INTRODUCTION

A Better World is Possible
      For far too long, young Americans have been overlooked, undervalued, and misunderstood. An entire generation has been growing up shackled by the stereotypes of generations past and the socially acceptable discrimination against youth. But not anymore. Instead, we are standing up to declare our generational identity, affirm our self-worth, proclaim what issues we care about, and decide in what direction we are taking this country. We are proud members of the Millennial Generation and this is our story.

The Millennial Generation
      Americans born between 1976 and 1996 are the next great generation in our country’s history.(#1) We are not Generation X, and we do not like to be called Generation Y. Some people call us the: DARE Generation, Hip Hop Generation, September 11 Generation, Net Generation, Sunshine Generation, and more. For this book, we prefer the name “The Millennial Generation” because, just as the year 2000 offered hope and promise for the future, so too does our generation. The turn of the millennium represented advances in technology and a new global outlook that are our generation’s reality. The year 2000 also brought to the forefront concerns about terrorist threats and technology run amuck. Fear and faith for the future, potential not yet met – this is our generation. We are Millennials.

      Five significant influences and events differentiate Millennials from Gen Xers and, in doing so shape our generation’s identity. These five factors are (1) the end of the Cold War, (2) the Information Revolution, (3) the new economy, (4) our increasingly diverse society, and (5) the events of September 11, 2001.

The End of the Cold War
      Millennials were thirteen years old or younger when the Berlin Wall came down and symbolically ended the Cold War. Unlike Gen Xers and Boomers who feared the A-bomb while growing up and may have practiced nuclear war drills hidden underneath desks in school, Millennials never pictured where they would be on The Day After the bomb fell. The end of the Cold War ushered in a “New World Order:” globalization flourished and previously closed countries opened their borders to tourists, trade, and their own internal conflicts. Multinational corporations and international organizations proliferated, as did our awareness of the people outside of the United States, beyond the two dimensional internationalism of a bi-polar world.

The Information Revolution
      Millennials ranged from teenagers to infants in 1995 when the Internet changed the world. As a result, most Millennials don’t use phone books, foldable maps, or heavy dictionaries – we go online for just about everything. Even the cell phone savvy teenagers of today will frequently IM (instant message) more often than they speed dial, and many of us read online presses as our primary source of “print” news. The Information Revolution has empowered us unlike any other generation in the history of the United States. The web enables us to organize our thoughts with issue-oriented or personality-reflecting web pages. Online discussion boards, newsletters, and email allow us to meet other like-minded individuals and learn from their experiences. Through the web, activists organize from Los Angeles to New York City and find solidarity with people overseas. In short, the Internet has turned traditional power structures upside-down, empowering students to teach their teachers, and kids to show their parents the way. Young, ambitious activists are molding a new era in history.

The New Economy
      The leading Millennials’ formative years coincided with the economic boom of the 1990s. Despite the recent economic downturn, many Millennials have grown up and benefited from a very strong American economy. Since our generation is more tech savvy than older generations and have a strong educational base, even the current recession is only a temporary drag on our economic condition. According to a KidsPeace report, “‘Significantly, the word crisis does not appear to be in the teen lexicon.’ The Cold War is over. And even if the economy is slowing and the NASDAQ has a bad year, the Internet keeps getting faster and cell phones cheaper.” Furthermore, the new American economy, whether up or down, remains unmatched globally. Growing up in the 80s, Gen Xers read about how Tokyo would replace New York City, but Millennials have never doubted our nation’s economic dominance.

      However, despite our nation’s wealth far too many Millennials have grown up in poverty and with lack of opportunities. And at the turn of the millennium, we witnessed our federal budget change from record surpluses to record debts. “Joblessness is at a nine-year high of 6.1 percent, … and an ABC News headline in May 2003 screamed, ‘With No Jobs, 60% of Class of 2003 Moving Back With Parents.” Increasingly, we are beginning to wonder if our parents have improved upon a financially strong country they inherited from our grandparents or if they are stealing from our generation and creating a fiscally hollow nation by borrowing from their kids.

An Increasingly Diverse Society
      Millennials have been shaped by an age of multiethnic Benetton commercials, open sexuality on television, and two decades of politically correct language. The 1990s witnessed a decade of liberalized immigration laws, and the year 2000 ushered in the first census accounting for multiracial children. We believe that love is color-blind.

      Diversity is no longer defined only by skin color alone. Young people today are more open, than other generations, to individuals with non-traditional sexual orientations. Millennials have a rising awareness of the contributions that individuals with physical disabilities can make to society, especially when armed with new technologies. We also believe that feminism and affirmative action achieved great things in the 20th century and now need a 21st century update.

      Despite social advances, race does matter and many youth of color deal with racism on a daily basis. We are not free of bias; however, in our actions and in words, our generation is growing up committed to making progress to end discrimination of all types in our society.

The Events of September 11th
      Our generation was raised to believe that we could do anything. Politics, technology, economy, and the society evolved to create seemingly endless opportunity, especially for younger Americans. We all thought we were invincible. Then the World Trade Center towers fell.

