A Generational Shift?

By TChris, Section Social Justice
Posted on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 05:19:19 PM EST
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There are young Americans like this all over the nation. These two are from Indianapolis:

[George] Srour, 24, was inspired by a Second Presbyterian Church speech given by local civic leader Jim Morris, who at the time was running the United Nations World Food Program. Srour landed an internship with the agency and saw schools in Uganda that didn't have walls or a roof. He raised $35,000 from fellow students at the College of William & and Mary for the first school building. His organization, Building Tomorrow, finished two more schools last month. ...
[Rachel] Sparks, 25, started her film work after learning about girls sold into prostitution in Thailand. She led a small group of young adults to Thailand last year to make a $75,000 documentary.

Remember the Me Generation? Sparks thinks today's 20-somethings belong to a more inclusive, less self-indulgent world. [more ...]

"Many say ours is a generation that is self-involved and apathetic," she said. "The SOLD Project says we are a generation hungry for social justice and full of the passion to create change."

Trends aside, every generation is a collection of individuals, and a percentage of those individuals born every year feel motivated to improve the larger world. What Srour and Sparks are doing on their own will accomplish that goal. For that they deserve our gratitude. If the percentage in Rachel Sparks' generation "hungry for social justice" is large, their opportunities to create lasting and systemic change will multiply.

What do you think? Does the generation of Rachel Sparks and George Srour represent a dramatic shift in the willingness of Americans to focus the government's resources (with or without private sector partnerships) on economic and social injustice in the United States and around the world? Has the clock spun around the dial, to the time when CSN&Y sang:

We can change the world
Rearrange the world
It's dying --
if you believe in justice
and if you believe in freedom
Let a man live his own life
Rules and regulations, who needs them
Open up the door

(And no, to those who watch the linked video, this post is not a prediction that the Denver convention will resemble Chicago 1968. Nor is it an endorsement of a libertarian view of rules and regulations. It's just a link to a cool song. Enjoy.)

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A Generational Shift? | 52 comments (52 topical)

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I don't meet young people like this (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by Democratic Cat on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 05:43:18 PM EST

But I am not as involved in charitable activities as I was when I was in my 20s, so I'm sure they are out there but I just don't come into contact with them. The just-out-of-college people that we hire are very smart, but are also difficult to motivate and they don't understand why they aren't making six figures in their first job.

I hope young men and women like the ones you describe are out there in force. The world needs them.

My older daughter (5.00 / 2) (#4)
by pie on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 05:58:25 PM EST

does environmental mediation, especially land use issues, in DC. But she got on the environment train in 6th grade when she did a Cuyahoga River project.

My younger one does web design for a non-profit in DC, but she is politically and socially aware.

The young people, like those described here, have always been out there. I didn't join the Peace Corps, but I have volunteered all my life. Many of those of my generation still do too, to some degree.

There's no way, however, that this generation is any more involved. You're just seeing it more, thanks to the internet.

[ Parent ]

BTW, (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by pie on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:21:05 PM EST

the older daughter does volunteer work - tutoring young students in DC. But it was my example and her good deeds college sorority that helped set her on that path.

Parents can be great examples.

[ Parent ]

Huh, a good deeds sorority? (none / 0) (#13)
by Democratic Cat on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:07:45 PM EST

Learn something new every day. Good on them.

Actually, my college had one of those; I think it was the only fraternity/sorority allowed on campus.

[ Parent ]

: Yep. (none / 0) (#15)
by pie on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:37:53 PM EST

She went to Iowa State undergrad (MIT graduate school).
Almost, if not every Greek house, had a competition to see who did more for the community.
It was pretty darn cool.

[ Parent ]

Every new generation is damned AND praised (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by Dadler on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 05:57:46 PM EST

And when this one takes to the streets by the hundreds of thousands or millions to end the war in Iraq, then I'll believe there's some massive generational change. 25 years ago, when I was still a teenager, I was sponsoring a child in Africa, working in an inner city school, marching to divest from South Africa. And I certainly wasn't alone or doing that much compared to others I knew.

This generation has more tools at their disposal than any other. They also live in a world of instant communication. So anyone who is involved in anything can get the word out to many people in a fraction of the time it took in previous generations. I would hope they take advantage of the technology and social climate, like every other generation before them did. The difference: they have more to do more with.

