your friends who have built the foundations of their character strong, enlist their help and once the day begins to dawn commence the rebuilding of the structure of your life. Remember to start with the foundation and work up from the ground.
The Entitled Generation may feel entitled to not only the foundation, but the walls, the roof, and a fully furnished life... but this is not the way of life. The foundation must be built first and constructed well. Thus if you would build a large and spacious home you must spend much more time on your foundation that if you would simply build a small cabin in the woods. What kind of life would you live? What kind of person must you be to accomplish the ideals you hold in your mind and the vision you hold in your heart? Where are you now? Begin the journey today and keep in mind that the grander the vision the longer the journey. Be aware that the edge you walk in so doing will set you apart from the crowd, from the thronging masses, who are trying so desperately to belong and deserve. Yet the truth eludes them, they must focus on who they are and not what they deserve. All else will follow.
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