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Ryan Paugh graduated from Penn State in 2006 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business. After working in corporate communications, freelance writing and reporting, he co-founded 
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If you can’t remember a time when the world was not wired, you are a member of the Millennial Generation — the 33 million Americans between the ages of 15 and 25. You are special. You are different. The fate of the planet is on your shoulders. No pressure.
-Tom Tresser, What the World Might Look Like When the Millennials Run It
With all the back-and-forth jibber-jabber between Gen-Y and “everyone else,” I often wonder what the world will really be like 10 to 15 years down the line.
According to one dissenter, I’ll be a bankrupt thirty-something living in my parent’s basement. But honestly, that’s a bit of an exaggeration…they’ll at least let me have my old room back.
All jokes aside, it amazes me that many older peers anticipate a grim existence under Gen-Y reign. Sure, we’re often categorized as narcissistic and (here it comes) entitled, but we’re also said to be optimistic go-getters.
And who isn’t a little whiny in corporate America anyway? Last time I checked, even the CEOs were bitching about something. Let’s, for a moment, throw aside our (supposed) self-righteous attitudes and take a gander at a positive critique of Gen-Y.
“Smart, savvy and civically engaged,” says Tresser, “there is no doubt millennials will affect profound change on the political level.”
We’ve already established ourselves as doers. In 2003, 83 percent of college freshmen were volunteering (up from 66 percent in 1990). Sure, we can attribute this to the competition factor associated with college applications, but the number of active college philanthropies today speaks for itself.
As Gen-Y begins to take elective office, Tresser predicts millennials will enact “new initiatives to protect children, promote literacy and safety and reform dysfunctional educational systems.” Experts also expect a substantial political shift on a consumer level. “Their loyalty will lie with socially responsible business practices.”
Personally, I see people themselves becoming more socially responsible. In my short 23 years, I’ve witnessed a remarkable shift in environmental activism. It used to be something we quietly talk about. Now it’s something we’re beginning to act on.
As blood continues to boil between the U.S. and foreign countries, people are finally demanding that we cool the pot. I anticipate a global shift in the definition of community where everyone has a seat at the table.
Of course, talking politics (especially 10-15 years down the line) is a risky business. There’s enough “what ifs” associated with the future to keep the most avid Gen-Y antagonist equipped with an arsenal of comebacks. But keep yourself optimistic. We may not mold a utopia, but we’ll get things headed in the right direction.
What do you think? Heaven? Hell? Or will we still just be stuck in purgatory?
Popularity: 7%
Re When Gen Y takes office:
Take any editorial about Bush, Hilary, Obama, Rudy, Mitt, etc. Then change the names to those of younger people and it will be the exact same. Except that certain obvious historical trends will have progressed. The fact that Obama is black, Hilary a woman and Mitt a Mormon will be less significant. Everything else including the distortions and mean tone will be the same.
Animal:
What’s so distorted about a little optimism? I’d say it’s the positive shift we all need to take. Maybe I’m reading you wrong…
You bring up a great point about the current U.S. presidential race. And I’m glad you did. The majority of presidential candidates are marketing their campaigns to Gen-Y (& X) which is great! So if what you’re saying is true, government officials are already paving the way towards the changes I hope my generation will be able to perfect.
Thanks.
-Paugh
As a Gen-Y kid that grew up seeing all the wealth of the tech boom and the total collapse thereof, i think we’ve been given a very unique perspective. It’s not the same effect the Great Depression had on my grandparents, that causes them to save open hot-sauce packets from Taco Bell, but it’s a re-focusing of our aspirations. We all want to be financially sound and live comfortable lives but we learned early on that chasing money is not going to make us happy. I know a few former centi-millionaires that now have nothing and are misrrable because their lives were all about their income. Homes, boats and cars are fun but it’s more important to us that we do something that makes our world a better place.
I worked with a micro-credit bank in Argentina last summer and it changed the focus of what I want to do in my career. I used to worry that I wouldn’t ever get to drive a Porsche or live on the beach, but now I’m more concerned about making the time to bring up the rest of the world’s standard of living. That’s a lofty and optimistic goal, I know, but isn’t it a better focus to have? We’ll probably follow the tracks of the boomers more than we want to politically, but they’re leaving us some mighty deep ruts.
