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Ryan Healy is a recent college graduate. He is a founder of 
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“Young people today can’t repay their college loans; they can’t afford apartment rents, let alone mortgages; their Social Security is being sucked up by their elders; and H.I.V. left them out of the sexual revolution: what was once free love is now a viral minefield.”
I didn’t say it. The New York Times did. And this was before the disaster that took place on Capitol Hill yesterday.
The article, written by Alessandra Stanley, goes on to say that the pending economic crisis, which has since become not so pending, “is confirming the worst fears of Gen-Y, namely that our baby boomer parents are leaving us a world convulsed by war, drowning in debt and melting down under global warming.”
She’s got a point. The world, and more specifically, The United States, is screwed up right now. The House just rejected a $700 Billion rescue plan, effectively causing the largest drop in the stock market since 1987. And the word is that House members pending reelections played a major role in the rejection. You’ve got to be kidding me.
But way before the most recent “Black Monday,” for years, us 20-somethings have been graduating into a world where we are buried in debt before stepping foot into our first job, and dealing with living expenses that are often more than average starting salaries. Our generation has inherited a world that needs some serious fixing.
And yesterday was just the final straw in what’s been a disastrous 8 years for America. But, as bad as yesterday was, it may be a blessing in disguise.
When we look back on Monday, September 29, 2008, will we say that it was the beginning of the end, or will we say that it was the day America took a long hard look in the mirror and decided to make a change?
I’ll choose the latter.
I’ll choose it, because I see a group of 20 and 30-something’s prepared to clean up the mess. Blaming our parents, or Congress, or the baby boomers, or even the President, won’t get us anywhere. But recycling, going green, being fiscally responsible, starting non-profits, starting for-profits, and actively involving ourselves in the presidential election is a good start.
Despite our youth, and despite the fact that we aren’t in traditional positions of authority, I see Generation Y, or as I recently saw us referred to as, Generation We, pushing change and making progress in every area.
In Washington D.C., the Progressive Happy Hour group is hosting debate parties and constantly trekking over to Virginia, vowing to knock on 100,000 doors in hopes of turning the battleground state blue before November 4.
Yesterday, I spoke with Jordan Goldman, a recent college grad who decided he’d had enough of universities providing high school seniors with inaccurate, boring and often misleading descriptions about their outrageously priced schools. So, he gathered a team and started Unigo, a company that puts the message back in the hands of the people who really know what the school is all about–the students.
In a couple of hours I have a meeting with Rich Littlehale, a Yale student and budding social entrepreneur, who recently started Twigtek, a company that helps organizations raise money by collecting old cell phones and helping the environment.
The list goes on and on. Young people have looked at the disastrous situation this country is in and decided to do something about it –way before “Black Monday” caused mass panic.
As Progressive Happy Hour organizer Brian Komar eloquently explains, we are in the midst of the NEXT Progressive Movement. He says, “Change doesn’t come from parties. It comes from movements. This movement will bring the change America needs. Young people are always the early adopters, and this time younger people are paving the way. . . . My sincere hope is that this movement becomes multigenerational.”
This is the attitude that Generation Y has demonstrated, and must continue to demonstrate. Because it’s not about being a hero; it’s about working together and making smart decisions for the greater good because we see the mess that we’ve been dealt. And when you see a mess, there’s only one thing left to do: clean it up.
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Ryan,
Thank you for writing a content-rich post for my students & interns that showcases the situation in a realistic yet proactive manner.
I particularly like the examples you shared to support that fact that Generation WE (I love that!) is going to be innovative AND socially responsible.
In times like these, I agree that we can make lemonade - and the younger generations (I’m a Gen Xer who’s passionate about fixing the mess too.) are ready to prove it.
I’ll be making your post required reading this week.
JT
Hi Ryan,
Your post underscored what I see most as a 40 something project manager who works mostly with 20 and 30 somethings - hope for a troubled world.
