What's the root cause of this generation's...douchey-ness?

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**Dreadclaw69**

hotsauceman1 wrote:
I forget, Who is Gen Y and who is Gen X?

Here you go

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X

The term "Generation X" was coined by the Magnum photographer Robert Capa in the early 1950s. He used it later as a title for a photo-essay about young men and women growing up immediately after the Second World War. The project first appeared in "Picture Post" (UK) and "Holiday" (US) in 1953. Describing his intention, Capa said 'We named this unknown generation, The Generation X, and even in our first enthusiasm we realised that we had something far bigger than our talents and pockets could cope with.' [2]

The term was popularized by Canadian author Douglas Coupland's 1991 novel, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, concerning young adults during the late 1980s and their lifestyles. While Coupland's book helped to popularize the phrase "Generation X," in a 1989 magazine article [3] he erroneously attributed the term to English rock musician Billy Idol.[4][5] In fact, Idol had been a member of the punk band Generation X from 1976–1981, which was named after Deverson and Hamblett's 1965 sociology book Generation X[6]—a copy of which was owned by Idol's mother.[7]
Characteristics and Definition

Gen X is the generation born after the Western post-World War II baby boom describing a generational change from the later Baby Boomer cohort who were born in the late 1950s.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

Gen Xers have cultural perspectives and political experiences that were shaped by a series of events. These include post-assassination of John F. Kennedy government and culture, the Vietnam War, Watergate, the presidency of Jimmy Carter, Pope John Paul II, the presidency of Ronald Reagan, the 1984 Summer Olympics, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the Chernobyl disaster, Black Monday, the election of George H.W. Bush, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent end of the Cold War, the launch of the Hubble Telescope, the savings and loan crisis,[15] the election of Bill Clinton, the release of Nelson Mandella and the 1990s economic boom, the longest recorded expansion of GDP in the history of the United States. Other events include the Iran hostage crisis, the AIDS epidemic, the War on Drugs, the Persian Gulf War, the rise of the internet and the Dot-com bubble.

In a 2012 article for the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, George Masnick wrote that the "Census counted 82.1 million" Gen Xers in the U.S. The Harvard Center uses 1965 to 1984 to define Gen X so that Boomers, Xers and Millennials "cover equal 20-year age spans". [16] Masnick concluded that immigration has filled in any birth year deficits during low fertility years of the late 1960s and early 1970s [17]

Jon Miller at the Longitudinal Study of American Youth at the University of Michigan estimates that in 2011 "Generation X refers to adults now 30 to 50 years of age" and "includes 84 million people" in the U.S. [18]

In 2012, the Corporation for National and Community Service ranked Generation X volunteer rates in the U.S. at 29.4% per year, the highest compared with other generations. The rankings were based on a three-year moving average between 2009 and 2011.[19][20]

In the preface to Generation X Goes Global: Mapping a Youth Culture in Motion, a collection of global essays, Professor Christine Henseler summarizes it as "a generation whose worldview is based on change, on the need to combat corruption, dictatorships, abuse, AIDS, a generation in search of human dignity and individual freedom, the need for stability, love, tolerance, and human rights for all."[21]

In American cinema, directors Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh,[22] Kevin Smith,[23] Richard Linklater[24] and Todd Solondz[25] have been called Generation X filmmakers. Smith is most known for his View Askewniverse films, the flagship film being Clerks, which focused on a pair of bored, twenty-something convenience store clerks in New Jersey circa 1994. Linklater's Slacker similarly explored young adult characters who were more interested in philosophizing than settling with a long-term career and family. Solondz' Welcome to the Dollhouse touched upon themes of school bullying, school violence, teen drug use, peer pressure and broken or dysfunctional families, mostly set in a junior high school environment in New Jersey during the early to mid-1990s.[26]

Gen Xers were often called the MTV Generation.[27] They experienced the emergence of new wave music, electronic music, synthpop, glam metal, pop punk, alternative rock, grunge,[28]rap music and hip hop.[29][30]

Compared with previous generations, Generation X represents a more apparently heterogeneous generation, openly acknowledging and embracing social diversity in terms of such characteristics as race, class, religion, ethnicity, culture, language, gender identity, and sexual orientation.[27]

Unlike their parents who challenged leaders with an intent to replace them, Gen Xers have a less prominent tendency to idolize leaders and a greater tendency to work toward long-term institutional and systematic change through economic, media and consumer actions.[31]

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that Generation X statistically holds the highest education levels when looking at current age groups: U.S. Census Bureau, in their 2009 Statistical Abstract.

