Last month, Sarah wrote about the GOP recently pushing a “youth are leaving Obama” narrative. One of the major sources for these conservative columnists is a new ‘youth’ organization called Generation Opportunity.

Since its public announcement on June 1, 2011, Generation Opportunity has become one of the largest and fastest growing organizations targeting young Americans through social media, issue education, and grassroots mobilization. Generation Opportunity’ s facebook page – Being American – has rapidly grown to over 650,000 fans.

Generation Opportunity Press Release, July 1, 2011

Most of us who are actually in the youth movement had never heard anything about this “largest and fastest growing” youth organization until their press release blitz, and many of us were puzzled by how different their “research” results were from existing research. Out of curiosity, I decided to dig deeper into this organization.

Here is how Generation Opportunity describes itself:

Generation Opportunity is a non-profit, non-partisan 501 c4 organization that seeks to engage everyone from young adults, early career professionals, college students, young mothers and fathers, construction workers, current service men and women, veterans, entrepreneurs and all Americans who find themselves dissatisfied with the status quo and willing to create a better tomorrow.

Generation Opportunity operates on a strategy that combines advanced social media tactics with proven field tactics to reach Americans 18-29. The organization announced its first communications platform – “Being American,” a Facebook page that has already amassed a fan base of more than 650,000.

Generation Opportunity currently has a website (just an email sign-up landing page), a Facebook group (for “Being American,” not Generation Opportunity), and a series of press releases.

THE PRESS RELEASES

June 14, 2011: As Economy Further Impacts Young People, “Generation Opportunity” Takes Flight to Educate & Organize Them on Current Issues

July 1, 2011: As Americans Prepare To Celebrate July 4th – Majority Of Millennials Embrace American Exceptionalism

July 8, 2011: Generation Opportunity Reacts to Job Numbers: US Department of Labor Jobless Numbers Underscore Mounting Challenges for Millennials

July 18, 2011: Generation Opportunity Poll: As Congress and President Battle on Debt Ceiling, Young Hispanics (18 – 29 Year Olds) Prefer Spending Cuts Over Taxes by Close to 3 to 1

July 26, 2011: Generation Opportunity Poll: Young Americans (18-29) Rate America’s Debt as the Top National Security Issue

July 28, 2011: Self-Identified Independents Ages 18-29 Say to Washington, “You Do Not Reflect Our Interests, America is on the Wrong Track,” According to Generation Opportunity Poll

August 5, 2011: More Signs That a Generation of Young Americans (18-29) Have Been Left Adrift by Joblessness as Anemic Jobs Numbers Are Released – Generation Opportunity Statement

August 18, 2011: Young Americans (18-29) Say Less Government, Not More, is Solution to Lack of Jobs in Generation Opportunity Poll

These releases fit suspiciously well within the conservative narrative. Millennials are apparently big on tax cuts, hate government spending, are American exceptionalists, believe the national debt is the most severe national security concern, and support expanding domestic coal and oil.

Prior research by the Pew Research Center showed that Millennials hold a more favorable view of the government than prior generations. From Millennial Makeover:

Millennials, also to a greater degree than members of older generations, have confidence in the federal government and are more likely to favor a clear, rather than ancillary role for it in American life. A decisive majority (64%) of Millennials disagrees with the statement, ‘When the federal government runs something it is usually inefficient and wasteful,’ while 58 percent of older generations agree with that harsh appraisal. Millennials are also substantially less likely to believe that the federal government should run only those things that can’t be run at the local level (63% vs. 71%).

These more favorable Millennial Generation attitudes toward the federal government are not simply a matter of ‘normal’ youthful liberalism. Millennials today are far less likely than Gen-Xers were in the late 1980s to believe that the federal government is usually wasteful and inefficient (32% for Millennials, 47% for young Gen-Xers) and that it should do only what can’t be done at the local level (63% vs. 76%) (Pew Research Center 2007a).

Pew also found that:

• 73% of Millennials believe the government should take care of people who can’t take care of themselves.
• 59% of Millennials believe the government should help more needy people even if it involves debt increases.
• 73% of Millennials support federally guaranteed health insurance for all Americans even if it requires tax increases.
• 69% of Millennials favor a bigger government that provides more services.

