Letter: Millennials More Entitled Than Previous Generations

Alex Rounaghi exemplifies the controversial rivalry in Laguna, being a millennial politician. And I know the thinking is, “Young people are going to bring the change we need. Out with the old ideas and in with the new. Really? How?

My issue with Rounaghi isn’t their passion because it is clearly spewing out of every pore.

What concerns me about Rounaghi is the fact that duped voters are incredibly overconfident, with little substance to back that confidence up. Millennials are more entitled and confident than previous generations, taught to believe that their opinions — no matter how right or wrong — are more valid due to the social media echo chamber.

And it’s these things that are bleeding into Laguna’s Rounaghi. Hyper obsessed with image, Millennials like Rounaghi treat seniors as challenges to overcome, our community as victims, and they are the sole protectors of the people. Like he has an entire online sphere of “like-minded” strangers as justifications for their reasoning and actions.

Rounaghi won, so he’s good at this. He’s savvy and works the online crowds by using buzzwords, by sharing images to give the perception of them being “active” at work, and they have the young generation at their whim.

I know a lot of you are excited about the youngster getting involved in politics, but frankly, I am not. I would not trust most people that age because I still think they need time to grow and get to know themselves. Let kids be kids, let teens (as annoying as they may be) be teens, and let young adults be young adults and find themselves. Now he’ll be a puppet or pawn of the machine.

Rounaghi needs time to grow up, and get a real job. He’s never been in management or lead positions in a private workplace. Most of these people have never worked a budget before, and some just started paying bills. 

We don’t need a young inexperienced, overconfident, self-obsessed kid who uses hashtags and TikToks to reach out to constituents. To me, the greatest trait of a leader is that they do not want to be a leader. This guy is using Laguna Beach as a stepping stone. Call me old, but I have insight and education that will take Rounaghi decades to accumulate.

Jerry Weintraub Jr, Laguna Beach