Millennials Are Civic, Not Idealistic

Published by Ryan Healy on February 8th, 2008 in Productivity, Work/Life | 20 Comments

What do George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt all have in common?

If you guessed they were all great presidents, you'd be right. But there's more. According to an article in the Washington Post, (which I believe is citing Strausse and Howe's Generations book) each of these presidents presided when a "civic" generation was coming of age.

The Washington Post says that about every 80 years in American history, "a civic generation emerges to make over the country after a period of upheaval caused by the fervor of an idealist generation."

Idealist generations, on the other hand, typically create very divisive times. The baby boomers were an idealist generation, obviously (and often angrily) splitting the country between traditionalists (conservatives) and progressives (liberals).

Millennials are the next "civic" generation. Our fights and causes will be not to tear down established systems like the federal government and big business. Rather, we will strive to fix, repair and rebuild these broken systems, because history shows that the systems do work – if properly designed.

And we're already making some headway. Take Super Tuesday for instance. Three million Millennials cast their ballots in the primaries.

But young people don't vote! This is what people have been saying for years. Apparently what they should say is that young people didn't vote until the Millennials came along.

Look closer and you'll notice that we're starting to push for change in corporate America. In fact, companies are almost scared of our generation. Consultants teach companies how to deal with us crazy young folks, 60 Minutes airs propaganda segments that warn, "Here Come the Millennials,"and women like Jean Twenge swear we will be the downfall of all things sacred.

They're worried that Millennials are hopping jobs, starting businesses, and searching for meaning and passion instead of just blindly conforming to the ideals of past generations. They don't understand that it's not about being lazy, pampered, or entitled. History says our destiny is to be the next great generation, a generation of builders and doers.

Millennials aren't revolting in the streets or marching on Washington, as Thomas Friedman suggests we should. We know that doesn't actually accomplish anything by itself. What Millennials are really all about is improving broken systems and unifying unnecessary divisions. The best way to do that is by working within the system and doing, not by dropping out and making a lot of noise.

By using our political power to vote and by not settling for a meaningless job just because it pays well, we are making a lot more noise than all the screaming, yelling and protesting in the world ever could.