As a full-time volunteer for the past 10 years (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by Angel on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:11:43 PM EST

I've seen a lot of young people who volunteer. Some do it for high school credit, some do it for college credit, and some do it because they just want to. What I experienced a few years ago when the job market was bad for the tech sector was a lot of unemployed young people volunteering their time as a way to meet people, network, get something on their resume, do something that utilized some of their talents and occupied some of their time. I also see a lot of Vista and Americorps volunteers and most of these people are eager to work in the non-profit world once they complete their term or their graduate school experience. I have been very impressed with the talent that is coming along. And I do think there are more young people involved than 10 years ago when I left my job for what I'm now doing. Generational shift? I don't know. But it certainly is encouraging to think so.

These are the exceptions... (5.00 / 2) (#6)
by citizen53 on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:18:06 PM EST

not the rule, in my view.

For each of them, there are countless others who go around texting, looking for and idolizing fortune and fame.

I find the young people I speak to on a regular basis to be incredibly uniformed on the issues, but they can tell you who the American Idol is.

I find the more these kids are infected by the media trash, iPhones, and the like, the worse it is. I notice a marked difference between my 20 and 17 year olds. The older one has escaped the influence more, relatively, and thankfully is on the ball so far as current events, but most of his peers seem unaware and unable to see things in perspective.

no, sparks is wrong (5.00 / 2) (#9)
by boredmpa on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:28:20 PM EST

and the two examples don't work too well. In fact, I disagree with them being selected as examples of a charitable/active generation.

In terms of this example:
every generation has great examples of folks with connections; or effort and luck; or that went to the right schools and that went off and helped the world. It is not a generation shift in my mind; even with a cultural change (which i doubt) there is less economic support with this generation.

As to the going off to help the world, it is quintessentially american for them to get more attention than those that help locally with things like habitat or even more specialized local actions like Camp Kesem. But they do prefer to go off into the world because it's a chance to learn about other cultures, travel, and because it's easier when you have a bright outlook to look outwards. It does not dampen your spirit to go fix houses somewhere else, but it might require some introspection if instead you look down the street at blight, or homeless people or healthcare. Some people do, and a lot of people build for habitat for humanity in the US as much as habitat in some other country, but I have family that routinely does so and the actions in the US are usually after a disaster, etc.

I'm not trying to judge, but charity and social entrepreneurship are usually about the self at least as much as the other. So travel+help packages are compelling but don't move me as much as someone that heads down the street to volunteer or starts a nonprofit to help local cancer victims.

In terms of the Me generation:
Regardless of any possible cultural change (which I highly doubt), this generation will probably have far less of a chance to do the things such as in the example or even to head down to a hurricane area with habitat. There will always be youth associated with active churches/communities, but there is a fundamental economic problem for many folks with their ability to generate income, there is a huge decline in intergenerational wealth transfer, and their parents are more cash strapped. So even with possibly cultural factors (IT/information accessibility) I just don't see an increased ability there--unless it's paid for with college loans or peace corps.

And once they're on their own, with the US in the top 5 with hours worked, top 5 with productivity, declining wages, increasing class inequality, and no medical insurance today's youth will be working much more for much less and possibly having to support their parents on the side in old age. Maybe I'm biased because I live in San Fran where many many many middle class career workers have to commute, but I don't see people, on average, having as much time/money to be outwardly focused when they can barely pay rent, have to commute, or want to buy a house someday.

I think there have always been..... (5.00 / 1) (#10)
by Maria Garcia on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:40:37 PM EST

....young people like this. My evidence is that there are people like this in all age groups, and most of them started young. I think one difference is that you are more likely to find young people who do good deeds in flashier ways, like starting their own non profits

I also think that the fact that most school districts and national honor societies require service projects opens up that possibility for more kids today. I know when I was in national honor society a thousand years ago all we had to do was have a certain grade point average. In most high schools I believe you now have to have a high GPA and a certain number of community service hours.

Service learning also rewards projects that are more creative or that are conceptualized by the participants themselves so I think this prepares kids for applying creative thinking to community service.

I think that by and large there is a lot to praise in the current crop of post adolescents, but let's not forget they didn't get that way in a vacuum. There was also some good parenting going on by my generation!

Probably not (5.00 / 1) (#12)
by Valhalla on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:07:13 PM EST

There was a study that came out about a year or so ago showing this current crop of college age kids are the most narcisisstic in the last quarter century or so. I don't think that jibes with the current crop being a reemergence of college activism. Maybe it's not true, but I certainly don't see any trend evidence that as a group they are more activist or concerned about thos around them than previous generations.