While the GOP has made gains with young white males (though just how much is in question do to an oversampling of the south in the cited report) since the period those surveys were done, overall the ethnically diverse Millennials have not drastically changed, with the majority of disappointment in Washington coming from the left:

But the political enthusiasms of Millennials have since cooled -for Obama and his message of change, for the Democratic Party and, quite possibly, for politics itself. About half of Millennials say the president has failed to change the way Washington works, which had been the central promise of his candidacy. Of those who say this, three-in-ten blame Obama himself, while more than half blame his political opponents and special interests.

To be sure, Millennials remain the most likely of any generation to self-identify as liberals; they are less supportive than their elders of an assertive national security policy and more supportive of a progressive domestic social agenda. They are still more likely than any other age group to identify as Democrats.

THE FACEBOOK PAGE

Generation Opportunity bases their legitimacy on the number of followers on their Facebook page, “Being American.” At the time of writing, the page has just under 940,000 fans, which would be very impressive for an organization that was publicly announced less than 3 months ago. According to their announcement press release, their fan page already had over 600,000 fans before they even publicly announced their existence. That is a little bit too impressive. Rock the Vote has been around for 20 years and only has 68,000 fans. The RNC only has 236,000 and the DNC 266,000. They even have more fans than John McCain. Then again, Generation Opportunity doesn’t have any fans, “Being American” does. Apparently, “Being American” is a Generation Opportunity project. Here is the timeline:

• In November of 2010, someone associated with what is now Generation Opportunity created a non-profit page called “Being American” in order to mislead people into becoming fans.
• On May 28, 2011, the page publishes a post about a new organization called Generation Opportunity asking people to sign up for the email list on the website. The profile picture is changed to add the Generation Opportunity logo at the bottom, though the thumbnail remained unchanged.
• On May 31, 2011, the page again solicits list sign-ups for a new organization, not mentioning to their fans that they themselves are the new organization.

Anyone who has liked “Being American” on Facebook because they like being American is unwillingly being counted as a supporter of this organization, and Generation Opportunity is using these people as ‘evidence’ that they are legitimate and “one of the largest and fastest growing organizations targeting young Americans.” This is astroturfing 2.0.

Their Facebook photos consist of a couple of stock images, including the original page’s initial profile picture of a soldier hugging a little girl uploaded on November 15, 2010. It was not until someone added the Generation Opportunity logo to the previous profile picture of a stylized eagle and a flag on May 28, 2011 that there was any indication that people were now fans of Generation Opportunity. One person commented on said photo saying “I didn’t know being American was a project.” In fact, the page’s thumbnail looks exactly the same as it did before the Generation Opportunity branding was added, so people who do not click through the page still think it is for being American:

Instead of asking open-ended questions for feedback from the community, the majority of posts ask fans to like a conservative position or a loaded question. Here are some examples:

This article argues that raising taxes in order to reduce the federal deficit will especially affect areas where unemployment is already above average and growth is sluggish, ultimately raising unemployment even higher. LIKE this post if you think that reducing taxes and cutting federal spending is ultimately the best way to get more Americans working again!

Warren Buffet said that the rich need to bear a higher burden for the taxation of America. However, according to actual IRS data, the richest 1% of Americans already pay more than 95% of all the rest of America. The top 3% already pay more than the bottom 97% of Americans. LIKE this if you think that raising taxes on the wealthy is not the primary solution to fixing America’s debt problem.

Thousands of Atlanta residents showed up for a job fair and waited in line for hours in the heat to get inside. Some camped out overnight desperate to find a job. LIKE this to show your support for your fellow Americans who are struggling to make ends meet and think the government needs get out of the way to let American businesses create opportunities for American citizens looking for work.

According to the Dep’t of Agriculture’s Secretary Vilsack, food stamps are the “most direct stimulus you can get” because buying food at grocery stores means people are stocking, processing, and shipping food items. LIKE this post if you think real stimulus comes from the American people and the feds need to roll back regulations and government spending so we can create jobs and lessen dependence on federal programs!

Reading through the posts and comments since the page was created in November 2010, you can see evidence of people who began to realize they were misled. Here are some fan comments:

“I don’t think this site is about being American. It’s more about being Republican.”