It’s an honor to witness (and support) so many gifted and dedicated souls. I for one believe that change for the better is possible and will occur in our lifetimes.
Imagine a world where:
* good social services exist for everyone
* the median level of earnings provides the ability to provide for housing, clothing and food
* clean, healthy, hormone free food is easy to find.
* there are good jobs for everyone who wants them
John Lennon had it right.
Peace,
Alec
Wow, you kind of said it all. We are no longer waiting for change, but rather making change happen. In talks with Mike Connery from Future Majority, the biggest thing he said for Gen-Y to do was get involved, and voting doesn’t count. Run for office, join the PTA, start a company, start a nonprofit, or just go out and do something.
I think this is affirmed by how many young professionals are doing just that. We are making tools to make our lives better and richer. We are connecting with people all over the globe who can help us make things tick and grow. We are working on projects with meaning and not 9-5 screen staring.
I really tried to write a similiar post yesterday, but damn, you did a little more homework than me and nailed it. For those young people reading this, go out and do something to make the world a better place to live in. We are getting ahead by action, let’s not stop now!
Great post man!
Thanks for the comments, I’m glad the post struck a chord. JT, I’d love to hear thoughts from your students, thanks for passing it along.
Alec, I completely agree that there is a ton of hope amongst 20 and 30 somethings across the country and change is possible.
Greg, we are getting involved and we are starting companies etc. It’s a slow process but its happening every day. Thanks for noticing how much homework went into this, I didn’t get much sleep last night!
Ryan
There certainly is a lot of energy behind change Ryan, and it’s to be applauded. If everyone engaged with something that means a lot to them then the world would sharpen up and clean up pretty quickly. But don’t forget that this groundswell of positivity, desire for change and action for change has happened before.
The trick is to keep it going. The trick is to roll with the punches and get up if you get knocked down (life always has something to knock us over), the trick is to handle the setbacks and adapt as you continue to engage with what’s important to you.
Short-term motivation isn’t enough, which is why we constantly have to remind ourselves of whatever’s important and relevant to us and plug into it - whatever that might be, no matter how big or small it is.
I call it inspired participation. Participation is an active process of engaging with your own life. Inspiration is doing what you do knowing that’s it’s a positive choice and means something to you. Inspired Participation is about plugging into everything in your life, finding value in it all and letting yourself do what comes naturally.
That’s how change happens.
as a member of generation y myself, i often feel like my elders pigeonhole me into the “gen-y-is-lazy-and-awful” category. although my peers certainly aren’t the greatest, we’re still relatively intelligent and educated and all we want is for adults to appreciate our efforts. thank you, ryan, for rejecting ageism on both ends of the spectrum and encouraging everyone, no matter what age, to view one another as equals :]
Hi Anna,
It’s hard for a lot of Boomers to accept that sitting at a desk for a certain number of hours does not equal productivity. Sometimes colleagues complain to me about how Generation Y uses IM as a primary means of communication. Great! Fantastic! At least I know that they are thinking and CARE.
If you care about the quality of what you do, you will win most people over - even if they don’t choose to understand.
Alec
I believe we need change too, but only the right change. The Progressive Happy Hour group is the last group to bring the right kind of change. We need:
1. Less social services. Gen Y can take care of itself, that’s what made the first generations of Americans great. Don’t add more to the burden of wasteful, inefficient government bureaucracy with socialized “universal healthcare”.
2. Less government involvement. I, for one, was happy to see the boondoggle of a bailout fail. I hope all attempts at a bailout fail. We need the market to fix itself, not more government intervention.
3. Less hype. You are as bad as the mainstream media with all your hyped up terms. ““Black Monday” caused mass panic”, I didn’t see mass panic, I saw the majority of the American people (see CNN and CBS polls) happy that a bailout occurred and a market adjust to the fact it wouldn’t get $700B from the tax payers. That’s all! Look at the markets today, they are back up 485!
