The New Greatest Generation: Why Millennials Will Save Us All

In the article, “The New Greatest Generation: Why Millennials Will Save Us All,” by Joel Stein, Stein expresses his views through a complex game of mind control. He secured his audience, the older generations, in the beginning of the article by writing what they want to hear, then switches to the difficult truth, and finally tells the audience that it only mattered how they view change. His claim, “So, yes, we have all that data about narcissism and laziness and entitlement. But a generation's greatness isn't determined by data; it's determined by how they react to the challenges that befall them,” (Stein 34) demonstrates how much he wants to show his audience the difficult truth, and makes them feel sheepish about judging the millennials.
At first, Stein sets up his argument by listing as many facts as he can, trying to establish the picture of the millennials being narcissistic, lazy, and cocky. This is the first part of his plan, by securing the older generation’s attention. Stein gaines the older

generations trust by starting off by ensuring that, “Unlike my parents, my grandparents and my great-grandparents, I have proof.” (Stein 28). Stein doesn't want people to think he is the same as every other blogger or writer complaining about the millennials; he aspires to be someone who does his research and has based his article on facts instead of opinions.
But once he has exhausted all of his facts, and has fully captivated his audience’s attention, he starts to compare himself to the millennials, describing himself with the same words he once used to illustrate the millennials, words like, “ the whole time I was accusing millennials of being lazy, that I was supposed to finish this article nearly a year ago.” (Stein 30) and, “ I started this piece--in which I complain about millennials' narcissism--with the word I” (Stein 30). By proving that Stein, in fact, does not have the right to complain about the millennials, it befuddles the reader, and encouraging them to read further. The reader wants to know why he wrote this article bashing the millennials for the same traits he himself has. And so, they find they can't put the article down, since Stein has dropped this shock onto them.
But when he continues, he now knows he has trapped his audience and drops the biggest shock of all; the hard truth.

His claim, as mentioned in the first paragraph, is that we are being too hard on the millennials and judging them on data, and not on how they react to the challenges they face. He explains about how we are only seeing what we want to see. He expresses this even more when he says, “ Whether you think millennials are the new greatest generation of optimistic entrepreneurs or a group of 80 million people about to implode in a dwarf star of tears when their expectations are unmet depends largely on how you view change.” (Stein 34). This shows that we either see change as bad, or as a way to improve, and this then causes the older generation to either hate the new generation or love them. As a result, it is not what the new generation does that makes the old generation love or hate them. It is really that particular old generation's view on

change.
In conclusion, Joel Stein uses a clever writing plan to capture his audience, and thus prove his claim, “So, yes, we have all that data about narcissism and laziness and entitlement. But a generation's greatness isn't determined by data; it's determined by how they react to the challenges that befall them,” (Stein 34). Stein’s plan was to first capture his audience, the older generation, by telling them what they wanted to hear, then switches to the hard truth, and finally tell the audience that the data doesn't matter, only how they react to change.