“Can you change the name of this group to “Being Republican”? We don’t even celebrate America in the posts, we celebrate how much we love Republican talking points.”

“To whoever controls this page: You need to use more politically neutral language.”

“Since when did this become a bashing page on Obama???”

“i liked this group because i thought “being american” was something we could all agree regardless of political beliefs. this is a place for shared patriotism not empty political rhetoric”

“As a general rule, let’s not put something from the Heritage Foundation on what is supposed to be a non-partisan page.”

“Hating “ObamaCare” AKA the “law of the land” is not what “Being American” is about. This page is partisan, and this page blows.”

“If I wanted to here sob stories from the rich i’d watch fox. Thought this group was gonna be fun, not tea party political.”

“One more thing, I don’t know who runs this joint. But please try posting topics from a neutral standpoint and let it be fleshed out amongst your viewers. Asking biased questions is no way to run a page. I agree with this particular post; but you’re asking people to hate you. Then again, what do I know…”

“Who in the hell writes these Being American status updates..the Koch brothers?!”

“Wow I didnt realize being American was so hatefull and angry. This page is not what I thought it was so I will be disliking it.”

“Didn’t realize that “being American” would have so much political bias.”

“Yea, Im officially unliking this page and spreading the word, I thought it was about being American and the UNBIASED views of our nation. You cant fool this U.S. Soldier. Goodbye and Hooah!”

“Is Being American just another site that says liberals are unpatriotic?”

“A page called “Being American” should be about all Americans and about the greatness of our country as a whole and not simply a mouthpiece for right-wing ideologues. If this page isn`t going to honor the experience and wisdom of all types of Americans, then the name should be changed to “Being Conservative” or Being Republican.”

“So what’s the point of this post? I love being American, but this page is nothing but political bashing.”

“For real though, since when does “Being American” mean Obama-bashing? Asshole Facebook page, dislike”

“The moderators are once again showng their true colors as partisan hacks, I see…LIKE this post if you think the moderators need to quit carrying water for one political party and ideology and live up to the billing of this group.”

“Wow, I’m leaving this page. It has nothing to do with being an American any more. It is clearly slanted in one direction.”

“Wait, so for me to like being american, i have to be conservative and not completely check facts?”

“Like this post, and all others from this group, if you think Bias and push polls rule!”

“This page should be renamed, “Being Conservative,” Because almost half of Americans’ views are ignored completely.”

And there are a lot more where that came from.

In other news, I would like to announce “Pizza: A Future Majority project.”

SECRECY IS SUSPICIOUS

In a Daily Caller profile about Generation Opportunity entitled Rock the Right: Free-market activists eye youth vote, which inadvertently outs the organization, Generation Opportunity president Paul T. Conway refused to disclose who is financially backing the 501(c)(4).

Generation Opportunity’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy make up 99% of their website’s content, with no list of who is involved in the organization or how to contact them with the exception of a generic mailto email link when you click “Contact Us,” an Arlington, VA P.O. box c/o Generation Opportunity spokesman Matthew Faraci listed in the privacy policy, and an office suite also in Arlington, VA c/o Faraci in the DMCA Takedown section of the terms of use. In addition, the generationopportunity.org domain name was privately registered via proxy to prevent people from seeing who paid for the URL.

Neither Generation Opportunity nor The Polling Company/WomenTrend has released crosstabs or demographic data for any of the polling cited in their press releases.

GENERATION OPPORTUNITY: THE PLAYERS

There are only three people publicly associated with Generation Opportunity: Paul T. Conway, the organization’s president, Kellyanne Conway, the organization’s pollster, and Matthew Faraci, Senior Vice-President for Communications.

Paul T. Conway

Paul T. Conway was formerly Chief of Staff to George W. Bush’s Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, who is now a Distinguished Fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Prior to this position he was Chief of Staff to George W. Bush’s Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James and Chief of Staff of the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding under Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

He was appointed to the Virginia Board of Health Professions by Gov. Bob McDonnell in 2010.

He was staff at the Heritage Foundation:

Paul T. Conway most recently served as Deputy Director of the Citizen Project at the Heritage Foundation. During his tenure with the Heritage Foundation, Conway coordinated a series of national public policy dialogues for faith and community leaders on a variety of issues, including education and health care reform and faith-based initiatives.

