Periodically one of the news magazines feels it necessary to roll out another “what’s wrong with these damn lazy kids?” feature and this week, Time targets “twixters” – young people who “will not, or cannot, settle down.”
The Time article has a conservative condescension to it (I know I know, big surprise) that’s even more cynical than the twixters they’re writing about. It admits that “Young people know that their material life will not be better than their parents,” but implicitly berates them for not sucking it up and conforming like everyone else.
“They’re well aware of the fact that they will not work for the same company for the rest of their life,” says Bill Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, a think tank based in Washington. “They don’t think long-term about health care or Social Security. They’re concerned about their careers and immediate gratification.”
Maybe they saw one or both of their parents laid-off and experienced first hand how things really works.
“My problem is I’m really overstimulated by everything,” Galantha says. “I feel there’s too much information out there at all times. There are too many doors, too many people, too much competition.”
And just how many “twixters” are comfortable and well-adjusted with this? Did you interview them?
Marketers have picked up on the fact that twixters on their personal voyages of discovery tend to buy lots of stuff along the way.
Again with the condescension. Sometimes buying lots of stuff is a great way to keep yourself from thinking about how shitty things are.
The situation is analogous to their promiscuous job-hopping behavior—like Goldilocks, they want to find the one that’s just right-but it can give them a cynical, promiscuous vibe too. Arnett is worried that if anything, twixters are too romantic. I’m 47—they looked at it much more practically. I think a lot of people are going to end up being disappointed with the person that’s snoring next to them by the time they’ve been married for a few years and they realize it doesn’t work that way.”
And he’s accusing twixters of being “too cynical?” How about the fact that many of these twixters grew up in broken homes because their parents couldn’t keep their marriages together. Maybe they want something more “romantic” because they don’t want to end up with someone they hate. Maybe twixters realize that relationships are the one thing they can control when much of their life it out of their control.
If twixters are ever going to grow up, they need the means to do it—and they will have to want to. There are joys and satisfactions that come with assuming adult responsibility, though you won’t see them on MTV’s Real World.
Adult responsibility as defined by who? Do all twixters watch The Real World? Do all social scientists now sleep with a copy of Bowling Alone under their pillow?
As a parent of the generation being identified as “twixters”, I am curious of many things. It isn’t that I reject or denounce my son’s choice of mediocrity, its the “give me liberty…but keep the responsiblities that go with it” attitude I can’t understand. Part of freedom is ownership and part of ownership is responsibility. How can they be seperated? I believe in the abilities or this new generation. They are certainly more aware of the negatives in life then I was at their age. They are more seasoned about drugs, sex, relationships and computers then any generation before. Yet, with all these experiences and knowledge, I find for the most part that even the ones who are on a supposed path, are treading water. In a funk, if you would, in regards to how to embrace their adult status. Believe me, I didn’t understand the complexities of adulthood until I was well into my 20’s either, but at least I was always moving forward. Taking chances and trying to live in this society are still with me today as I enter my late 40’s. Its not hard to admit that I sometimes feel overcome with the presures of life. The trick for me is to recognize that it is just that… life. Short of ending it, I have no choice but to live it to the best of my ability. To embrace each problem as a challenge, to continue to create a nurturing enviroment in my community and know that with every day that passes, my life is getting shorter. So why stay in a funk? Why avoid resposibilities? How can these “twixters” want independence, but reject the basics that are life? We all have to eat. We all have a need for human companionship, and as we evolve into adults, we will constantly be faced with plenty of responsiblities. And life goes on…each generation with their own set of issues, of course let’s blame the parents. Its been that way forever. So here is my last question to all of you “twixters”… What are you really afraid of?
While a teenager and young adult, I judged my contemporaries much more harshly for their periodic displays of annoying and repellant behavior than I would now. And similarly, I regard the current crop of 20-somethings much less critically. I have gradually modified my attitude, not because I embrace the endlessly cretinous music, tattoo styles, clothing styles, manners, attitudes towards life and work, philistism, lack of gravitas or what have you.