The 2011 publication "The Generation X Report", based on annual surveys used in the Longitudinal Study of today's adults, finds that Gen Xers, who are defined in the report as people born between 1961 and 1981, are highly educated, active, balanced, happy and family-oriented. The study dispels the materialistic, slacker, disenfranchised stereotype associated with youth in the 1970 and 80s.[32] Various questions and responses from approximately 4,000 people who were surveyed each year from 1987 through 2010 made up the study.[33]

Pursuant to a study by Elwood Carlson on "how different generations respond in unique ways to common problems in some political, social, and consumption choices", the Population Reference Bureau, a private demographic research organization based in Washington, D.C., cited Generation X birth years as falling between 1965-1982.[34] On the first page of the study, authors William Strauss and Neil Howe's definition of a "cohort generation" is cited.[34] They define Generation X by the years 1961 to 1981.[35]

In 2008, Details magazine editor-at-large Jeff Gordinier released his book X Saves the World -- How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Y

The phrase Generation Y first appeared in an August 1993 Ad Age editorial to describe teenagers of the day, which they defined as different from Generation X, and then aged 12 or younger as well as the teenagers of the upcoming ten years.[2] Since then, the company has sometimes used 1982 as the starting birth year for this generation.[3] "Generation Y" alludes to a succession from "Generation X."

Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe wrote about the Millennials in Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 in 1991.[4] In 2000, they released an entire book devoted to them, titled Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation.[5] According to Bruce Horovitz writing in USA Today Strauss and Howe are "widely credited with naming the Millennials".[1] Strauss and Howe use 1982 as the Millennials' starting birth year and 2004 as the last birth year.[6]

Several alternative names have been proposed by various people: Generation We, Global Generation, Generation Next,[7] and the Net Generation.[8]

Millennials are sometimes called Echo Boomers,[9] referring to the generation's size relative to the Baby Boomer generation,[10] and due to the significant increase in birth rates during the 1980s and into the 1990s. In America, birth rates peaked in 1990[11][12][13][14] and a 20th century trend toward smaller families in developed countries continued.[15][16]

In Australia, there is debate over Millennial birth dates. It is generally accepted, however, that the first Millennials were born in 1983. The Australian Bureau of Statistics, use 1983–2000.[17][18][19][20]

In Canada, 1983 is generally thought to be the starting birth year for Generation Y, ending in 1999 or 2000, even as late as 2004.[21][22]

Like members of Generation X, who were heavily influenced by MTV, early members of Generation Y are also sometimes called the MTV Generation.[23][24][25]

Newsweek has used the term Generation 9/11 to refer to young people who were between the ages of 10 and 20 on September 11, 2001.[26] The first reference to "Generation 9/11" was made in the cover story of the November 12, 2001 issue of Newsweek Magazine. This could be considered a sub-group in Generation Y.
Traits and values

Jean Twenge, the author of the 2006 book Generation Me, considers Millennials along with younger Gen Xers to be part of what she calls "Generation Me".[27] Twenge attributes confidence and tolerance to the Millennials but also a sense of entitlement and narcissism based on personality surveys that showed increasing narcissism among Millennials compared to preceding generations when they were teens and in their twenties. She questions the predictions of Strauss & Howe that this generation will come out civic-minded, citing the fact that when the War on Iraq began military enlistments went down instead.[28]

Strauss & Howe believe that each generation has common characteristics that give it a specific character, with four basic generational archetypes, repeating in a cycle. According to their theory, they predicted Millennials will become more like the "civic-minded" G.I. generation with a strong sense of community both local and global.[29] Strauss and Howe's research has been influential, but also has critics.[30] (See Anonymous for proof of strong sense of community and civic duty)

William A. Draves and Julie Coates, authors of Nine Shift: Work, Life and Education in the 21st Century, write that Millennials have distinctly different behaviors, values and attitudes from previous generations as a response to the technological and economic implications of the Internet.