Every generation has many, many people who volunteer and contribute to their communities, in ways big and small. How does that saying go -- the plural of anecdote is not data?

I could give many examples from my own experience, and what is made plain daily on the internet, and I think I could give quite a good argument that the opposite is true. But that would mean nothing, either. In fact I fear that a whole generation which is coming of political age in a time where screaming arguments in the MSM and the loss of civility in webworld is de rigeur has become lost to real education, analysis, and positive action in the world. But hey, that's just me.

All that being said, good for Srour and Sparks. I applaud their efforts and admire their energy. Those are tremendous accomplishments.

I think (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by Steve M on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:23:09 PM EST

that it is not really a question of whether this generation is selfish or selfless, it's more a reflection of the economy and the pressures that young people face in whatever era.

Times are tough and people are concerned. Today's graduates have more student loan debt than ever before, and they have no choice but to focus on paying it off. Their parents are facing a tough economic environment and aren't in a position to help out like they might have been in happier times. All of these things play a big factor in rates of volunteerism and altruism at the margins.

: Steve M, (none / 0) (#16)
by pie on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:40:58 PM EST

that is a very good point.
Many of these kids need more guidance thsn they're getting now.

[ Parent ]
: That only goes part way, though (none / 0) (#17)
by Valhalla on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 08:35:10 PM EST

Fewer younger people have a choice in a bad economy -- that's certainly true. But that doesn't mean that in a better economic situation they would necessarily take advantage of it to work in world-betterment fields.
Hmm, another way to say it may be that the existence of the constraint does not equal the existence of the constrained.

[ Parent ]

ever since (5.00 / 1) (#19)
by cpinva on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:33:02 PM EST

ogg climbed out of the primordial ooze onto dry land, and stood on two feet, each succeeding generation has whined about the following generation's "lack of". it's one of life's constants, like pi.

the present generation, like all those before it, has a mix: the doers and non-doers. nothing new there. unfortunately, the non-doers tend to get most of the press. also nothing new.

so no, i don't think there's been a "generational shift", you just happened to read about a couple of the doers. there are many more out there, you just need to look.

2 examples does not a movement make... (5.00 / 2) (#20)
by kredwyn on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:47:51 PM EST

They said the same stuff about my generation...and the ones that came before and after mine.

Non Profit sector (5.00 / 1) (#21)
by Stellaaa on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 10:08:34 PM EST

It amazes me that during the dot.bomb era no one paid attention that America has a real viable and wonderful non profit sector. Young and old people are working in that sector, they are producing and they are changing the world. It's not this generation, its the last 40 years where the non -profit sector has become influential,

sort of right of passage (5.00 / 2) (#24)
by MichaelGale on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 10:57:44 PM EST

every generation deserves a new revolution so said Thomas Jefferson.

I do not blame the generation as much as the environment they were brought up in. I think Bush traumatized the country, just as previous generations were overwhelmed by previous wars and bad administrations. Three generations lived through the Cold War and there were years that we thought we may be bombed any day.

This election was the perfect storm for idealistic
expression. Change, feelings, a new guy running for office who represents the most dramatic change ever in an American election and his rallies giving them power...always the We are, WE can, We are the ones they've been waiting for....

The perfect storm.

Of course, I think this is the most important election ever and Barack Obama is not the one I have been waiting for. (sigh)

: Thats a pretty good (none / 0) (#26)
by Jgarza on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 01:25:17 AM EST

analysis. I 5 rated you.

[ Parent ]
: seems like fertile ground for a ww3. (none / 0) (#30)
by Salo on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 01:38:35 AM EST

Send off your vikings and young men to pillage a burn.

[ Parent ]
: No, BO is not the one I was waiting for either. (none / 0) (#33)
by weltec2 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 03:51:36 AM EST

His feelgood fests are on a par with "Up, up with people!" from the 1960 which never said anything either.

[ Parent ]

Also want to add (5.00 / 2) (#25)
by SoCalLiberal on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 11:04:40 PM EST

I think the high voting among Millenials can be attributed to the great levels of anxiety that we face. Too many of today's young drop out of high school. Today a high school diploma is not enough, college is neccessary. But college capacity is staying the same while demand skyrockets. For those who can get into college, college degrees are no longer enough to guarantee solid employment. And with the increasing costs of tuition and student loan interest rates, most young people find themselves in debt. Moving back in with parents has become the norm as well for many. This is not what many Millenials envisioned.

