Embracing Mediocrity

From the “You Can’t make This Up” Department, Time Magazine has a shameless piece working breathlessly to remove any remaining stigma associated with adults who live with their parents in an article titled, “Being 30 and Living With Your Parents Isn’t Lame — It’s Awesome.”

The whole article is a disturbing excuse:

one college grad forced to move back home explained why her living arrangements have proved, surprisingly, to be pretty great:

After four years of dorm living in New York City, with fire alarms that wrenched us from bed at 2:30 a.m., cursing whatever drunk sophomore had pulled the emergency lever “for fun,” I appreciated the quiet. I loved having a house to myself, 9 to 5. I loved hosting elaborate meals for my parents’ friends, the overworked adults sighing with relief into their glasses of wine. I loved my parents, come to that, and the long conversations we had on world events prompted by my hours in the kitchen listening to NPR.

Even so, she’s well aware of the perception that if you’re in your 20s or 30s and still living with your parents, you’ve failed at some level:

My generation was seared with the terrorizing ultimatum that come graduation we’d better be hired — think of the college loans! the American dream! — because financial independence was the ultimate predictor of success.

The Great Recession has brought with it a reevaluation of the American Dream, and even whether a college degree is worth the money. Now, the idea of living at home with your parents isn’t associated with failure or a lack of achievement. More likely, young adults living with their parents are thought of as victims of unfortunate circumstances, with plenty of good company.

Take note of the characterizations. “My generation was seared with the terrorizing ultimatum.” Seriously. Paying off your college loans and working to achieve the American Dream is hurtful. It is a notion met with scorn as we discard “financial independence as the ultimate predictor of success.”

What could go wrong?