Surveys by the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future study of high school seniors (conducted continuously since 1975) and the American Freshman survey, conducted by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute of entering college students since 1966 showed the proportion of students who said being wealthy was very important to them increased from 45% for Baby Boomers (surveyed between 1967 and 1985) to 70% for Gen X and 75% for Millennials. The percentage who said it was important to keep up to date with political affairs fell, from 50% for Boomers to 39% for Gen X and 35% for Millennials.

"Developing a meaningful philosophy of life" decreased the most, across generations, from 73% for Boomers to 45% for Millennials. "Becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment" dropped from 33% for Boomers to 21% for Millennials.[31]

Fred Bonner, a Samuel DeWitt Proctor Chair in Education at Rutgers University and author of Millennial Students in College: Implications for Faculty and Student Affairs, believes that much of the commentary on the Millennial Generation may be partially accurate, but overly general and that many of the traits they describe apply primarily to "white, affluent teenagers who accomplish great things as they grow up in the suburbs, who confront anxiety when applying to super-selective colleges, and who multitask with ease as their helicopter parents hover reassuringly above them." Other socio-economic groups often do not display the same attributes commonly attributed to Generation Y. During class discussions, he has listened to black and Hispanic students describe how some or all of the so-called seven core traits did not apply to them. They often say the "special" trait, in particular, is unrecognizable. "It's not that many diverse parents don't want to treat their kids as special," he says, "but they often don't have the social and cultural capital, the time and resources, to do that."[32]

In 2008 author Ron Alsop called Millennials "Trophy Kids,"[33] a term that reflects the trend in competitive sports, as well as many other aspects of life, where mere participation is frequently enough for a reward. It has been reported that this is an issue in corporate environments.[33] Some employers are concerned that Millennials have too great expectations from the workplace.[34] Studies predict that Generation Y will switch jobs frequently, holding many more jobs than Generation X due to their great expectations.[35]

Millennial characteristics vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions. There's a marked increase in use and familiarity with communication, media, and digital technologies. In most parts of the world its upbringing was marked by an increase in a neoliberal approach to politics and economics; the effects of this environment are disputed.

**Fafnir**

Bullockist wrote:
According to my sister, Gen Y are people who....

Have the attention span of gnats.
Can't decide their own way of doing things if given a choice.
Fail to listen.
Have an overly self centric world view , and last but not least
Have a high chance of killing someone through negligence , and when it is brought up to them , act like they are the victim.

My grandfather has the attention span of a gnat.
My grandfather, despite always having an opinion on everything, can't really form his own and takes them from the ultraconservative talking heads.
My grandfather will never listen to any argument or ideas that differ from his own.
My grandfather has a ridiculously self centric world view, and last but not least,
I'd be willing to bet that he's killed someone through negligence, and he certainly does consider himself to be the victim.

So is my grandfather part of generation Y?

**Cheesecat**

Bromsy wrote:
Cheesecat wrote:
Bromsy wrote:
It was an issue with my generation, and I can't imagine it's gotten better - lack of fear. You aren't polite to people because Ms Manners taught you to be, you are polite to people because you can't always pick out the person at the end of their rope, about to snap. Civilization exists because of properly harnessed fear, and we are busily training people out of feeling it.

I agree the USSR and Nazi Germany were such better places to live in because of all that fear.

Went straight for Godwin eh? No, that is not at all what I was talking about. I'm talking about individually being aware of how easily the world can reach up and smack you down. People are more and more being taught that their negative actions won't have consequences - from anonymity on the internet allowing you to say the most vile things to people, to parents treating their little gaks with the softest of kid gloves. Eventually this all starts to create a sense in people that they are safe from repercussions of their deeds, and indeed just safe in general.

There's plenty of consequences, a person is unlikely to be hired if the he/she is rude for example, eventually one makes enough mistakes that they'll clue in at some point. Yeah, my Godwin thing was a little extreme it just I feel you can at times make things work by being likeable or

respectful toward one and another and explaining why something is right or wrong rather than just using cheap fear tactics, plus I just don't feel a society built on fear is a good thing as it can damage one's confidence or ambitions or even much worse (such as racism, homophobia, etc).

**motyak**

Fafnir wrote:
Bullockist wrote:
According to my sister, Gen Y are people who....

Have the attention span of gnats.
Can't decide their own way of doing things if given a choice.
Fail to listen.
Have an overly self centric world view , and last but not least
Have a high chance of killing someone through negligence , and when it is brought up to them , act like they are the victim.

