By Peter Shanley
What do you plan to do after college? Me, I’m going to take the next available plane to Spain and become a smack dealer. It’s fast cash, baby; cruise the hills of Spain with my buddy Jacob Barnes, fish the rivers and see The Show. I will tell Jacob I feel his pain while visiting the nearest brothel to rid myself of primal urges. But why this, you might ask?
Well, my friends, according to the Time Magazine article “They Just Won’t Grow Up,” by Lev Grossman, we’re a part of a doomed generation. And I’m lost just like all the others. The article states after our departure from college, we will become “twixters,” an ominous moniker marking the phase in our twenties between adolescence and adulthood. We’re not growing up fast enough, not buying into the traditional view of the social contract. The mold is being broken and the alarm has been rung.
“(Twixters) don’t think long-term about health care or Social Security. They’re concerned about their careers and immediate gratification,” said Bill Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, in the article.
Damn straight. Right into the veins; pure heroin and mucho dinero; instant karma and a fine career. Lost, but wealthy and happy. Hop on the wagon because we’re all wandering children.
Grossman reveals that the twixters are pulling apart the fabric that holds our society together. The median age for a woman to get married is 25, compared to the 21 figure of 30 years ago. Rather than settling down after graduation from college, the twixters are drifting around through different jobs, different partners and different lifestyles.
Do you hear that? The universe is suddenly collapsing.
The Big Crunch and we’re all in for the ride. Chaos reigns when the crystal ball tells all. Soon the new fad for the twixters will be sucking on pacifiers and asking mommy and daddy to be fed by the magic airplane. Grossman is right; a total atavistic endeavor is upon us. But how did we get to this point? Can we survive?
This phenomenon is just another way to find oneself. To put together the pieces of the puzzle that rarely, if ever, fit. A generation not attuning itself to the traditional notion of adulthood can be attributed to a myriad of factors. Grossman places it on the economy not providing enough opportunities for work suitable to supporting a family and a culture that fails to properly mold them. While the former is possible, the latter is worthless and is exactly the problem at hand.
Our society overextends itself when structuring the life of adolescents. Parents become obsessed about breeding successful children and place an overwhelming amount of pressure on them. Teachers and guidance counselors follow behind, each giving their advice and plans for their students’ futures. Have to find out where Johnny fits in the Big Scheme.
Without realizing it, most people enter college with a “self” that is cluttered with what other people’s perception of what it should be. No longer is there an individual but rather a collection of the others. After college, they are thrust into a world without structure and for the first time they have a chance to reflect: How much of my life has been dictated to me and how much have I dictated myself? Did I choose the path I’m walking down or was I gently pushed in a general direction from all sides without being aware?
Undoubtedly, this is not the case for every single person. Everyone believes that he/she is an individual. No one wants to be labeled a puppet of society. Though more and more people are becoming individuals later in life, this poses no threat to society. Traditions change through time and the fact that people are finding themselves later in life is fine.
Grossman and others believe more structure is needed early in life. This is false. Throw the adolescents to the wolves and let the strong survive. It’s Darwinian to the bone. Partial structure is healthy, but abundance is stifling. In the end, sometimes you just have to lose yourself to find yourself.
– Peter Shanley is a senior journalism major and a member of The News staff.
