According to Generation Theory by Karl Mannheim, millennial is a term that used to describes the generation who was born during 1980–2000. From the social dimension, millennial is the generation on the productive age currently. Millennial is the current driver of this era. The start line of the next generation depends on how and where to the Millennial drive their mind now.
In Indonesia, Millennial is drawn as the instant generation: the generation who want the perfect result effortless. Millennial is drawn as the generation who have many gadgets, focus on social media, spending their time in the coffee shop, spending their middle class salary on the online shop sale and coffee shop. Rather than those perspective, Millennial also has their own sacrifice in this era. As the living creature in the massively growing society, Millennial has their own struggles on their productive age.
modern judgement
Knowledge develops as the technology develops. Since the ITU sets the 3G as the system standard of the third generation cellular in 1998, technology keeps develop massively, shapes the world into the border less world. The developing technology encourages people to find out more knowledge from all over the world, access the researches from all over the world. As technology develops, the people learn a lot terminologies or nomenclatures to value and name many things and circumstances.
In some cases, this growth brings the positive impact to the society. When people listen, watch, or experience the new thing or new circumstances they can relate to they have learned or read, they can more easily analyze what they should do in that situations. They have learned it before, they have understood, and they know how to deal with those things or circumstances. As the army in the war, when the army can recognize their enemies, they can easily defeat their enemies.
In other cases, this growth turns out as the invisible enemies for the current society. Unconsciously, the nomenclature or terminology of the things and circumstances people learned allow people to judge others by other’s things or others’ circumstances. You are called as the narrow minded when you don’t wanna join the clubbing pals. You are called as conservative when you are obedient to your religion. You are called old fashioned when you are still virgin in your 20 something, and [I don’t really understand why] you are called naive when you are more optimistic than others. In Indonesia, this kind of slang [as alay, kamseupay, jablay, etc] is improving every year, allow the society to judge each other.
The nomenclature or terminology turns out to divide the people into some categories. As example: beautiful, handsome, and ugly is a subjective term we use to judge appearance. In this growing society, this terminology divide people into beautiful and handsome category or ugly category. As Rap Monster from BTS quotes, “no one is ugly, we just live in the judgemental society”.
This negative impact becomes a social pressure for the current society, because the more the society know nomenclature or terminology, the more potential for society to judge each other. More ironically, some people treat others by those categorizes. This raises a fear for some people to be classified into the specific category they don’t want to and be treated differently by the society.
border less labeling
Yes, that kind of judgement also has existed in the previous generation, but at that time, we can count the people who labelled us. There is no internet and social media which massively spread the rumor and allow people in other continent to judge us.
I usually watch this social drama in Indonesia Twitter Trending Topic. Almost in every day, we can see the different name in Indonesia Twitter Trending Topic. If we click the name, we will know what things that person has done, and brings him to the Indonesia Twitter Trending Topic. We can see how people who don’t even know that person, judge him in the internet until all people know his name and talking his mistake in their hangout.
modern slavery?
Not only in the unpaid society, the growing society also impacts to the paid society life. Many Millennial who is currently working, only can sleep for 4hours in a day. The power of technology brings a lot of opportunities from all over the world to the company. The company can take opportunity in the midnight provided the employee are still awake.
Yes, the popular perception in the business field since nineteenth century, “first-come, first-served”. The company must act quickly if they don’t want to lose any good opportunity, any clients. The employee becomes the machine of that good opportunity. But rather than cursing it, many Millennial normalize it, trying to live with that culture.
Those are some reasons that urge Millennial to concern about mental health issue, because unconsciously, society becomes more harsh by their knowledge. Yet some people who aware of this issue don’t want to let the generation have an extremely mental breakdown, becomes a victim of their own generation and its culture. Although people said that “society doesn’t matter”, but Millennial know that they need to live in the society, yet it doesn’t mean they have to lose themselves. Balancing their sources in themselves with the standard of the growing society is still important and a need in their era.
In the right proportion, it doesn’t mean Millennial want to be lazy or weak, Millennial is learning to be gentle in that balancing process. Trying to reposition the structure of the society, because growing means changing.