My grandfather has the attention span of a gnat.
My grandfather, despite always having an opinion on everything, can't really form his own and takes them from the ultraconservative talking heads.
My grandfather will never listen to any argument or ideas that differ from his own.
My grandfather has a ridiculously self centric world view, and last but not least,
I'd be willing to bet that he's killed someone through negligence, and he certainly does consider himself to be the victim.

So is my grandfather part of generation Y?

No but you can near guarantee that nurses who've been working for any significant length of time will dislike him. With some very rare exceptions, they are the single most bitter work force I have ever come across. It's like they go into the job wanting to help people, and that just gets eroded by the administration of a private hospital/state health system/union forcing them to jump through unnecessary hoops and do useless things until all they are left with is a seething dislike of humanity.

There are some lovely ones, I worked with an ancient old lady in theatre and she was (almost) always cheery, but they are exceptions to the rule.

**Frazzled**

hotsauceman1 wrote:
I blame the lack of religion.
People just don't sacrifice virgins to the volcano god like they used to.

Well, its really hard to find a virgin nowdays.

**LoneLictor**

Frazzled wrote:
hotsauceman1 wrote:
I blame the lack of religion.
People just don't sacrifice virgins to the volcano god like they used to.

Well, its really hard to find a virgin nowdays.

And the virgins we can find just aren't good for sacrifices.

Who wants to sacrifice a three hundred pound man covered with acne and rashes, with a beard encrusted with Mountain Dew and cheeto dust?

**daedalus**

Frazzled wrote:
hotsauceman1 wrote:
I blame the lack of religion.
People just don't sacrifice virgins to the volcano god like they used to.

Well, its really hard to find a virgin nowdays.

Oops. Sorry.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Bullockist wrote:
According to my sister, Gen Y are people who....

Have the attention span of gnats.
Can't decide their own way of doing things if given a choice.
Fail to listen.
Have an overly self centric world view , and last but not least
Have a high chance of killing someone through negligence , and when it is brought up to them , act like they are the victim.

Actually, that sounds like most baby boomers.

/'84

**rubiksnoob**

daedalus wrote:
Frazzled wrote:
hotsauceman1 wrote:
I blame the lack of religion.
People just don't sacrifice virgins to the volcano god like they used to.

Well, its really hard to find a virgin nowdays.

Oops. Sorry.

Well played, sir.

**Jihadin**

Lack of commitment.

**Zathras**

djones520 wrote:
MrDwhitey wrote:
Every generation complains about the next generation.

And the previous one.

And anything. Ever.

But what previous generation gave us Justien Beiber?

Huh?! HUH?!?!?!

New Kids on the Block & Menudo were the Beibers of the last generation.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kilkrazy wrote:
Being young.

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

Socrates, c.400BC.

Socrates was also quoted as saying "I drank what?"

**Bullockist**

Zathras wrote:

New Kids on the Block & Menudo were the Beibers of the last generation.

Socrates was also quoted as saying "I drank what?"

You forgot Rick Astley

**caledoneus**

Well, when I was growing up, if I had acted like lots of kids do now, my daddy would have locked me in a nerve hold until I decided it was a bad idea, and then expected me to figure out not to do it again. Now a days, if you spank your child you very likely go to jail for it..... just sayin

**Bullockist**

caledoneus wrote:
Well, when I was growing up, if I had acted like lots of kids do now, my daddy would have locked me in a nerve hold until I decided it was a bad idea, and then expected me to figure out not to do it again. Now a days, if you spank your child you very likely go to jail for it..... just sayin

I was on the receiving end of a few wrist locks when i was younger. On the plus side, some punk that worked for me once tried to put a wristlock on me and I laughed at him whilst he looked at me in disbelief. Thanks dad!

**LoneLictor**

caledoneus wrote:
Well, when I was growing up, if I had acted like lots of kids do now, my daddy would have locked me in a nerve hold until I decided it was a bad idea, and then expected me to figure out not to do it again. Now a days, if you spank your child you very likely go to jail for it..... just sayin

As it turns out, spanking isn't as good for kids as it seems.

**Jihadin**

LOL I'm not talking about beating one within an inch of ones life. 3 good whacks with the belt, 4-5 hits with the switch across the butt. To get the point across. That was then. I smash the PS3 and the Xbox 360 because I own them nor did I care. Rather get god grades or score high on some video game? What's important in life? Good grades or is that now so old school? Has Jersey Shore talking over mainstream teens?

