I've often heard older adults lament that they have lost hope in humanity because of my generation. They often say that our dependence on technology has prevented us from forming any true relationships. They claim that simple things, such as selfies and "Pokemon Go," have made us selfish, immature, and incapable of holding together society when time comes. According to these downers, our opinions are always wrong, we never make an actual difference, and our favorite hobby is complaining and expecting things to be given to us. Perhaps these old folks do not understand our interests and actions. Perhaps they do not understand that the struggles we face go far beyond what Snapchat filter to use. Perhaps they are just following the long-held tradition of despising anything to do with the new youngsters. Whatever the reason, I find these statements to be irritating because they are wildly inaccurate.
Despite endless cranky assertions that my generation is ubiquitously vapid, I find millennials to be very involved in the societal issues. We were exposed to many harsh realities at a very young age. We were raised through the terror attacks of 9/11 and through the devastation of a historic recession. It's scary as a child or a teenager to watch your country struggle. To watch friends' parents lose their jobs, unable to find decent employment. To hear rumors that gas prices will reach five dollars a gallon. To sit in your English class or go to work knowing that people die doing those exact things, victims of shooting rampages and suicide bombers. It can feel so helpless, and millennials know this. So we have become politically active so that we can change it so we can help ourselves. We aren't happy with the injustices we see and seek to fix them for future generations. I have seen firsthand the types of community work and activism that millennials are involved with on my college campus. We really do care because tomorrow we will inherit yesterday's mistakes.
Because of our changing world, millennials have learned to be intelligent and hard working. College costs have increased exponentially in recent years, as has the need for a degree. No longer is it possible to be guaranteed a sustaining job without an additional education. Even after a rigorous education and monumental student debt, young people today face an extremely tough job market. Students can work and study full time and are still berated for not "picking themselves up by their bootstraps" when they vocalize their desire for a change in our educational system. The hard truth is that many of us don't even have bootstraps to pull. No, we haven't been handed much in life. Our generation has been toughened by our economic situation, which is absolutely worse than that of any prior generation. We simply want the fair shots that our predecessors were given, and we are willing to fight so that our children can have just that.
Millennials matter because we are the future. It doesn't matter if we, or anybody else, likes it; we will inherit this world one day. Those of future generations may disagree, but I know that my generation is full of resourceful and compassionate leaders. I'm proud of my peers, and I'm confident that we can lead this country in a better direction. Even if you don't agree with our beliefs and agendas, you have to admit that we do have the power to change history. Millennial involvement in the 2016 presidential election can show you that. We care because if we don't then everything will fall apart on us. The problems that were inherited are monumental so we have prepared ourselves to handle them. The most cynical older folks may still not believe me, but that's fine. They can complain about me over reruns of old soap operas while I stream the Democratic National Convention live on my iPhone and think about how I'm going to make the future better.
