The Summit Generation
We have been called "Millennials," "Gen Y" and "DotNets." We're the generation born after about 1978. We don't really know what we are yet. But, don't confuse us with the older Gen Xers, the "undesirables," as my mother would say. So what exactly are we? What do we think and what will we become?
About 18 percent of us are Latino, according to the Pew Research Center, twice as much as the Baby Boom generation. Approximately 38 percent of us are a racial minority compared to just 15 percent of the World War II generation.
Most of us think Jerry Falwell and Bob Jones are idiots. At 58 percent, we're twice as likely as the oldest generation to support additional gay rights, like adoption. When asked if interracial dating is acceptable, 91 percent of our generation "completely agrees" or "agrees," compared to just 74 percent for the rest of society.
In fact, we're generally more socially progressive, except in one surprising area: abortion. Teenage abortions have plummeted from Gen X rates of 100 per 1000 women to just 40 per 1000 women for our generation. We are less likely than any other generation to think that abortion should be generally available and the most likely to think it should never be permitted.
We're kind of prude, according to statistics from Planned Parenthood. About 54 percent of Gen X high school students reported having sexual intercourse, compared to less than 50 in our generation. We also have fewer sexual partners, but maybe we just have poorer memories or are better liars. In the early 90s, 42 percent of high school students reported having a drug free school - today 63 percent have that impression.
We hate Lou Dobbs. Just 34 percent of us think immigration is a big problem compared to 50 percent of the oldest generation. We're also less likely to see immigrants as a burden and more likely to think of immigrants as strengthening America. We're more likely to view Islam as a good and peaceful religion.
We walk Wall Street. We're significantly more likely than any other generation to have a favorable opinion of corporations and of private retirement accounts.
Fewer people in our generation have an accurate sense of the number of U.S. troop deaths in Iraq than older generations. This is disturbing given that we're the generation that has pals, lovers and family stationed in the area. We're also much less likely to display the American flag.
Our political identity seems to be forming as a fusion of progressive social values and free market appreciation. This is good news for my moderate third party that I am still predicting will rise up because of our generation's disdain for extremists and dolts on both sides.
I call us the Summit Generation. We have all the opportunities that previous generations hoped some future would. We've reached the top. Yes, I know, my nickname is just as stupid as the other ones, but it's fitting. We're pluralistic, tolerant, energetic, ambitious and smart. Most importantly, we're optimistic (well, at least 72 percent are about the future of our generation).
About 18 percent of us are Latino, according to the Pew Research Center, twice as much as the Baby Boom generation. Approximately 38 percent of us are a racial minority compared to just 15 percent of the World War II generation.
Most of us think Jerry Falwell and Bob Jones are idiots. At 58 percent, we're twice as likely as the oldest generation to support additional gay rights, like adoption. When asked if interracial dating is acceptable, 91 percent of our generation "completely agrees" or "agrees," compared to just 74 percent for the rest of society.
In fact, we're generally more socially progressive, except in one surprising area: abortion. Teenage abortions have plummeted from Gen X rates of 100 per 1000 women to just 40 per 1000 women for our generation. We are less likely than any other generation to think that abortion should be generally available and the most likely to think it should never be permitted.
We're kind of prude, according to statistics from Planned Parenthood. About 54 percent of Gen X high school students reported having sexual intercourse, compared to less than 50 in our generation. We also have fewer sexual partners, but maybe we just have poorer memories or are better liars. In the early 90s, 42 percent of high school students reported having a drug free school - today 63 percent have that impression.
We hate Lou Dobbs. Just 34 percent of us think immigration is a big problem compared to 50 percent of the oldest generation. We're also less likely to see immigrants as a burden and more likely to think of immigrants as strengthening America. We're more likely to view Islam as a good and peaceful religion.
We walk Wall Street. We're significantly more likely than any other generation to have a favorable opinion of corporations and of private retirement accounts.
Fewer people in our generation have an accurate sense of the number of U.S. troop deaths in Iraq than older generations. This is disturbing given that we're the generation that has pals, lovers and family stationed in the area. We're also much less likely to display the American flag.
Our political identity seems to be forming as a fusion of progressive social values and free market appreciation. This is good news for my moderate third party that I am still predicting will rise up because of our generation's disdain for extremists and dolts on both sides.
I call us the Summit Generation. We have all the opportunities that previous generations hoped some future would. We've reached the top. Yes, I know, my nickname is just as stupid as the other ones, but it's fitting. We're pluralistic, tolerant, energetic, ambitious and smart. Most importantly, we're optimistic (well, at least 72 percent are about the future of our generation).
posted by Billy Joe Mills at 10:45 AM
3 Comments:
Billy,
The only comment I'd like to make on your article is that the existence on the third party comprised of moderate politics taken from both the left and the right is narrowminded at best. The belief that somehow the best course of action is the middle ground between conservative and liberal politics could not be further from the truth. This suggests that the Democratic and Republican parties together embody every possible plan of action, idea, and sentiment in America. In short, this smacks of blind obedience in a two party system which you've grown up with and remain unable to distance from yourself. After all, isn't the moderate party you wish for nothing more than an organization and a buzzword title to the American policies which are enacted by the checks and balances of the Republican/Democrat structure of our government. Are American policies not already largely a byproduct of the two parties constantly jockeying for power? Hindsight is always 20/20, and oftentimes, the ability to understand the right and legitimate course of action is difficult, but to somehow assume that a combination of Democratic and Republican ideas is always the best compromise is a poor excuse for "tyranny by the masses."
Cowardly Anonymous Person,
You said, "In short, this smacks of blind obedience in a two party system which you've grown up with and remain unable to distance from yourself."
This is silly and hilariously contradictory to my whole prediction. What I favor is breaking down the two-party system, not maintaining it. That's the whole idea behind a moderate, McCain-Lieberman Party. Was that not clear to you? Is your screen dusty?
Often neither party has the solution, that's why I favor MORE parties. That includes Greens and Socialists and Falwells and Moderates and whatever we'd like.
The Moderate Party would not enact the same policies as what are produced by two parties under checks and balances. When the Dems are in control policy swings to the left, when Repubs are in control policy swings to rights. Policy eras swing as a pendulum. But with a Moderate Party policy would consistently be a fusion of the best ideas of both sides. And not just the best Dem and Repub ideas, but the best liberal and conservative. It wouldn’t draw from just the parties, but from both philosophies, or even all philosophies if you have a 3-D view of things.
The Moderate thesis is based off of the pluralistic and tolerant idea that all sides have something valuable to contribute. If you agree that this is true and that the highest form of attainable truth (Notice no capital “T”) is somewhere in the middle, some sophisticated fusion of both sides, then you must concede that a Moderate Party would be closest in their prescriptions to that truth. It is a powerful and progressive thought.
Your accusation of “tyranny by the masses” is not even cogent, so I cannot even respond to it.
~Billy Joe Mills
I'm a little confused as to why a moderate party would "would be closest in their prescriptions" to the ideal policies. I don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence, because I know you know this, but no public policy possibilities exist along a two-dimensional sliding scale, as it were; nor do Democrats and Republicans always err on opposite sides of an issue. For that matter, the "Moderate thesis" is also patently untrue--not everyone has something valuable to add.
The ideal policy isn't a mixture of left and right; it's whatever makes the most sense.
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