From the Editor

Christian Shepherd, Editor in Chief
/ photo by Kayla Salas

Millennials get a bad rap. According to, well, pretty much every major media organization, we are the heartless murderers of hundreds of industries like chain restaurants and retail stores because we are looking for authentic, responsibly made food and crafts.

We’re stabbing the heart of the real estate industry because we aren’t buying homes as quickly as our predecessors while also putting to rest the idea that regular employment has to mean working from nine to five without feeling any fulfillment.

And don’t forget, in perhaps our most egregious offense to date, we are single-handedly killing the canned tuna fish industry, according to the Wall Street Journal. (In my opinion, this could quite possibly be our most prolific achievement.)

In short, yes, millennials are changing the world — but that doesn’t mean we are doing it in a bad way.

We are also working toward killing antiquated ideals like racism and sexism, pushing for universal social equality for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, gender or sexuality. In my experience, you can ask the vast majority of millennials how their progressive ideologies pair with general Gen-Xers or Baby Boomers, and most will tell you that previous generations are a major obstacle to further progress.

We elect politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who are putting important humanitarian issues front and center and working on bi-partisan bills to end corruption in our government system.

We may be the generation with the most amount of debt, but we are also the most educated, meaning our promise for the future is the most optimistic of any generation before us. While we might be willing to spend $23 on avocado toast at brunch, we are waiting longer to get married and have children to lay
a strong foundation so that we can ensure our long-term fiscal success.

We choose products that are ecologically friendly, and we, more than any generation before us, are seeking out organic food that doesn’t harm the environment. Our search for natural, locally grown foods has given new life to farmer’s markets and other mom-and-pop craft goods businesses.

We disagree on pretty much everything with the older generations, but, then again, generational friction isn’t new. In the end, we all want better lives for ourselves and future generations; we just have different ideas of how to get there. So, we will take our bad rap, with all of the stereotypes that accompany it, and we will keep moving forward in our pursuit of a better world.

In the end, though, despite everything that millennials and older generations disagree on and fight about, there is at least one thing that we can agree on: Generation Z, or the iGen, is the absolute worst. ■