As the incomparable Tomi Lahren once observed—“I mean, I’m a Millennial, so I don’t really like labels”—Millennials don’t really like labels. Come to think of it, what the heck does the label “Millennial” even mean? Is it just a designation for the arbitrary date you happen to be born, some series of historical events that supposedly shaped your worldview, or how you’re perceived by people much, much older than you?
Labels can be impersonal and even pernicious. And yet we are all guilty of labeling people, if only in our minds, into certain groups or subcultures to make sense of the world around us. So what are the limits of generational labeling? In what ways do they help clarify or confuse our understanding of each other? And how did we get into this business of labeling generations in the first place?
Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is joined again by Bob Burch to deconstruct the practice of labeling Millennials and add some clarity to whether it makes sense to think of Millennials as individuals or as part of the generation in which they were born. You’re welcome, Tomi.