I suspect that it's "normal intergenerational gripes" except amplified by our modern super inflammatory media...
It seems like every generation can be viewed as heroic or decadent, depending on which lens you use - the Boomers lived through the Civil Rights mivement, stagflation and the end of the Cold War, but then the hippies ran up enormous debts and turned into greedy 80's business men. Their parents (the "Greatest Generation") survived the Great Depression and turned the US into an economic powerhouse for WW2, but also were horrifically racist and sexist by modern standards. Now Millenials are shifting to this modern world where you need to be hyper educated to get a job, they've been somewhat helicopter-parented (so they have all the anti-fragile problems) but on the other hand they tend to save more, they're better educated and more culturally sensitive...
I appreciate the response, but this is exactly the viewpoint I'm trying to evaluate. Yes, every generation has good/bad. That in no way means that each generational conflict is roughly equivalent. I mean, I don't think MY generation faced this level of hostility and blame from the older generations, so at least one example is subjectively/anecdotally different.
Those are not my recollections. Yes, we GenXers had "oh, what will we do with them" articles, but the tone and acrimony were different, and faded quickly once GenXers hit 30, whereas the Millenials are definitely into their 30s and the tone is only getting more bitter, not less. YMMV, of course.
It seems like every generation can be viewed as heroic or decadent, depending on which lens you use - the Boomers lived through the Civil Rights mivement, stagflation and the end of the Cold War, but then the hippies ran up enormous debts and turned into greedy 80's business men. Their parents (the "Greatest Generation") survived the Great Depression and turned the US into an economic powerhouse for WW2, but also were horrifically racist and sexist by modern standards. Now Millenials are shifting to this modern world where you need to be hyper educated to get a job, they've been somewhat helicopter-parented (so they have all the anti-fragile problems) but on the other hand they tend to save more, they're better educated and more culturally sensitive...