The Myth Of The Age Of Entitlement

In The Myth of the Age of Entitlement, Cairns peels back the layers of the entitlement myth, exposing its faults and arguing that the majority of millennials are actually disentitled, facing bleak economic prospects and potential ecological disaster.

We are said to be living in the age of entitlement. Scholars and pundits declare that millennials expect special treatment, do whatever they feel like, and think they deserve to have things handed to them. In The Myth of the Age of Entitlement, Cairns peels back the layers of the entitlement myth, exposing its faults and arguing that the majority of millennials are actually disentitled, facing bleak economic prospects and potential ecological disaster. Providing insights from millennials rarely profiled in the mainstream media, Cairns redefines entitlement as a fundamental concept for realizing economic and environmental justice.

In The Myth of the Age of Entitlement, Cairns peels back the layers of the entitlement myth, exposing its faults and arguing that the majority of millennials are actually disentitled, facing bleak economic prospects and potential ecological disaster

The bottom line: Millennials are looking good There’s a lot of consternation about the Millennial generation — Canada’s youngest adults born since the mid-1980s and now reaching their thirties. But the speculation has not been accompanied by sound and comprehensive information — until now. Highly respected sociologist and veteran trend-tracker Reginald W. Bibby teams up with two Gen X colleagues, Joel Thiessen and Monetta Bailey, to provide an up-to-date reading on how Millennials see the world — their values, joys, and concerns; their views of family, sexuality, spirituality, and other Canadians; and their hopes and expectations as they look to the future. What’s more, the authors compare Millennials with Gen Xers, Boomers, and Pre-Boomers. Their conclusion? Canada’s much-criticized Millennials may well be a solid upgrade on previous generations — speaking well for the country’s future.

A major American intellectual and “one of the right’s most gifted and astute journalists” (The New York Times Book Review) makes the historical case that the reforms of the 1960s, reforms intended to make the nation more just and humane, left many Americans feeling alienated, despised, misled—and ready to put an adventurer in the White House. Christopher Caldwell has spent years studying the liberal uprising of the 1960s and its unforeseen consequences and his conclusion is this: even the reforms that Americans love best have come with costs that are staggeringly high—in wealth, freedom, and social stability—and that have been spread unevenly among classes and generations. Caldwell reveals the real political turning points of the past half-century, taking you on a roller-coaster ride through Playboy magazine, affirmative action, CB radio, leveraged buyouts, iPhones, Oxycotin, Black Lives Matter, and internet cookies. In doing so, he shows that attempts to redress the injustices of the past have left Americans living under two different ideas of what it means to play by the rules. Essential, timely, hard to put down, The Age of Entitlement “is an eloquent and bracing book, full of insight” (New York magazine) about how the reforms of the past fifty years gave the country two incompatible political systems—and drove it toward conflict.

In these brief and accessible case studies, Costa Rican millennial leaders draw from global solutions to address local problems, inviting students of these emerging social movements to apply similar strategies to their communities at home.

In 2011, the San Francisco 49ers hosted the Oakland Raiders in a preseason matchup that would become a seminal moment for fan violence. During the game, seventy fans were ejected from the stadium, one person was beaten unconscious in the men’s room, and two men were shot in the parking lot after the game. This is hardly an isolated incident. At any given game, fans get kicked out and arrested for acting out. In the spring of 2014 alone, soccer headlines screamed of a fan killed in Brazil, a supporter who punched a police horse in England, and three fans shot in Italy. But why do fans resort to such violence? What drives them to abandon societal norms and act out in unimaginable ways? Fanaticus: Mischief and Madness in the Modern Sports Fan explores the roots of extreme fanaticism, from organized thuggery to digital hate speech. Justine Gubar divulges outrageous and often shocking incidents, including first-hand accounts from both the transgressors and victims. Gubar reaches back into ancient times, providing a history of fan violence throughout the ages before delving into events of misbehavior, violence, and hatred in the United States and around the world. She revisits several notorious riots and tragedies throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America in order to understand mayhem on a global scale. In addition, Gubar investigates the sports leagues and the security and beverage industries so as to explain the roots of fan misbehavior and to dispel common myths that are often invoked to understand the madness. Featuring original interviews with European football hooligans, rioting college students, stadium security experts, and many others, Fanaticus provides a rare window into what drives human behavior. Together, these voices create the fullest picture of modern fan violence ever written.

"[W]hat happens when your kid--whom you don't recall lavishing with excessive rewards or money--acts entitled, as though everything should be about his wants or her needs? Good news: from any age, you can help your child evolve into a confident and motivated adult who understands that many of the best things in life are earned"--Back cover.