Millennials versus Old Economy Steve: Memes, Generational Abandonment, and the Possibilities of Taking Care

ABSTRACT

Although the Great Recession affected most US Americans, Millennials were among the groups that most felt its impact. Despite this, older generations framed Millennials’ laziness and narcissism as the cause of the slow economic recovery. In response, the meme Old Economy Steve (OES) emerged as a tool for Millennials to take control of their generational identity. Analyzing the varied iterations of the meme, I argue OES presents narrative fragments that coalesce around a story of Millennial’s’ generational abandonment by Baby Boomers. While an imperfect explanation of economic trends, OES offers a template for the use of generational conflict as a rhetorical resource for collective self-care, selfwriting, and alternative politics.

KEYWORDS:

• Memes
• networked rhetoric
• generational conflict
• Bernard Stiegler
• economic rhetoric

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. For clarity, I use “//” to denote the break between the top-line and bottom-line of a single iteration. Images of all memes referenced can be found at: https://osf.io/3mpfw/