As (5.00 / 1) (#27)
by Jgarza on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 01:30:18 AM EST

a Mellenial I think you hit my nail on the head. I feel like if I make it to where my parents are it is because they made it and can give me the opportunity to get there. I don't really feel like there is much of opportunity for upward mobility, and beyond that I'm not even sure if the opportunity is there to make it where my parents did.

[ Parent ]

: Just a comment (none / 0) (#50)
by Jgarza on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 07:45:24 PM EST

I'm staying away from criticism of boomers. I have no beef with boomers.

[ Parent ]

I'd have to agree with this too (none / 0) (#32)
by Grace on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 02:52:16 AM EST

though I also agree with the posts above that say every generation has had those involved in social/civic enterprises.

I think there are also more Millenials are voting because the possibility of the Draft being reinstated is very real to them, and their generation isn't that far from those who were drafted for the Vietnam War. The "all volunteer" Military sounds very nice until you hear that they aren't meeting their recruitment goals, and America's history has "The Draft."

[ Parent ]

: In California (none / 0) (#34)
by SoCalLiberal on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 03:54:15 AM EST

We had a record turnout of young people in the primary. I think that immigration played a roll in that. A great many Millenials in California (the number is unknown) have parents who are not here legally and face the prospect of deportation. Many who's parents are here legally still fear anti immigrant discrimination. So they are voting often with their parents in mind.
The draft does produce some fear though not very much because so many think that it won't come back. I believe it could. I also do not think that having the draft will serve as a detterent to unneccesary war (see Vietnam).
Most young people don't vote. It stems from many feeling like they shouldn't have a say in government, general disinterest in politics and government, and constant movement. Voting can be especially difficult. But as we've seen, young people are turning out. Look at the 2004 General, the 2006 General, and the primaries, young voters are coming out to vote.
But voting can be difficult. Voters of all ages have to be prodded in order to go out and vote, they need to be reminded of when election days are, where they need to vote, and how to vote. Young voters are especially prone to not knowing any of these three. I'll give you the example of my neighbors (grad/law students in their early 20's). During the run up to the primary, I didn't see them for weeks until the Sunday before the election and I asked them if they were planning to vote. They were both supporting Hillary but could not vote for her. Why? Because they had registered to vote in Northern California and had forgotten to reregister in LA and not realizing until the last moment, they couldn't vote.

[ Parent ]
: There have been those engaged (none / 0) (#36)
by SoCalLiberal on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 04:13:34 AM EST

in social/civic enterprises in EVERY generation. I think that stories like this are meant to show that even with the current selfish "me-me" generation, that there are those who care about society and are involved in social/civic enterprises.

[ Parent ]

Refreshing thought.... (5.00 / 1) (#45)
by Aqua Blue on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 07:51:40 AM EST

since the wealth of the nation has been stolen, the youth need to focus on something other than money. The accumlation of wealth is not a fulfilling life goal. A sense of community and relaionships are much more satisfying (after basic needs are met, of course).

Unfortunately, I see youth isolating more than ever. In my neighborhood, one rarely sees anyone outside playing...hanging out, etc. Of course, they are so overscheduled they don't have time to just be.

My son is a volonteer, too (5.00 / 1) (#46)
by laurie on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:24:03 AM EST

They all want change, and they're all worried about jobs and their future.

I try now and then to sit down and talk to him about things like the world's not going to end. It'll go on and maybe even get better-who knows?

I remember being surprised when I reached the age of 40- I had been so convinced deep in my heart that there was going to be a nuclear war. That's what comes of watching tv too young during the 50s.

Youth is isolated, but they communicate thru the net. Even Obamabots do.

If a lot of Boomers (1.00 / 1) (#44)
by gyrfalcon on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 07:37:47 AM EST

have a poor opinion of "millenials," it may be because of absurd statements like your last paragraph.

How about Gates and Buffett? (none / 0) (#1)
by MarkL on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 05:21:40 PM EST

They are great examples too.

quick plug (none / 0) (#28)
by Salo on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 01:33:45 AM EST

A high school frined of mine does something in Thailand which i kinda admire:

http://livingandloving.org/AboutUs.html

They are hookig up witht hw un in some capacity soon.

[ Parent ]

: my spelling is off today (none / 0) (#31)
by Salo on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 01:42:09 AM EST

sorry about that. Still, it's great to know the people you grew up with turned out to do something useful for humanity.

