I don’t know about you all, but my Dad would often say things along the line like: “Haiya, you kids these days don’t understand hardship.” Or “Do you know how privileged you kids are ah? Last time…” I mean, he still does it every now and then, but in my early teens, listening to it was annoying. Now, as I’ll soon transition into my early 20s (Well, that's next year), I have come to terms with it, sitting there quietly as he babbles away the same content because he’s right.
My generation are privileged people. In fact, we are so privileged to the point that we hardly appreciate it or even notice others who are not. I don't mean all of us, just a vast majority I’ve seen on the Internet and real life.
That’s why we've been described as the “Snowflake Generation”
The Snowflake Generation
I first learnt this term when I was in a Social Psychology lecture. It was part of the topic concerning “The Self” and I guess my lecturer wanted us to understand this general characterisation and find a connection with our personal self.
The term sounds cool, but it's called that way because every snowflake is different and unique. There’s never one that’s alike. My generation, your generation, our generation feel that we are special people, so we believe that we should also be treated special too. That’s why we have been implied as “having an inflated sense of uniqueness". So, when we don’t get worshipped like the Gods, we get an unwarranted sense of entitlement, or become overly emotional, easily offended and unable to deal with opposing opinions”.
Basically, with these characteristics, it’s trying to say that we think we’re cool enough to do whatever we want. It does sort of sum up as being whiny privileged immature kids. I’ll admit, I’m part of the Snowflake Generation and I carry two or three of those traits.
I had a school mate who was a Prefect like me, but she had difficulties in being punctual. Prefects were required to be in school by 7 am. Sometimes, she could be so late that she’d arrive later than the stipulated official school time of 7.20 am. She even had poor attendance.
At first, none of us understood her. It turned out that her parents often left for work very early, and sometimes, she had to care for her siblings who fell sick and such. Morever, my school mate wasn't so well off either. These are such circumstances we are ignorant of because unlike her, people like me had the luxury of parents able to fetch us to school on time and pick us up. People like us even have free time to hang with friends in shopping malls or cafe hopping.
But no one wants to feel ashamed of what they have. Let alone when it comes to acknowledging our privileges. That’s why it’s so hard to talk about it without anyone becoming defensive.
The Problem With Us
XXX Retweets Post on Poor Kampung Girl with Straight As for SPM:
Somebody pls HELP this girl to apply for scholarships. She really deserves it more than those anak dato with straight As in SBP.
YYY Replies: Jadi, anak dato tak bagi effort untuk dpat straight As la ke? Guna discount xleh ke? Guna promo xleh jugak ke?
An issue with Snowflake Generation is that, some of us don't realise that others do not have it easy like them. That's why in the US, there's the famous term called "check your privilege".
- Sam Dylan Finch, everydayfeminism.com
No one is denying a Dato's child or rich kid's efforts to getting straight As, or having a successful career, but they have received an extra boost in getting to where they want. Meanwhile, someone poor will need to work twice as hard to get to the same level as a rich kid. Privilege isn’t always about those born rich or into royalty. It’s the matter on being given a help or two while other people aren’t receiving any.
However, I'm not saying the rich is the only privileged group of people around here. Everyone else carries around some kind of privilege, just that it is all on different levels.
For example, I come from a middle class family. I've always had food on the table, will be attending a private university, went for tuition during my years in government school and etcetera. Yes, my family has run into financial struggles before, but I understand it is nowhere in comparison to a kampung girl whose father needs to go for frequent dialysis treatment, causing the mother to take on two jobs.
It is our responsibility to acknowledge the differences and think critically about it.
At the same time, there is that growing unwarranted sense of entitlement. Some people in the Snowflake Generation feel okay with being privileged. Yeah, it is okay, but it's the mentality of"So what? What's mine is mine." They feel deserving of it and shouldn't be denied of any opportunities. So, they become unbothered by other people's lacking and have-not(s).
Conclusion
“You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We're all part of the same compost heap. We're all singing, all dancing crap of the world.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
In TheMingThing’s The Takeaway Table Podcast #40 with Mei Ling, they tell us that when we begin entering the real world, we come in a bubble made from the constant glorifying and sheltering. And there are also other people coming in with their own bubbles. So, esentially, everyone is going to hit against one another. Eventually, ours will explode, and theirs will explode.
Of course, we can't stop the bubble from forming. I mean, we could, but that's a different role all together. All we can do is try to get out of that bubble.
Although The Snowflake Generation is wrapped around in negative traits, you got the admit that this generation is indeed unique...unique to observe, dissect and understand whether by other people or by ourselves.
Until my next post, see ya. Peace out.
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