Millennials
While no one can agree on the age ranges, by just about any definition I am a millennial. What that means about me, I'm not sure. News articles like to make broad, sweeping generalizations about millennials. Most of these fluff pieces show a real lack of depth and understanding. Sure, all millennials share some similar experiences such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks or entering the workforce during the Great Recession. While we came of age during these events, everyone still has their unique experiences. As much as they'd like to, Boomers can't pigeonhole an entire group of people with labels such as "lazy" or "over-sensitive". Still, this doesn't stop people from trying. I'll try not to fall into the same trap of over-generalizing.
One common theme among millenials is that they can't afford to buy homes. Home ownership is indeed lower among millenials as compared to older generations [1]. Several reasons are thrown around for why this is the case. Millenials have higher student loan debt, which affects mortgage elligibility [2]. The average new home size keeps increasing. Since 1973 the average home size has increased by 1000 square feet[3]. No wonder prices have gone up! And some millenials are just plain rejecting the idea that home ownership is a part of the American Dream. I fall into this last category.
Two years ago I moved to a small midwestern city with affordable home prices. For the first time in my life, I could afford my own home. People at work often asked why I chose "to throw money away renting" or "when was I going to settle down". My answer that I just have no desire to own a home never satisfies them. To me, home ownership means less freedom to travel and pursue my hobbies. I don't want to worry about maintenance and the additional chores. I guess you could say I have commitment issues, but the ability to break a lease at any time and move to a totally new area appeals to me. Lastly, buying a home means I would have to buy more stuff to fill it. This leads me into minimalism and how some millennials are embracing this lifestyle.
Minimalism
Based on my own observations, minimalism has been trending over the last couple of years. The basic idea of minimalism is to live simply, and without a lot of stuff. I think this appeals to some of the people who either cannot afford, or do not want their own home. Without a permanent home, there is much less opportunity to accumulate material things. I see this first hand when I go home to visit my mom. Having lived in the same house for almost 30 years now, she has accumulated a lot of stuff. I actually have to fight the itch to take a car load of it to goodwill every time I'm home. Moving frequently has prevented me from ever starting down the path of accumulation. For my last long distance move, I simply packed everything in my car and took off. I picked up a few pieces of furniture from Craigslist and Ikea when I arrived, and I was set.
For many millennials, I think the minimalist lifestyle ties into their value of "experiences" over "things". When I look at social media, my generation is mainly sharing photos from trips, pictures of fancy meals or selfies at live events. These experiences have become a priority over having a house with the biggest garage or nicest furniture. For my generation, keeping up with the Joneses means attending Burning Man or skiing at Vail, not a white picket fence. The material goods that do appeal to this subset of millennials, generally have a strong narrative behind them and can be expected to last for a long time. Cheap, mass produced goods have little appeal.
The Can Opener
All this leads me to the can opener I just purchased two weeks ago. Over the last few years, I have been in search of the perfect can opener. All I want is something simple and durable. Every store bought can opener I tried would break. I couldn't find a single one that was made with steel that didn't rust or have plastic gears that broke. At last I found a can opener from a Japanese company that had no moving parts, was easy to use and should last a lifetime. Crazy that I had to order all the way from Japan just to get a quality can opener.
Along with minimalist, this can opener can be considered a "buy it for life" product. Most consumer goods these days are designed with planned obsolescence in mind. I have created a buyitforlife tag for this post. I encourage you to use this tag if you have your own buy it for life items to share. I have a lot to say about buy it for life, planned obsolescence and the ill effects of continual cost improvement but I'll save that rant for a later date.
As a designer and architect, I'm all for this. Minimalism has been oddly seen as some sort of aesthetic and high-end lifestyle but I find great merit in shedding ourselves from the unnecessary products pushed on us by advertised society. Great post!
Thank you. Good point about magazines and websites that like to glamorize minimalism as some high-end style. Maybe someday I'll pursue a set-up like that. Living with a roommate currently limits me to keeping just my bedroom that way.
I less to say about terms of 'millennials' (I am Gen X) though good on you for kick'n C's a--! (I recently kicked it this summer, so I get you on this..) Enjoyed your thoughts. I am considered by many of my friends to be somewhat of a "minimalist" by nature. Although, I just consider it 'living small
in a Big World'. I like your #buyitforlife tag. As a semi-retired chef, this is one of my Buy it for Life Items:
Manufactured for me by a blacksmith in Minnesota, who does custom cutlery. I'll have to do a post on it and use your well crafted tag. Steem On!
Thank you and congratulations on your own victory! I spent six months at home getting treatment. Being able to travel for treatment was a big help for me.
That is a beautiful piece. I have a soft spot for handmade goods. Followed and looking forward to your post.
That's great. Thanks for sharing. That's a nice looking tractor! I've always been interested in tiny houses. Some day maybe I'll get to try living in one.
I would love to live in a tiny house, but that wouldn't work with my wife and two boys!
Personally I'm not one to categorize people based on shared traits or differences they share from other people; categorization is pretty much the cause of racism and hate, although I do like the idea of minimalism. I would say that I'm fairly minimalist in nature. I don't really like big fancy houses and nice luxurious cars and all that a simple car and a roof over my head will suffice. I don't need 5 bathrooms and 20 bedrooms if I'm living alone it's an illogical lifestyle. Life is about living so why do we overcomplicate it with all these guidelines of what we should have and what's luxurious and big when a small apartment that offers you freedom will be more than sufficient?
That's an interesting perspective. I've never thought about racism that way. Thanks for reading!
The main idea behind the statement is of we create categories that people fall under we can then judge others more easily and place them into categories either good or bad. If all stopped talking about the differences between people and stopped making categories for people then nobody would fall into any category and we would see people as people not their category. It's my pleasure man, thanks for sharing!
Hey! I just saw this post (my bot voted for it; apparently it has good taste).
I'm at the older end of the millennial generation, and I'm always happy to see someone respectable saying something positive about our generation. :) I love a ton of the things that our generation is doing - you mention a bunch of them. Things like our wholesale rejection of the cookie-cutter manufactured-everything world that we were born into, our need for quality over quantity, and the value we place on craft.
Anyway, just thought I'd drop a little hello. And for what it's worth, I bought my first house at 25 and it didn't tie me down at all. 2 years after I bought it, I quit my job and moved to Colorado just for fun, and didn't get another job until a year later. I was able to rent out the house and never lost a cent on it. Just so you know. ;)
Thank you @biophil. Glad to hear a house didn't tie you down. Maybe that's something I'll have to reconsider for my next move. I'd love to take a year off and travel, but at least for now I'm stuck working due to uncertainties about health care.