[ Parent ]

Never say never (none / 0) (#8)
by koshembos on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:27:32 PM EST

We tend to say that the current generation is not as good as the previous one. This, typically, is a self-centered view of society. WWII soldiers were the best; today students don't read enough; the young have no values,...

I always believed the next generation is smarter and at least as responsible as the previous generation. My youngest is a labor field organizer while he could have been working on Wall Street making millions. I am sure many of us have such stories.

I think this is the narcacism generation. (none / 0) (#11)
by masslib on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:55:09 PM EST

TChris, is you are around, can we have an (none / 0) (#18)
by Teresa on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:15:12 PM EST

open thread?

: There is the open thread (none / 0) (#22)
by standingup on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 10:11:36 PM EST

that BTD posted earlier today with only 29 comments.

[ Parent ]

Actually (none / 0) (#23)
by SoCalLiberal on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 10:36:24 PM EST

I think my generation is very selfish and egocentric. These two people who are quoted are admirable but I'm not sure they're representative. I find that so many my age are all about how they'll get ahead and promote themselves with no thoughts to others whatsover. It's all about school rankings, job titles, and drinking. There are some who say we were coddled too much as kids but I don't think that's the problem. I think the problem is that we've learned from Gen Xers to be selfish. And from the Baby Boomers, we've learned to be cynical and negative.

That said, there are positive signs. Millenials have been voting in record numbers. Those Millenials who do get involved in politics or charitable works tend to be very serious and very driven.

Selfish Gen X-ers? (5.00 / 1) (#47)
by snstara on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:46:23 AM EST

I'll buy 'cynical' - we grew up watching the Watergate hearings instead of cartoons, and we experienced the immediate and hideous impact of Reagan's domestic policies. (My friend's family lost his father's death benefits; school lunches became a joke - ketchup as a vegetable, anyone?) Who wouldn't become a cynic after that?

But selfish? Malarkey. I went to college in DC: which meant we got to see homeless people, up close and personal, sleeping on the grates every night right in front of the White House. Plenty of us became, and remained, activists, as a direct result of the policies of the Reagan/Bush I years. But hey, I had a friend back in those days who blamed everything on the boomers. So I understand the need for each generation to tar the previous with a broad brush of 'it's all your fault'.

Praise of Reagan, by the way, is one area where Obama became a non-entity for me. The cluelessness about women just clinched the deal.

[ Parent ]

cynical and negative? (none / 0) (#39)
by weltec2 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 04:48:54 AM EST

I was sitting in my 9th grade History class. My history teacher was lecturing. I will never forget this as long as I live. There was an announcement over the intercom. "President Kennedy has been shot and killed in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. All classes are hereby dismissed for the rest of the day."

Not a word was spoken by anyone. Except for a few girls crying, there was no sound. We closed our books and binders and got up and left. I heard not one word spoken by anyone, not even whispers, in the hall as shocked and disoriented students and teachers walked through the halls and out of the building and went home. That's how powerful that was.

That was probably the first national disaster that was shown over and over and over again on national television... and hearing the gun shots like popcorn and then later being told there was only one shot fired. Lee Harvey Oswald. Move along. Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone. Move along. Move along. Nothing more to see here. And knowing that we will never know who had killed our young emperor, to have him just taken from us like that and then told to move along. And then the Warren Commission snow job.

We were not ready but we were not surprised when MLK was killed in 68 and then Bobby was taken two months later. Perhaps where some of the cynicism was already beginning to manifest itself. Then so much of the hope of the sixties ended at the Democratic National Convention that August. Woodstock had turned to Altamont even in the political theater.

[ Parent ]

For those of us born in the 1980's (none / 0) (#40)
by SoCalLiberal on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 05:26:26 AM EST

having parents and being surrounded by those their age who had seen hopes fade in the late 60's tended to promote cynicism and negativity. That's why you see the rise of libertarianism.

[ Parent ]

: perhaps our terms (none / 0) (#42)
by weltec2 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 06:02:41 AM EST

need to be more carefully defined.
Cynicism and negativity are one thing. I don't think they strictly engender libertarianism. Evil is quite another thing.
In any case... I think Robert Nozick was a nutcase who should have been locked up in a mental institution and Milton Friedman should have been tried and convicted of complicity in a long list of crimes against humanity for which he was largely -- though he argued only indirectly -- responsible. Unfortunately for the world their evil libertarian worldviews have outlived them in their books.

[ Parent ]
: Seriously, (none / 0) (#43)
by weltec2 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 06:10:17 AM EST

are you blaming the Chicago School of Economics on the 60's? That's a very broad statement that you've made.

