We might be smarter (I'm taking your word on that), but I will be the first to admit, my generation is lazy as fuck. I have seen it in both industrial and retail jobs I've been in...twenty- and thirty-somethings who are afraid to get dirty or break a sweat. Most people want an office job, or a "cool" job where they can "have fun" in a "relaxed atmosphere" while "making great money". That's not work, it's happy-cheery-grabassland. I always refer to Tyler Durden:

We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won't. We're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

I do have sympathy for the people who work hard (as in, your body can barely move and you want to collapse when you get home after a 12-hour shift), but can't get ahead, or ever hope to own a home. I don't have sympathy for the simpering little shitheads who took out government-subsidized and guaranteed loans to go to school for some over-saturated or obscure subject because they thought it would be "fun" to "pursue their passion" for library science/19th century Japanese paper cranes/Ukranian basket weaving philosophy...then cry because they make as much as or less than someone who destroys their body on a daily basis, in order to build the very house that Mr. Entitled Gen-Y Prick wants.

I am almost thirty years old, feel every bit of forty, and have been breaking my back for most of my adult life...washing rental cars, working at a landfill picking up trash off the road, building oil and gas pipelines, servicing oil wells, and making OSB. Now I am learning roofing, after moving to a new city where none of my previous trades are needed. I am making $12/hour, since I have no experience. If it doesn't work out and become more profitable once I have experience, I'll go do something else. I have learned all of my occupational skills this way. Yes, I would love to get a degree and have a career where I don't feel like death everyday, but I have to work to take care of my family...and honestly, college degrees don't seem like a great investment at this point. So I will keep being productive, fighting my financial battles while also knowing that I might have some small use to society.