2008 Plain English Speaking Award Finalists' Speeches
Mathew Reiman – Greensborough Secondary College
We are the ‘Me’ generation
It’s all about me. Me, me and, well, me! I thought today I could tell you all about how great I am. Why I am so important. Yes. Me.
Now don’t panic, I am not really going to talk all about me today. But I’m sure you were just thinking ‘Who would do a speech all about themselves?’ Well I will tell you who – people my age, in my generation, the ‘Me’ generation.
The ‘Me’ generation of today is characterised by people not having any sense of duty and only being worried about themselves. They are personified as being selfish, disinterested and lazy. Author Jean M Twenge in her book Generation Me states: ‘Far from being civically oriented, young people born after 1982 are the most narcissistic generation in recent history’. Her study of over 16 000 students between 1982 and 2006 demonstrated that 32% more students in 2006 exhibited ‘elevated narcissism’ than the students in 1982. Jean Twenge believes that society in general fuels the ‘Me’ generation. An example, Time magazine’s 2006 person of the year was declared ‘You’. Twenge also considers advances in technology as fuel for the continued growth of the ‘Me’ generation: ‘By its very name, MySpace encourages attention seeking, as does YouTube, whose slogan is “Broadcast Yourself”’.
On the other hand, some argue that the ‘Me’ generation centres more on ‘being yourself’ and ‘believing in yourself’.
I am sure that that last statement is how most of my generation would feel about themselves. And why not? Of course everyone has the most faith in their own generation. In no way would we want to believe that we are selfish and have no sense of civic duty. But no longer can I say that we are not the ‘Me’ generation.
I want to take you back to 13 February of this year. It should jog your memory as a momentous day for our country. A day where just three simple, yet powerful words, were all that mattered.
‘We say sorry.’
When Prime Minister Kevin Rudd spoke those words he began paving the way to a more united Australia. Older generations ask: ‘Where were you when Diana died?’ and ‘Where were you when man first landed on the moon?’ Well now we can ask: ‘Where were you when Rudd said sorry?’
I remember that day as vividly as if it was yesterday. A large group of students were all sitting in the Drama Room watching the live telecast of the speech. Now I am not an Indigenous Australian and my family has never been affected by the governmental policies that created the Stolen Generations. But I am an Australian who believes in harmony and understanding. As I sat there listening to Kevin Rudd’s apology and his plans for the future, I felt that his plan is something that I, as one of the youth of our nation, must carry out. I felt honoured. As the speech came to a close, and we all stood up and clapped, I felt as if those three words had united not only all of us present in that room, but the whole of Australia.
But there was a black mark on that day. The following comments I quote from my peers killed my faith that my generation was not the ‘Me’ generation:
‘Well that was pointless’
‘Oh I nearly fell asleep’
‘Who cares about Abos anyway?’
‘What a waste of two periods that was!’
I cannot describe the feelings that overcame me as I heard those words. They were formed by people whom I thought had an understanding of the wrongs of the past. Much of what was said was too explicit for me to quote today. Those words were said with such arrogance and sometimes, even hate. To me it was a blight on what the Rudd government was trying to achieve. I thought of the plan for the future that he had outlined and I began to feel disillusionment. How could the plan ever succeed with the people I had just heard leading the way?
As I went home that evening, I had some time to think. For you see my mind was not focused on how I could contribute to the change that Rudd had set in place. Instead my mind drifted to ‘why’? Why did my peers hold no interest for the key moment in history that we had just witnessed that day? Racism was a possibility I thought of, and although it held relevance to what was said, I did not consider it the real issue. And then it hit me, the people who spoke belong to my generation, the ‘Me’ generation.
The actions of my peers on Sorry Day shattered any belief that I had that my generation was not the ‘Me’ generation. Why wouldn’t they be bored when the speech was not about them or directly to them? To my horror, the ‘Me’ generation reasoning made perfect sense. To think that my contemporaries will be remembered as a generation who didn’t care fills me with shame, sadness and a sense of defeat.
That day, I did lose faith in the strength of people my age. But I have not lost hope. To lose hope would be to truly let the ‘Me’ generation win. So to my selfish contemporaries I say watch out. Because everyday I see people who make me second guess whether we really are the ‘Me’ generation. For example, just recently a young girl at my school started the Vision Generation group – a group who are dedicated to fighting world poverty. No one asked her to do it. She did it all by herself and for the good of others.
When I see people who work for the good of everyone, I begin to feel hope that maybe my generation is not the ‘Me’ generation. Because deep down I truly believe that the good of the individual is dependent on the good of the whole.
So to anyone affected by the selfishness of the ‘Me’ generation, I say sorry.
For letting down Kevin Rudd and what he hoped to achieve, I say sorry.
On behalf of the ‘Me’ generation, I say sorry. Sorry for the disrespectful attitude that I saw on Sorry Day because I know that the ‘Me’ generation can become the ‘We’ generation – a generation of people who all work for the good of everyone, not just the good of one.
Thank you.
