Clara Gustafson (Georgetown) on Millennials, Values, and America's Future

I think that some of the other Millennial Fellows are assuming too much about the nature of our generation. Whether by assuming we are “armchair activists”, as Timothy’s blog discusses, or “we don’t idolize ownership like our parents did”, as Talene’s blog claims, we are not a homogenous bunch. We are diverse. We are different. We argue. We disagree. I am going to disagree.

I think that as each generation comes of age they strive to define themselves. This is what we are working to do right now. We must strive to keep in mind, as we are defining ourselves, to not be too assuming. It is insufficient to say, “we don’t want to own anything” and that we are “armchair activists”. We are more than a certain subsection of ourselves.

From my own experience, I have found that our generation is definitely very idealistic. However, at the same time I think we are a very pragmatic bunch. I have some incredible friends who have founded NGOs. I also have some incredible friends who volunteer for NGOs. I also have some incredible friends who have founded for-profit, socially aware businesses.

If there is one thing I think our generation is pioneering it is the concept of social business. Social business being defined as a for-profit entity with two bottom lines—one keeping track of profit and one measuring the social good that one’s business is doing. Many of the Fellows mention in their blog posts the theme of integration that our generation likes to manifest in many ways throughout society- for example this Symposium where we are discussing the intersections of values, politics, religion and our generation. Social business is a manifestation of our generation’s desire to integrate global awareness, social justice, living wages, and a stable lifestyle all into one entity. I predict that our generation will be one of the most innovative the world has seen in a while in terms of finding new and exciting solutions to problems in fields that are traditionally unrelated.