Comments on: TWIF (Part 4): The American Idol Syndrome

By: Jared H

Jared H — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:15:37 +0000

I for one find myself agreeing most with Marci. We can compare and contrast American and Chinese teens all we want, but niether of these groups, in general, is winning any race. No race can be won if none of the racers are running in the right direction.

Ialso feel I must make comment about the post by Kyle Oxford. Casting blame is one of the largest and most dangerous symptoms of the Entitlement Complex. No single gruop of people is at fault for the current state of the world. If anyone is to blame it is either the adversary or humanity as a whole but let us leave that question for the theologians to answer.

By: Rachelle Vargo

Rachelle Vargo — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:33:44 +0000

Wow thanks, that was really insperational and I totally agree! I recently read your book and it’s amazing to find out that my family and myself aren’t the only ones who think this way, I have two older sisters, a younger sister, and a younger brother. We are all homeschooled and us oldest three girls all go to community college (I’m 15, and my two older sisters are 16 and 18). I find it so much easier to resist temptation and keep my eyes on God with having a larger family and alwas having someone around. Our family doesn’t “go” to Church rather we stay home, gather in the living room, listen to an online sermon, discuss that sermon, and either my mom or my dad leads us in worship then leads us in prayer. Reading these entrys has really grown my faith and helped me realize some things. Thank you so much, Rachelle A. Vargo.

By: James Emerald

James Emerald — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:41:37 +0000

After reading all of these comments, I have felt compelled to agree that the “Entitlement Complex” is wild and rampant today. This led me to wonder why this is the case. It seems to me that “Prosperity” in America begets “Ignorance” which begets “Complacency” which eventually drives a wedge between “Pleasure” and “Responsibility.”

Since America is very much a prosperous nation, today’s youth are cradled lovingly in the claws of ignorance. After all, why should any of us worry about anything when worry itself could only rock our boat of prosperity? No, our young citizens have never lived in turmoil, never experienced the stresses of war, so why should they anticipate it now? If you think about it, the greatest war any of our youth have had to endure is the Iraq war which has one of the smallest death tolls in American combat history. Indeed, it is all to simple for youth to be ignorant about the outside world, and therefore complacent about it.

The final step here is to find how complacency can pry apart the pursuit of pleasure and responsibility. While our youth wallow in their TV dinners, they feel an aversion to trying anything new, to being responsible, and even for being competetive. This unhealthy mentality seems to only be perpetuated by a shifting culture which we must fight all the harder as it grows every day. While this disturbs me, both this Entitlement Culture and our Counter Culture are showing their true colors. The only way America can pull herself out of this mess is when our youth open their eyes, sharpen their minds, and choose which side they wish to be a part of.

By: Globality « Confessions of an Undercover Theologian

Globality « Confessions of an Undercover Theologian — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:47:54 +0000

[...] is Flat‘ (see some great thoughts about that book here, or here in four parts 1, 2, 3 and 4) as you might be able to see from this wonderful mindmap by Brandy Agerbeck below, Globality does [...]

By: Steven M.

Steven M. — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:23:51 +0000

“The Entitlement Complex” describes perfectly what I have seen at my high school. Many students seem to think that they can smoke, drink, and nap their way to the top.

By: PC: The Rebelution! - Kunze Effects

PC: The Rebelution! - Kunze Effects — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:14:05 +0000

[...] Rebelution is made up of three fundamental parts. We’ve talked about character and competence. The third is collaboration. It’s not enough for us to be individual exceptions. We have to [...]

By: american idol top 3

american idol top 3 — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:12:34 +0000

for me, american idol this year is much better than the previous one.

By: Taylor

Taylor — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:24:23 +0000

It’s definitely quite disgusting that we Americans can feel such a sense of entitlement to everything without ever feeling entitled to do anything. As a (hopeful) new member of the Rebelution, I’m so glad that you’ve brought this up. I wish that our generation today would wake up and see that you have to sow the seeds and do the tough work in order to reap the harvest.

By: Morgan

Morgan — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:28:42 +0000

I’m kind of in shock. You see, I just started high school this year. I looked around on my first day and saw all these kids with all this stuff, opportunities I never had in middle school, and they didn’t even do their work and try to get a hard-earned grade. The people around us give us what we need to succeed so often, but most kids, in my highschool at least, don’t think they should have to do anything. It could be, in part, the fault of society and their parents (mostly society) but, don’t these people have free will? Can’t they even do what’s put in front of them to do in order to succeed?Thank you for posting this. It was well written and a good read. It really reminded me of that first day in highschool where I decided to take some responsibility and use the tools given to me. And, to be truthful; I believe it has given me, and my friends who joined with me, a better quality experience in this new environment. Once again thanks for posting this, it made me remeber that and my current pursuit of excellence in highschool. Peace out.

By: Kyle Oxford

Kyle Oxford — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:07:48 +0000

I believe there is underlining fault here - the blame is quite misplaced. Rather than seeing was is through such a narrow picture frame, it is necessary to step back and look at the whole picture. Parents are the cause of this. It is the actions, and more importantly the consequences of those irresponsible actions, of generation X (baby boomers) that have placed us (generation y) into a negative predisposition for failure. It is the parenting that has changed, not the kids. I agree that this a problem for myself and the rest of the youth today, just remember to place credit, or should I say fault, where it is due. Unfortunately, regression has not yet subsided as “bubble-wrap” generation doesn’t seem to bring much hope along with it. Point is, teenagers today are a product of the parenting that was bestowed upon us by generation X, AND once, and if, we transcend this predisposition, the multitude of problems our generation will face, will have been caused by our parents as well. Such as global warming, the crashing economy (which be fixed before too long, but I promise, getting creidt, buying a house, getting loans, etc - will not be the same), energy dependence, sub-standard schooling (comparative to other countries), etc, etc.