He was listed as faculty for the openly conservative youth organization, the Leadership Institute. Although his faculty bio page has been deleted, its existence is revealed using a Google cache and an event page for a Civic Service Opportunity school that links to his now deleted page as one of the trainers. Here is the mission statement for the Leadership Institute:

The Leadership Institute’s mission is to increase the number and effectiveness of conservative activists and leaders in the public policy process. To accomplish this mission, the Institute identifies, recruits, trains, and places conservatives in government, politics, and the media.

Founded in 1979 by its president, Morton C. Blackwell, the Leadership Institute (LI) teaches conservatives the nuts and bolts of how to succeed in the public policy process.

The Institute strives to produce a new generation of public policy leaders unwavering in their commitment to free enterprise, limited government, strong national defense, and traditional values. Institute graduates are equipped with practical skills and professional training to implement sound principles through effective public policy.

He graduated from the University of Maine in 1986, putting him in his mid-40s.

Kellyanne Conway

Kellyanne Conway is the owner and principal of The Polling Company/WomenTrend, the firm responsible for the polls cited in Generation Opportunity releases. Her current/previous clients include The Heritage Foundation, Massachusetts Republican Party, Mercer County Republican Committee (NJ), National Republican Congressional Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, Republican National Committee, Republicans for Environmental Protection, American Life League, Americans for Tax Reform, Americans United for Life, Family Research Council, Family Security Matters, The Federalist Society, National Right to Life Committee, The Susan B. Anthony List, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, as well as a number of other corporate, government, and non-profit clients. According to her bio:

Kellyanne has worked for leaders such as the late Congressman Jack Kemp; former Vice President Dan Quayle; Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich; Senator Fred Thompson and Congressman Mike Pence, the Chairman of the House Republican Conference and the third-highest ranking Republican in the House.

She was a speaker for the aforementioned Leadership Institute in September of 2001 (video here). Her bio on the Leadership Institute page lists her as a board member of the Young Republican National Federation and the Young Elephants PAC. At one time she was listed as one of the “30 Most Powerful People in Generation X in America.”

She is married to attorney George T. Conway III (I do not know if he and Paul T. Conway are related), the tobacco lawyer who was Paula Jones’ secret advisor and alleged Drudge Report source.

Matthew Faraci

Matthew Faraci, who uses the title Senior Vice-President for Communications, is Generation Opportunity’s spokesman and press release contact.

Faraci was previously Vice-President of Communications and Marketing for Americans United for Life, spokesman for the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, and “spokesman for former Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao and also handled press operations for the Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration and Mine Safety and Health Administration.” He was press secretary for former Indiana Congressman John N. Hostettler and a producer on PBS’s The McLaughlin Group and Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg.

Here is a video of Faraci at the 2008 Republican National Convention on why he supports John McCain (hint: it involves cutting government spending):

He also has another video rant from the RNC Convention as well as a guest segment on an Americans for Tax Reform bloggers briefing about the anti-abortion role in fighting health care reform (Stupak).

He graduated from Calvin College in 1998, putting him in his mid-30s.

What they all have in common

For an organization that claims to be large and encompassing, it certainly seems to be composed of a small, tight-knit heterogeneous group of people.

• All of them are heavily involved in conservative organizations and causes.
• All of them worked in or for Elaine Chao’s Labor Department.
• None of them are Millennials
• Paul T. Conway’s employers, the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and the Heritage Foundation, were clients of Kellyanne Conway’s The Polling Company/WomenTrend.

The most interesting thing is that all of them are on a crusade against government spending despite the fact that they spent a large portion of their careers as federal employees/contractors. I mean, Faraci even worked for PBS!

CONCLUSION

Generation Opportunity is a conservative astroturf front group being used to push a pro-conservative youth narrative using the false legitimacy of their misleading Facebook page. There are no Millennials involved. There is nobody involved in the organization that is not a conservative activist. None of their polling data has included crosstabs or demographics.

