A strong aversion to free speech and capitalism? Those are two views held by a significant percentage of millennials. Yet, when CBS This Morning’s Bianna Golodryga on Monday got a chance to find out what the younger generation thinks on important issues, those topics never came up. Co-host Norah O’Donnell explained, “They make up the largest living generation, a bigger generation than Baby Boomers and Generation X. Their money, their attention and their votes are all in big demand.”
Journalist Bianna Golodryga mostly stuck to issues like asking if a group of six millennials agree that their generation is “entitled.” The closest Golodryga got to disdain of freedom of speech came when she gently pressed, “Millennials are overly sensitive and need praise?... Everyone feel like they need a trophy?”
Overly sensitive? That’s an understatement. According to a Pew poll, 40 percent of millennials are okay with censoring speech if the comment is offensive to a minority. Fortune reported that half of this current group of young people favor colleges restricting free speech “in extreme cases.”
The Los Angeles Times summarized this chilling trend:
Pew found that 40% of respondents ages 18-34 said they agreed that offensive statements could be outlawed. By contrast, only 27% of Generation Xers (ages 35-50) said they supported controls on offensive speech. For baby boomers (ages 51-69), the number dropped to 24%.
Regarding capitalism, The Washington Post reported in 2016:
The Harvard University survey, which polled young adults between ages 18 and 29, found that 51 percent of respondents do not support capitalism. Just 42 percent said they support it.
Did any of these topics come up when Golodryga interviewed six millennials? No. Instead, the journalist stuck to “safe” questions such as this one: “Are you more likely to text or e-mail or talk on the phone?”
One would think that a reporter who makes her living based on free speech would be concerned that the younger generation doesn’t seem to respect it. CBS explained that there will be future segments on millennials. Hopefully, the questions will improve.
A partial transcript is below:
CBS This Morning
11/13/17
8:42NORAH O’DONNELL: We’re partnering with digital media company Rfinery 29 this morning for a new series about millennials called My Generation. They're people born between the early '80s and mid-'90s. They make up the largest living generation, a bigger generation than baby Boomer and Generation X. Their money, their attention are all in big demand. Identifying millennials is complicated by a divide within the generation. Their formative years were split by the financial crisis, smart phones and social media. Bianna Golodryga met some millennials to get their reactions to stereotypes about them.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA: Oh, Norah. I felt so old talking to this group of kids. We brought together a group — They're not kids actually. They're adults. They're a group from across the country featuring three millennials 30 to 34 and three younger millennials, ages 23 to 27. We met them at the New York City bar Porch Light to learn what unites and what divides them. There are a lot of stereotypes. Some are true, some not so true about what people say about millennials. I am going to ask you if you agree or disagree. Millennials are entitled.
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GOLODRYGA: Well, you led me into my next question. Millennials are lazy.
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GOLODRYGA: Did you enter the job market before or after the financial crisis?
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GOLODRYGA: And how would you say it’s impacted your financial situation or career?
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GOLODRYGA: How many of you still live with your parents or depend on your parents for financial support?
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GOLODRYGA: Let’s move on. Millennials are overly sensitive and need praise.
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GOLODRYGA: Does everyone feel like they need a trophy?
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LUKE SUCHECKI: Doing a job doesn’t necessarily deserve a pat on the back. I mean, you have a job to do and you did it. It’s not like, “Congratulations, you did it.” You just did it.
GOLODRYGA: Did you enter the job market before or after the financial crisis?
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GOLODRYGA: And how would you say it’s impacted your financial situation or career?
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GOLODRYGA: How many of you still live with your parents or depend on your parents for financial support?
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GOLODRYGA: Let’s move on. Millennials are overly sensitive and need praise.
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GOLODRYGA: Does everyone feel like they need a trophy?
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GOLODRYGA: Are you more likely to text or e-mail or talk on the phone?
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GOLODRYGA: What is your overall perception on younger millennials?
