Generation YOLO: How the Entitlement Mentality Is Ruining Our Culture

From the desk of Kelly:

Lest you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard the youth of our day use the term “YOLO,” an acronym for the phrase, “you only live once.” The maxim caught like wildfire after the Canadian rapper Drake immortalized it in his song, “YOLO (The Motto)” last year. The message of “YOLO” embodies the carefree attitude of no acknowledgement of the future, and doing only what feels good now. It calls for little to no focus on long-term goals or the ramifications of what you do now. There is less of a need for responsibility. The irony is that the youth who have made this their rallying cry are the same generation that is perhaps the most entitled generation this nation has ever seen. This sense of entitlement then, in turn, breeds laziness, as hard work becomes a foreign concept. It should come as no surprise then, that the teens and young adults of this generation go on to become, as conservative author and talk radio host, Jason Mattera, calls them, Obama Zombies.  I’m no zombie connoisseur, but when I think of a zombie, I picture a mindless creature whose only concern is getting what they want at that very moment. They have a one-track mind and they’re not concerned with what happens after they accomplish the task at hand. Oftentimes it seems as though they’ll stop at nothing to get what they’re after. It wouldn’t be a huge stretch to use this description to describe a member of the “YOLO generation.” Imagine said YOLO individual drops their brand new iPhone 5.  OMG! The screen shatters making it impossible to read text messages and tweets, or “like” photos on Instagram. Someone call 911! Priority number one is obviously to get yourself to the nearest Apple store and ask Mommy and Daddy to pay for the repairs. Why? Because my iPhone just broke, DUH! Now, before I go any further, I would just like to state that I am not in any way insinuating that I never acted like a spoiled brat. We likely all have at some point. But there is a difference between going through a phase of immaturity and living with a sense of entitlement. If you are careless and you break something, (something which, by the way, costs a lot of money, which then begs the question, how did you afford it in the first place?) you have to deal with it. If that means saving all of your hard-earned money for weeks on end and using the stone-aged “flip phone” for a while, then so be it.

This concept of the “spoiled child mentality” goes hand in hand with the entitlement state of mind. If an individual grows up always receiving what they want when they ask for it, what makes you think that’s going to change as they get older? Will it stop in high school when he or she fails to study and gets bad grades, so parents have to step in and make excuses or, worse, blame the teacher for the student’s lack of effort and preparation? What about in college, or his or her first job? If you’re fortunate enough to find yourself employed in this economy (and not a part of the Basement Generation) you’ll be in for a rude awakening if you start your first day of work as a freshly graduated baby bird thinking you’re the bald eagle ruling the roost. If you’re constantly worried about what others can and must do for you, you will begin to lose sight of the proper way to treat others. As the Golden Rule goes, “Treat others as you want to be treated.”

I recently read an anecdotal story about a young girl who goes off to college at a prestigious liberal school. While home for winter break, her conservative father asks her how school is going, and she excitedly gushes over all the wonderful things she’s learning about – global warming, the need for higher taxes on the wealthy, more government assistance programs, etc.  When asked about her grades, she proudly boasts that she has earned herself a 4.0 GPA. Then her father asks how her roommate is doing. The daughter informs him that her roommate never studies or goes to class, so she only has 2.0 GPA. Her father responds, “Well, since you’re doing so well, why don’t you give one grade point of yours to her? That way you’ll both have a 3.0 GPA. That sounds fair doesn’t it?” At this, the daughter becomes infuriated (and rightfully so!). After all, as she points out, she’s worked hard for her grades! She’s made sacrifices! It’s not her fault her roommate is lazy and doesn’t go to class. It’s at this point that her wise father points out the irony in his daughter’s thinking. For someone who so adamantly supported liberal policies, when it happens to you, you just might think twice. The entitlement mentality nicely complements liberals’ incessant harping on the idea of “fair share.” What one man works hard for, another man should get a piece of, because after all, it wouldn’t be fair for the hard-working man to be richer. The notion of “fair share” only encourages a subpar work ethic with the rationale being, someone else will do it for me. The genuine desire to work hard to achieve success is dying in our society. We have little to no regard for the value of things or even people for that matter. It all comes back to what is best for oneself. That’s a far cry from the foundation this country began on – hard work, rugged individualism, and the right to reap what one has sown. While it’s true that you only live once (unless you’re Jesus), that doesn’t mean we need to live as if our actions have no consequences. Instead of embracing the carefree entitlement mentality, it’s time we set the example of accountability.