Paul T. Conway, Kellyanne Conway, and Matthew Faraci are not bad people. Kellyanne Conway in particular has been a long-time advocate of youth outreach on the right and has spoken openly about improving voter access. If conservatives want to start another youth outreach or advocacy group, more power to them. I welcome the addition of organizations that seek to engage young voters regardless of their place on the political spectrum. However, I do not support the idea of a falsely non-partisan organization disingenuously using a misleading Facebook page as legitimacy to push a conservative narrative to appear unbiased.

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From a Capstrat press release:

A national poll conducted by Capstrat and FGI Research found that the online generation of Millennials (people between ages 22 and 30) are creating and consulting an informal advisory board of family members, spouses, friends and co-workers to make important life decisions. Overall, 73 percent of respondents prefer to obtain information through one-on-one informal conversations with their advisory boards. In total, 402 interviews were completed to understand how Millennials make decisions at key milestones, who influences those decisions and what matters most to them.

When comparing the importance of Millennial milestones, our research found that getting married is considered the most important life milestone (30 percent ranked this most important), followed by starting a career (26 percent), having children (19 percent) and buying a home (10 percent).

Additional notable research findings include:

• Person-to-person first-hand accounts are the most common type of sought-after information (73 percent.) Looking to online sources was only ranked higher than the advisory board when seeking information about buying a car (60 percent) or starting a career (52 percent).
• Millennials prefer to consult members of their advisory board when seeking information about getting married. Parents (57 percent) and potential future spouses (55 percent) ranked first for sources of information about getting married.
• When making decisions about having children, spouses (63 percent) and parents (50 percent) were ranked as top sources of information.

“There are many stereotypes about Millennials – that they’re a digital generation with unrealistic expectations who are ill-prepared for the real world,” says Karen Albritton, President of Capstrat. “But this research has proven that this generation is thinking and planning ahead for their major life decisions. And the way Millennials make their decisions have important implications for companies that communicate with, market to or even employ members of this generation.”

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A Washington Times editorial today by some guy named Ted Nugent, who apparently is an unknown expert on the Millennial generation, states that Millennials “are being led to their own slaughter and are blindly following along instead of fighting for their own survival.”

Nugent is “stunned that they are not participating more in the Tea Party” and says Millennials “appear to be terminally stoned on apathy.”

While I personally condemn violence of any kind, I am stunned that they are not participating more in the Tea Party, even rioting in the streets, clashing with the cops, conducting sit-ins at their colleges, interrupting political events and so on. Instead, the young people of this generation appear to be sound asleep, lethargic and seemingly unaware of how badly their generation is being royally abused by the deep-seated corruption and abuse of power in the government. They appear to be terminally stoned on apathy.

According to Nugent, students should be raging against the things that matter most, like the deficit and not kicking enough ass overseas (or staying at home if we aren’t going to “implement total war and break the will of the enemy and all who harbor enemy actors. We have the weapons, warriors and technology to wreck everything.”)

While he may be right that Millennials aren’t flocking to the Tea Party and rioting in the streets protesting raising the debt ceiling, he is dead wrong about students not protesting at all.

A number of student protests have received national attention over the last couple of years: the California tuition protests, AZ SB 1070, Wisconsin and Ohio, the nationwide tuition protests. I decided to do a quick search on Google to see if it was truly that difficult to find other examples of recent student protests. Here are some of the results:

Students across USA protest over college funding, tuition
March 4, 2010

Dickinson College students protest school’s handling of sex assaults
March 3, 2011