Rather, at 39 I have begun to realize that it is foolish and a cop-out to criticize “the young generation” for pretty much anything. (Holding individuals accountable for their conduct is another matter altogether.) To do so is to commit a fundamental error of logic: mistaking effect for cause. Put another way, who created the milieu in which “youth” has been reared? Adults set the standards and the tone; children are a blank slate, so blaming them for what you see as aberrant behavior is akin to blaming a dog for jumping on the table after you’ve let him do it for five years. As Mr. Barrus notes, the “twixters” are simply responding to the hand that was dealt with them, be it economic or familial. If we want people to behave as though it were the 1950s, we would have to reconstruct them, and I dare say that’s well-nigh impossible, and, ironically, in part would probably annoy a lot of Republicans:
–uninvent the Pill, and hence make premarital sex unthinkable for all but a small avant-garde
–no AIDS
–no serious drug abuse problem
–Oil at $2 per barrel (about $20 in today’s money, whereas now it’s around $40), with a guaranteed, seemingly unlimited supply
–half the population, thence half the crowding, overdevelopment, etc.
–steadily growing economy with a vastly more egalitarian distribution of wealth (about 10 to 1, meaning that the average executive earns 10 times the average worker, whereas today it can exceed 80 to 1)
–likewise, top marginal tax rates of 70% or more (total Republican heresy, that)
–a plenitude of well-paying blue-collar jobs, many of them unionized (approx. 35%, vs. 11% or so now)
–to go with that, housing prices that probably averaged about double the average annual salary–i.e., the worker makes $3,000 and can buy a nice little house for about $6,000 or a bit more. Today, lots of people in San Diego earn around $30-40,000, but you can’t buy a one-room rat-infested condo in the ghetto for $80,000. That would cost about $350,000; a cheap condo goes for about $450,000, and that nice little house probably about $600,000.
–unchallenged US economic superiority; no “Asian tigers” and no boundless competition from Japan, or even Europe, which was deeply dependent upon us then for both material and military security.
Finally, this posting has made me reflect on how conservative the “mainstream” news outlets have become. It’s quite shocking. Twenty years ago, both Time and Newsweek had no compunction about lambasting Ronald Reagan, Reaganomics, and so forth. Today, with a much more radically conservative regime at the helm (W. makes Nixon and Reagan look like New Dealers–don’t you all regret having been so mean?), these magazines are toadying on an unprecedented scale. The “Man of the Year” article on W last month looked like a Karl Rove press release.
Wir nehmen es ins Arschloch, kein Zweifel.
My friends and I fall into the group that Time now calls Twixters…and we are all happy, responsible people. Some of our group has childre and owns a home while others follow a different path. I think the key element with our generation is “choice” and perhaps more formal education. Knowlege is power, and we understand our power of choice.
I have been on my own since 18…complete with the following ADULT responsibilities:
1. Paying my bills
2. Making it through college with honors (paying my own way)
3. Balancing home and career
4. Taking care of my own physical, emotional, and spiritual needs
5. Maintaining healthy relationships
The list of responsibilities goes on, but these stand out most in my mind. I agree with Chris that this Time magazine article was based on a very SLANTED, conservative view point.
I fully intend to respond to Time magazine, and it’s not very often that I take the time out of my busy scedule to argue with the narrow minded. My “American Dream” is not a house with the white picket fence, 2.5 kids, and a dog. I’d like my daily activites to include more than church, parenting, being a wife, and serving on the PTA.
Thank goodness I live in a time where I have other options! We are an empowered generation, and I think that may breed a certain level of resentment from those who did not have the choices that we have. Yes, there are trials…and I know the “oldsters” generation faced trials of their own. We hear about them enough. I’m not trying to devalue the experience and culture before ours…but I am saying that things are different now.. and it’s not all bad. Some of us are actually HAPPY and moving toward something!!
I do belive that all people should make choices responsibily…but my decision to be different and seek pleasure outside of my “traditional role” does not make me any less “grown up”
Thank you for posting this as I’ve been thinking about it since I read the article.
First of all, I would like to comment on someone else’s post, the one posted on January 24, 2005 09:46 AM. This post begins, “My friends and I fall into the group that Time now calls Twixters…and we are all happy, responsible people.”
I think you misunderstood the category label of “Twixters.” It is my understanding that this group of people lives with their parents, not “on their own,” as you do.
Having lived on your own since you were 18, paying all of your bills and tuition–that’s NOT what a “Twixter” is.
I just wanted to clarify that, because I think you made yourself sound sort of ignorant just because of that mistake. Sorry to be so blunt.
Now, on to my opinion. For the most part, I agree with the Time article. I think that those young persons “loafing” at their parents’ house have just been conditioned to think that they will be “okay”/taken care of. “Spoiled,” if you will. My brother could be called a Twixter, minus the college education. I am 2 years younger than him (I’m 23), and I live on my own and graduate from undergraduate school in May. I will be moving to another state to work and begin grad school in the fall.