[ Parent ]

i know I'm self isnh and self centered. (none / 0) (#29)
by Salo on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 01:36:57 AM EST

and i'm not much worse than my peers.

: All of us have a self-centered side at times. (5.00 / 1) (#38)
by DeborahNC on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 04:42:28 AM EST

Before I became a mother I was always thinking about my career, my education, my view of the world, etc. But after my son was born, I had a 180 degree perspective shift. After all of the time I'd been thinking me, me, me, I started thinking about him!!
Although I'd volunteered before and made time to help others, I began thinking of "the world" more--all of us collectively. It was really wonderful, and retrospectively, quite fascinating. I've heard other parents express similar feelings.

[ Parent ]

I'm also in SoCal (none / 0) (#37)
by Grace on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 04:37:19 AM EST

but I'm a Boomer. I never benefitted from being a Boomer. I moved to Southern California in the early '80s and there was a horrendous recession then. Unemployment was over 10% so things were not easy.

To top that all off, I have a college degree that has almost no use anymore because the world has moved on. I should be middle class, but I'm not.

We've not been prepared to compete in the globalized world and this is a problem.

This is a HUGE problem. You can see it here in SoCal more than in other parts of the country. Where it used to be common to ask for bilingual employees (English/Spanish), here I see a lot of people looking for tri-lingual and quadrilingual employees -- even for stupid jobs like grocery store clerks. It's almost impossible to find a job if you are "uni-lingual" because the world doesn't operate that way. There are new jobs that are coming to the USA because of Free Trade but most of us won't be able to qualify for them because we don't have the language skills needed!

On top of that, I see all the things that are being done in "New Media" (the internet) and I might be able to do some of them but I'd need to go back to school to learn "New Media." My college degree, which I got 30 years ago, is no good anymore. My industry is vanishing.

The USA has a ton of problems. They won't be fixed easily and I don't believe ANYONE currently in office or running for office can fix them. They are all mired in the past (including Obama, regardless what you think of him). There is no great new savior that is going to rescue us all. We are going to have to figure this out for ourselves.

: There is no single politician (none / 0) (#41)
by SoCalLiberal on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 05:32:25 AM EST

who can be the great savior. However, I do believe that collectively, politicians can act to help this country. They've done it many times before. It is our job to push them to do this.

[ Parent ]

It's the Economy.... (none / 0) (#48)
by bmc on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 09:10:01 AM EST

Admirable qualities exemplified in both young people you have highlighted. Unfortunately, this generational shift will be short-lived because the global economic situation will soon begin to limit their focus to saving themselves. Survival will be their primary goal in a world in which pensions and health coverage will be non-existent, and so will the concept of retirement; and 401-Ks will be risky in a global investment world run by Hedge Funds that have no regulatory oversight. The current economic roller-coaster ride will settle into a very grim outlook for their future economic security. There is a shift coming alright; but it isn't the one which will will help save the world. It's the one in which their future will be, for the first time, less rosy than their parents.

Call me Cassandra. But the future will be very grim for these hopeful idealistic and admirable young adults.

As a child of the 80's.... (none / 0) (#49)
by kdog on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 10:03:32 AM EST

the message was clear from all around..."get rich or get f*cked". Money money money. My old man used to say "don't be like me toiling your whole life, be smart and get rich". But rich to me was being like Gordon Geico or the S&L crooks...I deciced I'd rather be like my old man, even if it meant getting f*cked.

It's easier on the soul than doing the f*cking, I think.

But that's me, I'm a weirdo...I think most of my generation bought into the whole money, money, money message we were inundated with since childhood.

The youth in my church (none / 0) (#51)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 12:28:32 PM EST

spend a lot of time dong charitable works like building/maintaining schools in Mexico, bringing shoes and clothes to LA's homeless on skid row, bringing food aid and Christmas presents, etc., to illegal foreign workers, etc.

I think these types of examples of American youth are more common than some might think.

The heart of the matter (none / 0) (#52)
by sparks on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 03:09:09 PM EST

you've taken an article about the efforts made by two individuals to make this world a better place... Education for children (our future) and helping free children caught in sexual slavery (our future)... and turned it into something political, pointing fingers, and giving titles.

Not the intention of the real article nor of the two individuals highlighted in it.

: That's one hell of a first post. (none / 0) (#53)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 03:24:07 PM EST

Kudos.

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