Cerritos College students protest proposed summer cuts
May 18, 2011

Half-naked college students protest coal
April 15, 2011

‘Students are not ATMs’; college students protest budget cuts
March 15, 2011

College students, staff protest budget cuts
April 13, 2011

College students protest higher fees
January 12, 2010

Three Arrested at Hunter College Protest
March 4, 2010

College students protest death penalty
March 27, 2010

College students protest PA budget cuts
March 30, 2011

‘Ramen’ protest highlights community college fee increases
March 2, 2011

California college students protest higher ed budget cuts
April 13, 2011

High school, college students to protest state education cuts
March 19, 2011

PSU students, State College mayor protest funding cuts
April 5, 2011

College students protest HOPE cuts outside State Capitol
March 2, 2011

Vt. college students protest planned cuts
March 16, 2011

Phoenix high school, college students organize Capitol protest
March 4, 2011

Michigan College Students Protest Higher Ed Cuts
March 24, 2011

College Students Protest Voter ID Bill
April 4, 2011

Allegheny College students protest education cuts
March 18, 2011

College students protest strip mine plans
September 14, 2010

Carthage College students protest anti-gay speaker
February 24, 2010

College students protest HB 176
February 24, 2011

Emory protesters arrested during student protest
April 26, 2011

TUSD on image control after student protest cancels meeting
April 27, 2011

Supporters rally for students arrested at SB 1070 protest
November 16, 2010

Thousands of students flock to Capitol to protest SB1070
April 22, 2010

Wisconsin Students Protest Governor’s Attack on Unions
February 15, 2011

Zombie protesters lurch for voter, student rights
June 8, 2011

That’s just from a quick Google search. There have been a lot more protests, sit-ins, and flash mobs than this. A conservative over at TownHall.com even referred to college students as hot-to-protest. Though it is true that I couldn’t really find a lot about students protesting over the deficit. Perhaps this Nugent guy’s problem with Millennials is that they don’t protest the things he wants protested.

Photo by Steve Rhodes

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On his September 29th show David Letterman did a top 10 list about young voters, which is pretty much the top 10 stereotypes about American youth. Clip and list below.

10. Refer to himself as the Chillaxer-in-Chief
9. Limit speeches to 140 characters or less
8. Broadcast all Oval Office addresses in 3D
7. Replace Rahm Emanuel with a hunky, brooding vampire
6. Trade in Air Force One for rocket-powered Obama-cycle
5. Answer tough questions with “Whatevs”
4. Change name to Bajustin Obieber
3. Refer to his abdominal muscles as “The Administration”
2. Check into rehab, go to prison, check back into rehab, go back to prison, check back into rehab
1. Join Team Coco

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I would like to build upon Alex Steed’s response to last Saturday’s Washington Post article on the Millennial work ethic.

The Pew Report

The Post article was based on a survey from the Pew Research Center’s report on Millennials, in which Millennials were the only generation to not self-identify “work ethic” as one of the top 5 unique characteristics of the generation.

The Millennial responses are from Americans between 18 and 29 years of age. It would be extremely odd for Millennials to identify work ethic as a defining characteristic of the generation, not because it is lacking, but because of stage of life, societal perception, and the concept of uniqueness in general.

Stage of Life: A large number of Millennials 18-29 are still continuing their educations and have not started their careers, and the recession, which has resulted in over 20% unemployment for 16-24-year-olds, has delayed even more careers. A generation that is not yet immersed in the work force is not going to define work ethic as a unique generational characteristic.

Societal Perception: Millennials have also been told consistently by older generations that there is a work ethic disparity. The generation is still dealing with being the “kids these days” targets while seeing other generations touted for work ethic and walking to school in the snow uphill both ways. When Generation X was at this age they were the aimless lazy slackers in the eyes of their elders, and the Boomers were seen as worthless dirty hippies who needed to cut their hair. Neither would have probably identified work ethic as a unique characteristic at the time. I believe the Boomers would have considered that “square” back then. While a generation is still coming into its own, these perceptions of elders shouted into their heads like propaganda has an effect.

Concept of Uniqueness: It is interesting that when you look at the three older generations, they all share a number of “unique” generational characteristics. The Millennial answers seem to actually be more honest and unique compared to others. While all the generations believe they are smarter than the others, at least the Millennials have research to back their claims up (“Millennials appear to be on track to becoming the most educated generation in America’s history”). Point being, the fact that the question asked for unique characteristics certainly decreased the number of Millennials who would respond “work ethic.”

The Millennial Life Ethic

“It’s odd how soon one comes to look on every minute as wasted that is given to earning one’s salary.” – P.G. Wodehouse

Alex mentioned many of the books and films from Boomers and Xers as a “collective narrative unraveling of every lie ever baked into the 20th Century American narrative.” This portrayal of work, labor, and the American dream is not new. Thoreau exclaimed that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation” and asked why it was that people “begin digging their graves as soon as they are born.” Thoreau seems especially prescient when we look at these aforementioned books and films when he calls it “a fool’s life, as they will find when they get to the end of it, if not before.”