Now, my brother and I have made choices. He CHOOSES to continue existing under the protective wings of my parents and not assume any responsibilities. He does not have a job, nor does he really have any work experience. He has never had the life experiences associated with living on one’s own, full-time employment, paying rent, etc. What happens when my parents pass on? What will he do then? They are not helping him any in the long run.
I CHOOSE to live on my own. I chose to initiate my freedom from my parents by moving out of their house. I pay rent, utility bills, etc. I will have a student loan to pay back soon. I can’t learn to mature as an individual if I am still living in my parents’ house when I am 30 years old.
Tell me what you think.
blondy, please fact-check before you tell someone they sound ignorant. the fifth sentence of the article in question reads “They change apartments frequently.” this doesn’t indicate that they live with their parents.
face it, you’re a twixter, too.
I too would probably fall into the “twixter” category of young adults today, but I don’t see why it should be so looked down upon. I’m 20 years old, i attend a Community College and live at home, and i think i’m using my limited resources of money wisely. Young adults today aren’t lazy, trying to figure out what you want to do, where you want to go to school, adjusting to the “real world” isn’t easy when high school hardly prepares you for anything but forming social cliques and learning how to drink without getting in trouble with the law. Our generation is lucky to have so many opportunities and I can’t wait to have a career and a house of my own someday. However, I know there is a lot of things i’d like to know and experience before i settle down, there’s a whole world out there i’d like to see from a twixter’s perspective.
I stumbled onto this site while doing research on “Twixters” and I too feel compelled to throw in my ten cents. I have also read the TIME article that has seemingly prompted this timely discussion. And so far, every posting on this site has made good points. So, here’s mine.
We have to accept the “twixter” group regardless of whether or not we like it or agree with it. The fact that we are even entering into these discussions indicates that this is a real phenonmenon. We feel compelled for good reason. I am 31 years and I although I don’t fit the “TIME” definition of a twixter fully, there is a certain undeniable reality that, I too, am a product of decades of social liberation and affluence. I don’t think that some of the younger readers realize that the whole “twixter” label is more of a tongue-in-cheek expression. What we are really talking about is recognizing a stage in human life which is “Emerging Adulthood”. This stage might be 10 years for some or 12 years for others. It may involve some “adult” responsibility or maybe not, but, just realize that this stage exists. I don’t know about you, but, the keywords that hit home for me when I read the TIME article were: non-committal, freedom and variety. These words manifest differently in all of our lives, but, as a group I think we all agree that these words mean something to us. When I was a child, my parents said that I could do or be anything I wanted to be……and so I am. When my parents were young, my grandparents told my parents that going into the service or working for a large aircraft/aerospace company were the best options. Well, I think our generation knows what happen there and we call bullshit on that! We are smart enough to know that we have more options. We are more aware than ever of the probablity of being sent off to war or getting laid off at an aerospave company.
At the end of the day, we (the children of baby boomers)just has to accept that we are “twixters” on some level and that the title although tongue-in-cheek for some of us means more good than bad. We should feel lucky that we are “Rockin’ in the Free World” (I don’t mean financially free)so to speak and that we have wide-open views of how our world should be. I don’t live off of my parents, but, I don’t deny that they have made my life pretty great by encouraging me to be whatever I want to be.
Embrace the twixter thing, don’t fight it because we are currently a strong group of consumers and moving forward will be the largest group of consumers that allmajor companies will be marketing too. That is a powerful group to be in. We are not leaving anytime soon………we have a lot of school debt to pay for still!
Personally, I hate being a twixter. I feel like I’m drowning in debt (when it’s perfectly normal and not that much debt), cornered into doing menial j-o-b’s with no future, and a moocher. My pride doesn’t allow me to be proud of the current state of affairs, and so while I shun waitress jobs, I still wonder when I will get paid next. I think it’s great we have options, but at the same time, when people have too many options and not enough money, it’s hella depressing. I pray that if/when I ever have children, I won’t place them in the same situation I’m in. When my kid asks how we’re going to pay for college, I’m not going to say “scholarships” and have it end up being purely loans. I’m going to say “with this 529 account I set up for you a week after you were born. Have at it, kid.” Screw being a twixter. I want to be an adult or a child.