The Kids Are All Right
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/12-3
by Jennifer Doak
February 12, 2010
Being a young American today can be discouraging. Things don't look
so good for us, even since Bush left office, leaving behind an awful
lot of cleaning up for us "Millennials" to do.
BusinessWeek dubbed us a "lost generation," because 18 percent of us
can't find work. Those who can are paid less than our counterparts
were in earlier decades, and many college grads among us are saddled
with thousands of dollars in loans. If the Obama administration's
proposal to federalize and reduce the student loan burden goes
through (a big if), that's a start. But with more than $50,000 in
college debt (and that's on the low end), I can confirm it will be a
while before I have the cash to buy a home, invest in a retirement
fund, or even start a family. Heck, I can barely afford to go home
for Christmas.
Our predecessors deregulated industry, thoughtfully ensuring that our
food and water aren't as safe as they should be. Of course, in 2007,
13.2 million of us under 35 didn't have health care so there's little
to be done if we get sick. Since the Baby Boomers and the oldest
Generation Xers refused to seriously research alternative energy, we
inherited a nasty oil addiction that led politicians to send
thousands of my cohorts to fight an unwinnable war in Iraq.
Meanwhile, it looks like those in charge are making more than ever,
even in these pinched days. They also say we're not really mad, and
that we'll go right on taking it like workers have for decades.
They'll make a glib reference to Facebook or Twitter before lamenting
how nobody today protests like they used to. Then they smugly destroy
a few more acres of rain forest.
The derision isn't universalafter all, I'm talking about our
parents, professors, and employers. A recent Wall Street Journal
article observed that Baby Boomers encouraged us, their children, to
negotiate, to achieve, to be conciliatory, and to think of ourselves
as winners. But, perhaps unconsciously, the policies they shaped have
us poised to lose.
So guess what? We aren't taking it anymore. People under 35 are
harnessing technology and willpower, just as previous generations
did, to achieve amazing things. We're crowdsourcing, not outsourcing.
We're creating open-source software and outreach programs to level
the digital divide. We organize through social networks and
text-message donations. Few of us have seen the movie Network, but
we're still raising our virtual window-sashes and yelling to the
whole world that we're mad as hell.
The best part is that we're taking our upbringing to heart, but not
in the way you think. We trend progressiveeven the conservatives
among us are easygoing when it comes to social issues like gay
marriage and the environment. You older folks call us the "trophy
generation" because you see us as entitled, but maybe we just want to
make sure everybody wins.
Millennials are starting to take charge, and we're acting together.
This lost generation is finding itself, and when I see what my peers
are accomplishing, I start thinking we'll be just fine.
--
Jennifer Doak is the online outreach and production coordinator at
the Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank that transforms ideas
into action for peace, justice, and the environment. www.ips-dc.org
.
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