When I first read the title of this article, I thought it was a trick question. By the time “the world” is under “Millenial reign,” those Millenials are going to have a vastly different perspective than they do now. I don’t mean they’re going to have different ideals–in fact, I sincerely hope they don’t; they’re an optimistic and activist bunch–but certainly a different perspective, and it will probably be a lot closer to the perspective shared by, as Ryan puts it, “everyone else”. They’ll have mortgages and property taxes, spouses and children and 401(k)s.
The trick for GenY as I see it is to find a way to hold onto that optimism and activism even in the face of harsher “adult” realities as they arise. Many generations before yours have tried, with mixed success. Ryan comments on “people themselves becoming more socially responsible,” to which I agree … but bear in mind that GenY isn’t leading that change. They haven’t been in the working world long enough to have led that change. I only hope they can do more with it than previous generations have done. The jury is out.
One additional thought, dovetailing with what I said above and partially in response to JRR’s comment. I’ve noticed here and in other articles/posts that some people seem to feel that being an “adult” entails some kind of choice between “rich” (with cars, boats, and houses on the beach) and “activist” (no concerns for such trappings, and interested only in making the world a better place). First, of course we all know that there is some middle ground there; second, it may be hard to understand that just staying afloat is a real challenge for most people, particularly when it comes time for them to be responsible about saving for retirement, saving for their kids’ college educations, ensuring adequate health care and life insurance for themselves and their families, etc. I think we’re all trying to do what we can to be responsible caretakers of our world. But the right choices aren’t always easy or clear.
I agree with you Sean, I’m looking for that middle ground in my own life. I’ve seen what happens when the focus on wealth is too great, no one truely benefits. The trickle-down theory doesn’t hold water with that kind of greed. (sorry for the pun) I’m sure I’ll have to worry about retirement and healthcare, and already do to some degree, but I’m willing to do that if it means I can help others along the way.
We really don’t equate being an adult as “selling out for riches” anymore, that wasn’t the point I tried to make. I grew up with mostly middle income friends whose families struggled to save for school, mortgage payments and don’t even dream of retirement before turning seventy. Those are the people I want to pattern my life after; men and women that work hard to stay afloat and still have time to donate to charities, churches, youth programs, etc. I hope I’m in a better place financially but I’m not going to forget to take time to help the less fortunate like they always did. That’s my middle ground.
I think the right choices ARE easy and clear, but choosing between our own personal benefit and helping others makes it difficult for some people.
JRR, I get the impression that you think of retirement savings and health care costs as part of the “wealth” category. I apologize if I’m misreading you, but that is part of my point: retirement savings and health care are not luxuries. When I put my money towards my health or my retirement–money I could instead have used to buy a hybrid car, or to support a worthy charity, or you-name-it–it isn’t only for my own personal benefit (as you say). I’m doing it also to ensure that I am never a financial burden on the rest of society. A reality in today’s and tomorrow’s world is that people do not have enough saved for retirement, and a lot of people are going to be in a lot of trouble in the coming decades.
I admire your conviction that the right choice is always easy and clear, but situations like this are exactly where they become less so.
I did want to clarify my point, but I don’t mean to disregard the important “middle ground” you describe, particularly because you stress donations of time rather than money. As a middle ground, that makes a lot of sense.
I am counting on the heaven part of the equation. I am excited to see what GenY is going to do. I think as
Baby boomers start leaving the workforce, they will have the time to spend the way they want - pursuing their passions, which contrary to popular belief, aren’t all that different the GenY. T
When I was 25, it was 1992 and I had just organized a bunch of Democrats in Washington State to get ourselves elected delegates to the Democratic National Convention to support Paul Tsongas for President, primarily because of his cornerstone campaign theme of “generational responsibility.” I was nearly the youngest person in the group. After that, I went to Washington, D.C. and worked on Capitol Hill–a culture full of people in their early 20s who were activist, motivated, smart, and wanted to solve the problems of the world.
So I don’t think your millennial perspective is unique, but hopefully, it is more common–that there is a larger critical mass of activist-oriented young people these days. Also, I have great optimism that the online networking tools and explosion of new media gives you tools that we did not have 15 years ago. I think part of the challenge is for us older Gen-X and Boomer types to embrace the technology and join forces. But we need to find things that actually work to effect change–not simply blog, blog, blog ourselves to death.