The Millennial generation—an epoch to whose membership I belong—is, much like generations that preceded us, unique in outlook, in worldview, in groupthink. But to say our values are fundamentally different mischaracterizes the identity of the millennial generation.
The so-called "liberal ideal" is still the strongest current flowing through the values river of our generation. We uphold freedom, equality, fairness, and believe in actualized economic justice and social justice.
And true, we did not invent these characteristics; we inherited them.
However, while our fundamental values are rooted firmly in the same footholds of our counterculture driven parents, greatest generation grandparents, and beyond, it is our perspective, our vantage point regarding these values that is unique.
We are daringly confident while demandingly conflicted. We express and hone our shared values through new mediums- Facebook, twitter, and the like. Unlike the greatest generation, we don't necessarily need to express our values of freedom and democracy by enlisting. We enlist in Facebook groups and click 'like' to raise awareness, and dollars and cents. Our activism isn't any weaker, or more constrained, by technology; it is enlarged and expanded.
There is an undeniable sense of individualism, a bulwark value of American greatness, in these mediums. This here is my Facebook page; this is what I'm interested in, these are my friends and photos of myself- this is a window unto my world.
But we are not solely individual creatures, no, far from it. These same drivers of individualism-- social networks-- are exactly that, networks and webs. It is a web motivated by the same shared sense of interests, passions, and community, a brethren-like display of power. We mobilize on Groupon as a community to receive better discounts and tweet together as a generation to organize Occupy protests. We are individuals, but, like those before us, the value of the sum continues to outweigh the parts.
Are we a generation defined by technology but bereft of our own value system? Perhaps. But I would humbly suggest, in 140 characters or less, that it isn't our fundamental values that should drive the millennial generations ambitions, visions, protests and celebrations. It is how we express these values, through methods that reach more of us than ever possible; a notion that also allows us to instill these governing values in those who face more insurmountable challenges around the globe.
The goal of a generation is not always to enrich oneself but to enrich the subsequent surveyors and protectors of the Earth. Our values have not changed all that much, to be frank, but the ability to spread these values, through the buzz and hum of individualized social network webs, has changed the game. It has changed the millennial generation and how we perceive the world; we have the technology to alter it for the better and the confidence to do it.
History will write not that the millennial generation “changed the game,” but rather changed how the game spread to those previously mired on the sidelines. The game is freedom, equality, and justice. The goal has never been to deviate but rather to demonstrate why these values have persevered for two centuries— and if up to my generation, for many more years to many more people.