**daedalus**

Bullockist wrote:
Zathras wrote:

New Kids on the Block & Menudo were the Beibers of the last generation.

Socrates was also quoted as saying "I drank what?"

You forgot Rick Astley

THEY might have forgotten him, but HE'S never gonna give them up...

**Bullockist**

LoneLictor wrote:
caledoneus wrote:
Well, when I was growing up, if I had acted like lots of kids do now, my daddy would have locked me in a nerve hold until I decided it was a bad idea, and then expected me to figure out not to do it again. Now a days, if you spank your child you very likely go to jail for it..... just sayin

As it turns out, spanking isn't as good for kids as it seems.

That study, does it take into account that those with "less progressive" parenting ideals may have lower IQs than those have more progressive?

**Jihadin**

Now we're letting music define our generation? I say 80"s and 90"s define our generation (42 now) MTV started, Long Hair Bands, Rock an Roll...Def Leapard. Quiet Riot, Skid Row, Paul McCartney, Queenryche, BenBivDevoe, Garth Brooke, and Queen Latifa...lets not forget Madonna and Cher. Just to name a few. Also Park Football was the rage. Pickup Base Ball, BMX and Skate boarding were picking up. Muscle Cars. Stereo system to.....lets not forget the Wooofers lol damn I can go on

**Steve steveson**

Jihadin wrote:
LOL I'm not talking about beating one within an inch of ones life. 3 good whacks with the belt, 4-5 hits with the switch across the butt. To get the point across. That was then. I smash the PS3 and the Xbox 360 because I own them nor did I care. Rather get god grades or score high on some video game? What's important in life? Good grades or is that now so old school? Has Jersey Shore talking over mainstream teens?

Nither is the articular. Personally I think it teaches that you get what you want by violence. Especially when done with an implement. Why the hell would a grown man need a stick to smack a kid?

Personally I hate the idea of hitting kids and think it shows a lack of self control, as dose smashing things up (Expensive things as well). I mean, smashing hundreds of dollars worth of computer rather than selling it... Thats lashing out and petite retribution if ever I saw it.

This is the kind of thing I see time and again about "this generation"... "He won't do anything but play on his XBox" . It used to be TV. Before that radio. It's not a generation thing, its a parent thing. Its up to the parents to teach there kids the importance of studding and working hard, and encouragement and support work much better than fear.

**Ahtman**

This made me search google to see what I could find. While not as overtly funny as I thought it would be, I found a few interesting things. A lot of it was either to mean spirited, way off the mark, or *shiver* to sexual to share.

Spoiler:

This one is for Frazzled.

Spoiler:

Sadly, I think this is the only one with much truth to it, having spent enough time in and around schools.

Spoiler:

**Frazzled**

All of those hit the right nerve.

**shrike**

Not sure how it is with others, but with me if I get bad grades, it's all on me.
Which is fair enough, it is usually my fault, teachers being responsible for bad grades is far less common.

(Though it is still infuriating when it is a teacher's fault (I'm looking at you, Design and Technology department))

**Ahtman**

shrike wrote:
Not sure how it is with others, but with me if I get bad grades, it's all on me.
Which is fair enough, it is usually my fault, teachers being responsible for bad grades is far less common.

(Though it is still infuriating when it is a teacher's fault (I'm looking at you, Design and Technology department))

They have a Design and Technology department in High School over there? And of course there are still people that do work with their kids when the grade is bad, but there has been a slow but growing shift to where the student is a beautiful genius and if they don't do well it it must be the schools fault.

**Bullockist**

I think ahtmans last pic really captured the gen y child/ parent paradigm

**MrDwhitey**

Eh, it seems accurate enough, both have the same theme of parents blaming someone who isn't themselves.

**Talizvar**

Cheesecat wrote:
Talizvar wrote:
Entitlement seems to be an issue.

How is that an issue? That's just how developed nations naturally progress, as life get's better you have more time and money for things, therefore you want more.

Entitlement (Definition: The fact of having a right to something) is an issue when they take from others: "Some person feels they are entitled to what you have and are willing to try to take it from you." Wars have started for less and I see this played out daily with my kids (Rule: you cannot take it from your brother's hands).