4. Less taxes. Across the board! Obama’s tax increases will kill small businesses, why? Because what he doesn’t tell you is when he raises taxes on “the rich” (read “everyone”) the bracket he focuses on the $250k plus bracket the most. Guess who that is? SMALL BUSINESSES , they are sole proprietorships, a type of company that is taxed at the personal tax rate. What else do sole proprietorships do? They provide 70% of the new jobs in this country!
If Gen Y really wants to drive positive change, they need to erase the big government mistakes of prior generations and return America to a free markets and free people.
I hope you’re right. I hope it’s real. I hope my kids never have to experience trying to figure out how to fill their gas tank AND get groceries at 27 while reassuring the power company that you will pay the bill next week, after you get off the phone with your student loan company persuading them that there’s just no way in hell you can pay that much every month.
The point is though that I still HOPE.
I’m sorry Gen Y has such a mess to clean up. The Baby Boomers really did set out to create a better world back in the 1960s. It’s really tough for the non-profit sector to have impact against the highly funded, highly connected, extremely powerful spin doctors who can create new words, new slogans to make anything they want sound positive. My Gen Y kids are really good people. Maybe Gen Y will be the generation that finds the way to save a weary and polluted planet.
Change feels good and sounds good, just like recycling. Change can be great and it can be horrible. If your idea of change is to cripple the free market system that made America the greatest country in the world then…keep your change in the closet. Government is not the answer, it is the problem.
I appreciate you writing this, most of the generation y stuff I’ve found just talks about how ‘lazy or dumb’ we are. Obviously written by someone who’s not in touch with reality these days.
Thanks..
Ryan, and other Generation Y’ers
As a boomer, my observation is technology is catching up with Generation Y. Generation Y is above and beyond the boomers. I have to say, the Boomer’s although technology savvy are still a product of our environment and far less CONNECTED socially than Generation Y. Boomers grew up in a time where having a color TV and a microwave was a symbol of status, a car with Air Conditioning driving around with windows up on 90 degree days was a symbol of being ahead, fiscally and technologically. Boomers during our developmental years missed out on the live connections and easy contacts of today to make a substantial change. We actually had to WORK very hard to produce a nicely presented report, to stay connected, and to obtain photographs within 2 days was quite a plus, learning new technology is a challenge since we missed out on the immediacy of the www and finding out more or “how to” on line with a click. We could not just do a WIKIPEDIA search. Keep in mind, Many boomers still do not use the WWW daily and certainly ARE behind the curve. Generation Y is “WIRED” and born into the information “now” world and can act and find others to act with and can grow far beyond the curve. I believe GENERATION Y althoug may appear lazy by a boomer, is far more compasionate generation and is a far more aware, and intelligent generation overall. I believe more knowledge and awareness means better decisions. Most definitely, as a BOOMER I have to say many of the decisions of our generation have been prompted by those with money and steered by GREED. Generation Y’s power is not just money but knowlege. (we all know money will always have power), but steered with knowledge and compasion I strongly believe the world will be a better place. Change can happen quicker with Generation Y and the “we” Generation can now stop decisions based on GREED in it’s tracks before it explodes and the damagers happen. GO Generation Y! Inherently, You have the true power!
Good stuff Ryan. It’s true that the world is screwed up right now, but I honestly think that with the way our generation is trying to change things, the world isn’t doomed. Far from it. There’s still hope. And i know we will fix the world. One way or the other. ^_^ Thanks for a great post.
As part of this generation (born 1991) I see a group of revolutionsists, researchers, philosophers, and all around, catalysts. As I continue my way into college I begin to notice the potential far more. As per usual there will always be the other half that falls down through the ground, but it is in these individuals, myself included, that I see the possibility to erradicate and create anew. Call me naiive, calm me idealisitc, I have never felt such passion before in my life until the pieces became more and more clearer. I hope that with this group we will right a majority of the malacies completed in our society…