Book Review: The Dumbest Generation Grows Up

This short work is a follow-up by author Mark Bauerlein, who wrote the original The Dumbest Generation in 2008. It’s bombastic, clever, and sad, with the net effect of “I told you so” about the Millennial Generation. Millennials probably should not read this work, or should do so only in a safe space with a therapy app open on the cell phone. Indeed, most Millennials will not understand this book, so filled with classical education references to which they were never exposed. But they are very attuned to derision, and the tone here is relentlessly derisive. What they may miss, again, is that the author empathizes with them: his anger is directed not at them, but rather at their Boomer parents and educators, who failed to prepare them for life. . . and now it is too late.

The book includes endless footnotes and references for those inclined to review the data or who choose to argue with his thesis, but I would suggest reading it simply to ask and answer this question: does it ring true? While I am no longer in the working world, it does track with my experiences about Millenials’ lack of familiarity with the great concepts or works of Western Civilization, and how that infantilizes their world view.

((Writer’s note: we have two daughters and two sons-in-law, all Millennials, although they are from the oldest part of the Millennial generation, which largely grew up before cell phones and screen time were such a challenge. They exhibit few of the characteristics the author describes, which leaves one with hope that perhaps there is an older group of Millennials still ready and available to lead going forward!))

Bauerlein’s work describes Millennials as a generation which has lost the art of deep-reading (my term), that is reading something of substance that requires reading, re-reading, digesting, and maybe even discussing before thinking one has learned something. In its place, they have screen time, either passively receiving info curated for them by various apps/services, or engaging in ephemeral online interactions with peers and friends. On top of this, educators gradually abandoned the notion of civics, prerequisites, and “Western Civ”-ilization at the same time, meaning students were taught a melange of disconnected (but diverse!) myths and stories, told there is nothing special or good about their own background, and asked how that made them feel. The short answer is confused, but resentful.

An interesting part of the book is his recounting of the history of Western Civ as the core curriculum at Stanford. Bauerlein tells how educators at Stanford quickly abandoned the core requirement in classical knowledge for an increasingly diverse course-offering that the students found (also increasingly) “incoherent.” Faced with negative student feedback, the administration responded by doubling down, reducing the core requirement and introducing a new purpose: not to master any classical concepts, but to interrogate why anyone/anywhere thought such things were important to learn in the first place! The answer (i.e., white male supremacists wanted to maintain their power) should surprise no one.

Yet the more powerful part of the book is about the prison conversion of Malcolm X (no, I am not kidding). Using the activist’s writings, Bauerlein covers how he transitioned from a clever, violent criminal to a prisoner then an activist, intellectual philosopher, albeit one in support of a repugnant cause (the Nation of Islam). Malcolm X was, of course, no Millennial; in fact he died as Generation X was only beginning. But he was an archetype for the Millennials: clever but uneducated, with no understanding of the country or society in which he lived. Like a reptile, he simply existed and thrived doing whatever it takes, until in prison he met a older inmate of learning who opened his eyes to a larger world of books and reading. He started by reading and transcribing a dictionary (in order to even understand the other books he wanted to read), then worked his way through most of what was considered the Western Canon: the great works of literature and philosophy. That this led him to the race-baiting Nation of Islam is irrelevant: it gave him a purpose in life, which he previously lacked.

Bauerlein’s point is that all youth, everywhere, need a mythos to start with: something tangible to hang their hat on as they become adults. No culture, no country, no race, no sex, nor anyone is without guilt and sin, but a person lacking a mythos is truly pitiable: they are subject to the whims of fancy: what’s trending on Twitter? What gets the most “likes”? Who shared what on Instagram or TikTok? Lacking depth–the depth of experience gained reading about those who’ve come before us, good or bad–the Millennials are left to their own devices (literally), or to the noise of the online crowd.

I found that much of his thesis rings true; you may disagree. But if you do, I ask you to do this: find a Millennial, and ask them a few questions that any Boomer (most of my friends and associates are Boomers) should be able to answer. From where does the phrase “from each according to his abilities. . .” come? What’s the difference between the Old and New Testaments? What contributed to the Fall of Rome? What’s the significance of Guernica?

You and I could debate the answers. I’ll bet most Millennials would not even understand the questions! The reflexive retreat by Millennials to defensive feelings are a result of this educational deficiency: and that won’t change until it is rectified. Malcolm X showed it is still possible to do so later in life, so perhaps there is some hope. Of course, his example also reminds us that when one has been led to believe in nothing, one can believe in almost anything!

Overall, it’s an interesting read, probably too over-the-top to convince those with opposing views, who would refuse to consider the footnoted data. The most convincing part of the book is how it unlocks some of the puzzles of the Millennial generation, although the answers it suggests are frankly terrifying.