The Millennial's Big Day

by Alex Steed

Published November 01, 2008 @ 04:29PM PT

[Originally posted on JustMeans by Nathaniel Whittemore - these political opinions don't necessarily reflect those of Millennials Changing America or our sponsors]

Part of coming of age politically in the United States is wrestling with the American mythology and deciding what this place means to you. With that in mind, I've been thinking a lot about my generation this week. What it means to be young in the early 21st century – what challenges we face, what inspiration we find, how we're working to make the world a better place – has been a central exploration of my life since my very first year in college just after September 11th. This week I've had occasion to reflect on that exploration.

This election matters more for my generation than for any other cohort. While we're not yet in power, it is we who will wrestle with the long term consequences of the last few decades: fetishistic deregulation that has undercut our economic infrastructure and too often forced away the view that government has a role in preserving the public good – including the economic public good; arrogant (and poorly executed) wars that have destroyed our credibility abroad, cost billions of dollars (with billions yet to come), killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more; exorbitant national debt with little to show for it; torture, surveillance, and extra-judicial rendition which flout our conscious, our Constitution, the Geneva accords, and every other recognized form of international law; and a callous disregard for our national infrastructure and public education which could threaten our productivity and place in the world for decades. Perhaps above all, we inherit an environment poisoned and gasping in the face of an unsustainable consumption.

If I sound upset, I am. The greatest responsibility of any generation is to be stewards so the next inherit a world safer, more healthy, and more full of opportunity than before. Especially in the last eight years, this generational responsibility has been ignored, and we Millennials are not looking forward to the clean up.

Yet this laundry list of grievances is not all that our parents and their parents are passing along. Obviously there are capital resources from which to build, and the wealth of experience we can draw upon. What's more, the entrepreneurs and big thinkers who have driven the internet revolution have created new opportunities for human connection and ingenuity, and reminded us how powerful innovation can be.

But perhaps my generation's greatest inheritance is our unique philosophical outlook on making the world a better place.

From the Boomers, the generation of the 60s, we've received the tradition of American idealism and revolution; the progressive people power of the Civil Rights, Feminists, and Anti-war movements; a belief (sorry Sarah Palin) in the power of communities coming together and speaking truth to power. We grew up with less segregation and a more rooted belief in fundamental human equality and dignity than any generation before us.

From the Gen-Xers, the generation of the 80s, we've inherited an important skepticism. While for Gen-X, that skepticism tended to manifest itself as a disbelief in the power of government and a rejection of idealism, for us it's a more general skepticism of orthodoxy. We're more comfortable questioning the orthodoxy not only of government and of activism, but also of business.

Where it leaves us is as the inheritors of a tradition of American pragmatism, a skeptical idealism that believes deeply in our power to make the world a better place, but with the ability to learn, adapt, and if necessary, reject approaches to creating positive change that don't deliver on their promise.

It is this pragmatism that gets us excited about new movements in the world of philanthropy and business like social enterprise and social entrepreneurship. And it is this pragmatism, I argued earlier this week, that is one of the most important (and overlooked) elements of our support for Obama's candidacy.

It's not just that his age is closer to ours than it is to John McCain's, or that we're seduced by every platitude about hope and change that come our way (shock!). It's not even only that his programs – including a responsible end to the war in Iraq, new opportunities to serve our country and reduce the cost of education, and investments in cleaner energy that will be instrumental in improving our environment and our economy – are manifestly better for us.

In every measure, Obama is thoughtful, pragmatic, and fiercely committed. His life and politics embrace and reconcile what came before him to produce a deliberative, measured approach to governing that is not ideological, but at the same time not afraid or ashamed of big ideas and the power of belief. In this we see our aspirations for ourselves, we see our future, and we see America. And on Tuesday, we're putting him over the top.