I have had more people just take stuff from my desk at work and I have to slap them down: "Just because you need it does not give you the right to override my needs and invade my workspace (and some of it was my own purchased stuff).".

Getting more "stuff" is not natural progress. Focusing on "stuff" rather than personal development makes for envious grasping people because there is always someone that has more and better stuff than you and much of it has a limited life to ensure on-going consumerism. I like being able to make things and depend on no-one.

Problem is some people look at the stuff I made as "free" (I did not pay much or anything for it right?) and so they think it is not worth much so what is the big deal when they help themselves to it?

Wanting and taking ideas and things from others without proper recognition or compensation for their time is where all the anger and fighting stems from (hence dochey labels).

**Auxellion**

The babyboomers who raised them

**daedalus**

Are we bitching about Gen X here, or Gen Y? I've now lost count. But let's not be so quick to blame the baby boomers for anything.

It's not like were the ones who took the thriving US economy and flipped the "instant-oligarchy" switch.
It's not like they enjoyed all the good drugs, and then campaigned for harsher drug laws so that their descendants would have to deal with that.
It's not like they were the ones responsible for the fact that I have to buy in to their ponzi scheme in order to (hopefully) not work until I die of old age.

**Some_Call_Me_Tim?**

shrike wrote:
Not sure how it is with others, but with me if I get bad grades, it's all on me.
Which is fair enough, it is usually my fault, teachers being responsible for bad grades is far less common.

(Though it is still infuriating when it is a teacher's fault (I'm looking at you, Design and Technology department))

My poor sister had the world's worst teacher ever. Not only was she utterly incompetent (she had been moved from teaching position to teaching position more times then I can remember) she was also a complete gakker. She was the kinda teacher that yells at students when they don't understand what she's trying to say, and then mocks/yells at them when they ask her for help understanding a concept. Heck, when the top student in the school asked for help with a difficult problem, this teachers response was simply to say "well, that's just too bad for you, isn't it?" and then proceed to ignore her. She has torn up homework in front of the class simply because the student forgot to sign their name "correctly". She has been known to "accidentally" throw away/lose homework, and then refuse to grade it when someone finds it, even if all the problems were solved correctly.

The worst thing about it all that she has tenure, and since she's employed by a small, failing rural school district, the school administration cannot get rid of her or they wouldn't have a Pre-Algebra and Algebra I and II teacher. Whenever they get a substitute teacher, the kids in the class always do better and don't come home completely depressed and frustrated.

Needless to say, no one does well in her classes, save for a handful of kids that can tune her out/are exceptionally good at math. The thing is, here in the US, if you fail a class, you have to take it again next year - if you fail 3 classes, you have to do a whole grade over again. Roughly half of the students in this particulars teachers classes are ones that have failed one or more times. Eventually they just give up and stop caring, and that's when the gak hits the fan.

~Tim?

**Talizvar**

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:
shrike wrote:
Not sure how it is with others, but with me if I get bad grades, it's all on me.
Which is fair enough, it is usually my fault, teachers being responsible for bad grades is far less common.
(Though it is still infuriating when it is a teacher's fault (I'm looking at you, Design and Technology department))

My poor sister had the world's worst teacher ever. ***snip***

Classic case of narcissist getting into position of power (it is all about me!).
People responsible for small children, people's lives and law should be assessed to see if they have a shred of empathy before they could proceed in their chosen profession.
It is now a time that self promotion is applauded and rewarded so this condition is becoming frequently common.
Riding on the backs of others is looked as a smart thing but then "teamwork" is a thing of the past since ladder climbers want to lead.
Too many chiefs not enough Indians.

Freaking Summary:
Each generation has contributed to the next getting worse, all because of the need to "get ahead".

In all honesty from my own experience of observing "successful" people would say to my kids:

-Be loud but "happy".
-Never accept fault, "I had a different view of things but was overruled by the team!"
-Claim success as yours "I knew that when my ideas were accepted it would end in success!"
-Never leave physical evidence of any decision being made by you (but feel free to let evidence of successful outcomes surface).
-Always, always, punish anyone who "locks horns" with you and mask it as "helping them".
-Make many positive statements about yourself publicly even if they are not true; "I just want to see the right thing done.", "I want to see the project moving forward without these delays!", "I give help but I guess they like to learn things the hard way."

So douche-ness is more adaptation to the path of success.

***edit: looking at that again, wow that sounded bitter...***