Talene Bilazarian (Johns Hopkins) on Millennials, Values, and America's Future

So we revisit that ancient question, which is as perplexing now as it was to Socrates: “What is the good life, anyway?”

We keep coming back to something loosely called “quality of life,” but the term barely does justice to the millennial’s life quest. Our “good life” centers on a different, barely identifiable commodity. It goes by many names, often “meaning” or “passion” sometimes “purpose” and “social justice”; Gandhi’s “be the change” has become something of a Millennial brand essence.

It’s that search for significance which motivates some of the most counter-intuitive millennial behavior. Our parents watch in confusion as we compete for unpaid internships and spend our precious disposable income on fair trade coffee or TOMS shoes (for every pair you buy, the company donates shoes to a needy child). Only our generation would sacrifice a summer salary to realize career passions and let social justice dictate how we shop.

But many are not so quickly wooed by do-gooder trends and a world-changer spirit. Timothy’s blog questioned “armchair activism” and its ability “to bridge the gap between awareness and action.” Spencer characterized our generation’s “lazy groupthink” and inability to provide “more than lip service to good causes.” Millennials have often rightfully been called slacktivists for their lame and ineffectual attempts at activism. It seems that our generation is far more determined to appear global citizens than participate in the hard or meaningful work required to foster social change. This renders millennial activism a rather selfish aspect of the teenage social code as opposed to a sincere attempt to address human rights or international development.

Though we can criticize the limitations of slacktivism, an evaluation which focuses too intently on “results” misses a subtle, but extraordinary cultural shift. By this I mean, being a humanitarian--or at least looking like one—just got really cool…

Even if we don’t tackle global warming or social inequalities, the millennial attitude is breaking from the past by ascribing personal significance to global issues. The trends that consume us--Ethos water, the Free People store, Prius cars, Livestrong bands--demonstrate global consciousness gone vogue. Even if the international impact is modest, this shift in style has revolutionized consumer choice and American culture by extension. It may be that a generation of gung-ho world-changers are more impactful in shaping the cultural norms of the first world than eradicating poverty in the third. But this is no small feat.

The fact is millennials don’t idolize ownership the way our parents did. That Christmas-card image—family, home, comfort and security—no longer signifies success. We are aiming for an alternative, good life. The dreams we imagine for our fuzzy futures, center on doing work we love that will impact the world around us in extraordinary ways.

Jason Rezepka, VP of MTV’s public affairs explains, ”There’s a growing hunger, particularly from Millennials entering the workforce, to engage in meaningful work that doesn’t just make old, rich, white guys richer.” According to David Maddocks, whose consultancy firm has helped Elle Macpherson, Converse, and Nike market to millennials: “Boomers were about abundance, whereas this generation is about having enough.”

We are a generation which inherited the most extraordinary financial and technological privileges in history. We were raised by parents who brought devotion to new extremes and watched the world flatten before our very eyes. It makes sense that we think globally and aspire to look beyond ourselves as we come of age.

But many are coming to reconsider the intensity of their activism and the price of passion. A blog from the Harvard Business Review splashed across Twitter and Facebook asking: “To Find Happiness, Forget About Passion.” Can we satisfy an intense demand for meaning and purpose when the demands of “real life” catch up? We roll our eyes now at the suburban life, assured that we are too clever to fall into any Death of a Salesman trap. There has to be a shortcut to a comfortable life that doesn’t require living on a cul de sac and turning into our parents. You see, we think we can live without mowing lawns, safe neighborhoods, good schools or a 401(k).

But our assuredness of what we won’t need to face the future is a product of our youth and inexperience. Extraordinary opportunity comes at a cost. If we aim to provide our children with the privileges and security our parents so generously offered us, we will have some sacrificing to do.

One thing is certain, that good life question really is a stumper…