Why it's good to be alive and twenty

Woe! Doom! Gloom! The Crash, the Collapse, the Credit Crunch, the end of the world!!! It isn't, really. Yes, it's the biggest economic disaster since the Great Depression eighty years ago and it will mean huge difficulties for everyone but there are plenty of reasons why people of my generation should be pleased to be alive right now (strictly for people born circa 1990)

Reason 1: No Generation X

The days of '90s grunge are thankfully behind us AND we lived through them. We grew up with when boybands and girlbands ruled the world, when kids' TV was excellent, when peace and prosperity were a given. We had it good and now we're able to look back and see the difference. The youth of the '90s were an apathetic, dirty, uneducated lot. We are not. We are intelligent, ambitious, thoroughly European. We do not despise the world we live in, nor are we despised by it. In Ireland, we're called the ceasefire generation, never having known the real threat of the IRA, we might also be called the post-9/11 generation, an event we all remember and which has moulded our outlook and the world we live in. And we all hated Bush, don't forget. Generation X rejected the world, didn't know how to dress, moshed and didn't wash. This generation sips cappuccinos, has cocktail parties, discusses world events. We're just so cool while we're trying to be sophisticated.

Reason 2: Recession

Some may say this is a bad thing. Well, they are right, the international, financial downturn is the biggest disaster in decades. But it has its upside. During the Depression, Hollywood made its best ever films, the most influential books have been written during and about the Depression, it produced many brilliant writers, politicians and actors and continues to fascinate us. That is the reality we face now. Hollywood is better than it has been in decades, now that Televison is dying. We're the generation that will be the authoritative authors of the Recession. Even the music, so much of it, isn't half bad. We live in the electic age. We are the Eclectic Generation.

Reason 3: Obama

Yes. I went there. I may not believe that he's the saviour of the world or that the sun shines out of his proverbial but those of us in the Eclectic Generation, if we don't love him, at least admire him and can't bring ourselves to disapprove. He is an undeniable media darling and global sensation. He is an icon of this generation and will continue to be the most famous man in the world, now that MJ is dead, at least. After years of despising and criticising Bush, this type of man is a welcome relief and he is more than that, he is someone who can be looked up to (a rare thing in a time and country like ours).

Reason 4: Loose morals

Don't lie, yes, we have little if any morals. We drink to excess, we sleep around, sometimes we may even indulge in soft, recreational drugs. We have fun and we don't judge each other's actions (which is just as well, considering what we get up to).

Reason 5: It will end

The Recession will end. We will get jobs once the recovery happens. This is reason to be optimistic. Unfortunately, our youth and right to have debauched fun will also end. This is reason to be sad. The important part is that these too events will most likely coincide. Basically, the fun of youthful exuberance will fade at about the same time as the economy recovers, so whether we like it or not, we have to have our fun NOW, crisis or nor crisis. So, go do it.