Generation Y And The Internet
By Rowan Millar

	
Going With The Flow

	As a whole, our generation just goes 
with the flow without much of a unique opinion 
about the internet. Statistically we are very 
wired, logged on, etc., but then that's not an 
organic idea of our own, but the ambition of 
older generations who are encouraging us 
and selling it to us. There's this outlook that 
has become status quo in America which 
looks at a kid without internet connection as 
if they were a starving Ethiopian. Every 
politician wants to basically enforce cyberspace 
upon our generation, and there aren't many 
people voicing opinions to the contrary. 
Certainly Gen Yers aren't. Nobody wants to 
question the supposed internet revolution 
because of the shear force of the thing. 


Steeped In Consumerism and Technology

	In a way, Generation Y was the first 
generation to be fully dragged into the mosh pit 
of consumerism at birth. In the 80's, there were 
whole armies of people whose job was to sell 
things to us. We grew up in the early heyday of 
video games, and for many of us, they were an 
integral part of our daily existence. Thus, we are 
very at home with technology and I think for 
many of us it's been a part of our identity. Video 
games have prepared and groomed us for our 
recent marriage to cyberspace. And our birth 
into consumerism has prepared us as well. 

My Relationship To The Internet

	As much as I basically hate the tech 
industry for it's greed and irresponsibillity, I 
myself have spent a great deal of time with 
computers and the internet. My parents never 
allowed a television in the house, but they 
encouraged me to use our computers. My mom 
has worked in the tech arena for over a decade 
and my dad has for a few years now, and 
computers were looked at as good things in 
my family of course. Once we got internet 
connection, I wasted no time in exploring all 
the ins and outs of it, and I especially have 
spent a lot of time chatting online. I've also 
used the Web to study things, and it has been 
a great tool for that. It definately is an 
interesting technology. 

My Opinion

	My main complaint against the tech 
industry is the environmental impact it has and 
the damage in health that low level employees 
suffer from. Silicon Valley, my home, has the 
most toxic soil in America and most of the 
toxins are from tech plants. This is the area 
John Steinbeck's book, Pastures of Heaven, 
was written about, between the ocean chill of 
San Francisco and the scorching desert further 
south. It has some of the most fertile soil on 
earth. Why have they chosen here, of all places, 
to dump their toxic sludge? I'm not against the 
technology as long as it's handled responsibly, 
but it isn't. 





                
Other columns by Rowan
  
Elections Survey
 Hip Hop, 
And Its Place In The Generational Soup
 THE GENERATION GAP
Among Pirates and Rastas
WTO Protest Has Links With The Past..........