Want to be Generation Why Bother?
Author, Todd Buchholz, and his daughter, Cambridge University student, Victoria Buchholz, make the case in a New York Times op-ed that the Go-Nowhere Generation is upon us. I got kicked in the teeth by law grads everywhere a few weeks ago when I penned it was never a better time for law grads to get a job. I responded to their comments that law grads needed to be persistent and to take chances. It used to be that Americans chased their dreams where ever it required them to go per the Buchholz’.
But sometime in the past 30 years, someone has hit the brakes and Americans — particularly young Americans — have become risk-averse and sedentary. The likelihood of 20-somethings moving to another state has dropped well over 40 percent since the 1980s, according to calculations based on Census Bureau data. The stuck-at-home mentality hits college-educated Americans as well as those without high school degrees. According to the Pew Research Center, the proportion of young adults living at home nearly doubled between 1980 and 2008, before the Great Recession hit. Even bicycle sales are lower now than they were in 2000. Today’s generation is literally going nowhere.
New York Attorney Scott Greenfield, who turned me on to this op-ed, has a few ideas on why the change.
There are so many reasons why this may be, When the world comes to you, maybe there’s no need to go out and see it. Virtual is close enough, and you don’t get your hands dirty. Or maybe you’ve grown into a tub of lard, and lifting your bulk out of the chair and moving is just too much work. Or mommy’s home is just so warm and comfortable, not to mention cheap, and the kitchen elves cook your food while the bedroom elves make your bed.
Being raised an Irish Catholic, a son of salesman, schooled to have a strong sense of history, and a Green Bay Packer fan, I believed the world, for Americans, was all about manifest destiny. We did what it took and went where we needed to go in order to succeed. To win. The Buchholz’s agree.
We are a nation of movers and shakers. Pilgrims leapt onto leaky boats to get here. The Lost Generation chased Hemingway and Gertrude Stein to Paris. The Greatest Generation signed up to ship out to fight Nazis in Germany or the Japanese imperial forces in the Pacific. The ’60s kids joined the Peace Corps.
No more though.
…Generation Y has become Generation Why Bother. The Great Recession and the still weak economy make the trend toward risk aversion worse. Children raised during recessions ultimately take fewer risks with their investments and their jobs. Even when the recession passes, they don’t strive as hard to find new jobs, and they hang on to lousy jobs longer. Research by the economist Lisa B. Kahn of the Yale School of Management shows that those who graduated from college during a poor economy experienced a relative wage loss even 15 years after entering the work force.
Recent grad or practicing lawyer of 15 years, take some chances. It’s what Americans are bred to do. No question I didn’t go far at first. Armed with a license to practice law, I headed to my Wisconsin home town after law school in California, working in Ireland and traveling Europe for a year. I practiced there for 17 years. The opening of a Barnes & Noble filled with inspirational business stories, the Internet, and the counsel of friends and mentors led me to roll the dice and chase a dream. A few bruises later, making less money than as a practicing lawyer, and still with my spouse of 32 years who has never let me forget I robbed her of a hometown filled with friends and relatives, I have no regrets for following destiny. Greenfield offers some sound advice to you if you feel you’ve failed to launch or achieve what you’re capable of.
It’s a big world out there. All those pretty images on your computer screen are of real places. Yes, it’s scary and there are many unknowns. But it’s real and it’s happening as you sit and look at them. Take a chance. Give mom a kiss on the cheek and walk out the door. Your life is out there. Find it.
Go for it. It’s what we do.