Millennials, however, seem to be heeding the warnings that were ignored by previous generations. I have long believed that while each generation claims that they want to make the lives of the next generation better than their own, they have reserved the right to resent that better life. Interestingly enough, the elder generations somewhat screwed the Millennials in that regard, but we do have iPads.

This generation has what I call a strong life ethic. It refers to that concept of humanism that so many among the elder generations decry. For Millennials, DNA is not destiny. One is not obligated to follow the career footsteps of their parents, nor work a job for 40 years that one hates. The aims of self-actualization are often mistaken for entitlement. However, we each have only one life, why should we spend the majority of it doing something we hate? Why “begin digging our own graves?” This is not entitlement, it’s enlightenment.

Work/Life Balance vs. Work/Life Integration

Traditionally the relationship between work and life is portrayed as balancing forces, as if you should visualize a scale with one on each side. What is interesting about this view is that in it life is a separate if not opposite entity from work: a Venn diagram where the circles do not overlap. This is the 9-5 concept. During the hours of 9 to 5 your life is not your own. Once the clock hits 5 you punch out an return to your life.

With Millennials there is a trend toward work/life integration. One’s work is not a separate entity from their life, it is integrated with their life. Thoreau does not speak out against work and labor, but work and labor without meaning, purpose, or personal satisfaction. Millennials are looking for professions that are important to them, a passion that makes work something they believe in. The most visible advocate of this is 34-year-old Gary Vaynerchuk. This is what Alex was talking about with the “let’s make shit better” sector and the extremely hardworking Millennials that are passionate about what they do. Millennials are seeking careers that are not just what they do, but who they are.

Conclusion

The Washington Post article takes two Millennials, one at a car dealership and the other at a pizza place, quotes them bitching about 2 or 3 young employees (some still in college), and uses that to generalize the Millennial workforce as a whole. It is the same concept that talk show hosts use when they find some young people that can’t give the name of the first President. The point is that among all generations there are going to be lazy people and there are going to be uninformed people, and self-selected anecdotal evidence does not tell us anything.

Millennials are still establishing themselves professionally, though many have already made huge splashes (see Facebook). Despite the criticism today, I am confident that this generation will be grateful they have a strong life ethic 40 years from now.

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Michael’s post on voter registration modernization made me think about Millennials, the Democratic Party, and the relationship between the two regarding issue advocacy and legislative priorities.

I see three distinct dynamics based on the legislative priorities of young progressives and the Democratic Party.

1) Youth asked to support Democratic legislation that is not a youth priority

This is the dynamic that has been dominant in the past for young Democrats and progressives. An example would be legislation on social security or medicare. While these issues are important, they are not a legislative priority for youth nor do they immediately impact most young voters. Young activists and youth organizations tend to jump on to the Party’s action campaign to basically just add numbers.

2) Action on shared legislative priorities

This dynamic occurs when the Democratic Party’s legislative priority is also a youth priority. An example would be higher education policy or the current stimulus package. However, I see two variations of this dynamic. In the first, young activists sign on to an existing action similar to Dynamic 1. In the second, youth activists create their own campaigns and coalitions, often for a broader agenda. An example of this would be the Energy Action Coalition and their approach to global warming and environmental issues.

3) Youth press for issue that is not a current legislative priority for the DNC

This dynamic brings me back to Michael’s post mentioned earlier. Voter registration modernization is a very high legislative priority for youth activists, but is often pushed aside for the DNC’s priorities. Advocacy campaigns for such issues have to be created on their own and must be directed at the DNC as well to try to convince them of adopting the issue/legislation as a priority.

What does this mean?

The power of the youth vote in 2008 has moved us a lot closer to getting a seat at the table and puts us in our strongest advocacy position ever. In the past we were most often relegated to jumping on board all of the DNC’s legislative priorities while our own were ignored unless they were shared.

It is also important to note that youth-led campaigns such as the Energy Action Coalition build the strength of the youth movement more than bandwagon advocacy.

The question remains whether our legislative priorities will finally see the light of day in the wake of 2008 or whether it is going to be business as usual. We need to continue to really push for our issues in order to sustain our strength and make sure that the DNC respects our priorities the same as other constituency groups.

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