      Our innocence was lost on September 11, 2001, the first day of the Fourth Turning in American history. The activists of our generation found deeper meaning to our work than we have ever imagined; the apathetic among us found it harder to sit on the sidelines; and those of who were not quite activist, and certainly not apathetic, felt called to action. Unlike any conflict we had studied in our history books, terrorism interrupted our childhood.

      Some of the American responses to these attacks also gave cause for concern. Much like when one first learns their parents are not perfect, we learned that the government could make mistakes in the name of freedom. Many of us feared the erosion of civil liberties, and First Amendment rights appeared out the window as media outlets were quieted upon questioning the government. We wanted the government to protect us, but were not quite sure how to find comfort in a confused world. Dumbfounded, we watched our nation’s Republican leadership ignore some of the virtues of our government system that are worth defending. We then turned to the Democrats and found either eager conspirators selling out our democracy or liberal peace-lovers who weren’t willing to fight for our nation. Our generation stood helpless, confused, alone, and in the middle. At age 25 and younger we knew we would be fighting the upcoming war. We feared the draft. Our imaginations ran wild and for the first time we all lived with nightmares and uncertainty.

      Every generation has a moment in time when a common experience bonds them together. For the members of the Millennial Generation, September 11, 2001, marked that defining moment. The last birth year of the Millennial Generation is 1996, since people born after that date may not remember where they were on the 11th. All Millennials will remember 9-11, even the five- and six-year-olds whose parents suddenly had to explain the unimaginable.

Who Are We to Write Millennial Manifesto
      No one or two people could possibly be qualified to speak for an entire generation, especially one as diverse as the Millennials. Our bios are in the back of the book, but let us tell you quickly who we are.

Abeer Abdalla on Scott Beale
      Scott is a youth activist and a youth advocate with ten years of experience. A fiercely proud Delawarean and Georgetown University graduate, Scott has been involved in registering thousands of young people to vote and helping elect Millennials to public office. He has a deep understanding of politics and has worked on every level of government (local, state, national, and international), including in the White House with President Clinton and organizing elections in Bosnia. He has an inside-the-beltway (a.k.a. from Washington, D.C.) perspective of how the system is holding young people back and has been a participant and witness to hundreds of rallies and marches in DC. He currently works at a non-profit called Youth Venture that supports Millennial activists all over the country and is attending graduate school at the University of Delaware. Scott is a marathon runner who never sleeps and he is a passionate spokesperson for youth activism and our generation.

Scott Beale on Abeer Abdalla
      When I did a national search for a coauthor to help me with this book, Abeer describer herself as a “vivacious, Arab-American, Republican female who believes in the power and potential of our generation.” Abeer is a great foil to my Democratic point of view. Moonlighting for various organizations in Orlando, Florida, she can be found wherever Republican politics are hot. She has accumulated a great deal of activist experience after having worked in Boston with Service Vote 2000 and on a number of Republican campaigns over the last six years. Whether it is national organizations like the College Republicans, the Young Republicans, the National Federation of Republican Woman, or the League of Women Voters, she is passionate about the media and making sure our generation’s voice is heard. Abeer and I don’t agree on everything and we run in completely different circles. Abeer’s variety of political affiliations from the National Rifle Association (NRA) to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is proof that our generation is not easily compartmentalized into traditional political boxes. Working together (and with the support of literally hundreds of other young leaders) we have tried to write a book that describes the majority of the generation, even if it is not entirely accurate for any one person.

A New Generation is on the Rise
      Welcome to the Millennial Generation! We are a dynamic, diverse, digital generation that is changing the world. We are self-confident, group-oriented, and internationally aware. We are just now beginning to get organized, and our generational identity is being formed. Our generation, the Millennials, is still young, but the roadmap is clear. By examining our political activity, it becomes obvious where we are taking this country and how soon we will be there. In the short period of time we have been alive, Millennials received so much from this country and we have an incredible opportunity and fundamental responsibility to give back much more.

      We have worked hard to make Millennial Manifesto an introduction to our generation. If you’re a Millennial, this book is written for you and it will detail for you some of the activism that exists in our generation as well as some of the activists shaping it. If you’re not a Millennial, then this Millennial Manifesto will introduce you to our world, which is being overlooked by the evening news and the national papers. This book documents our political priorities, profiles some young leaders, and provides a roadmap for aspiring activists. This book also previews what’s to come in 2004, including the Presidential Election and the Million Youth March. The accompanying website MillennialPolitics.com is full of facts and figures that supplement this book.

      We’ve researched this book for over five years and received help from hundreds of Millennials (see the story at the end of the book). While none of us alone can possibly claim to represent the entire generation, we have tried to briefly present the attitudes and behaviors of our peers. Although just a ‘sampler,’ this book will give you a good taste of where a majority of youth stands today, and where we are going tomorrow.

      However, we know we don’t have all the answers. We encourage your feedback. We plan on updating and republishing the book, so add your voice and make the next edition even more timely and representative. Go online to millennialpolitics.com. (Clearly, you already have.) Let us know what you think, and find out how you can get involved.

      Our generation has no excuse not to be engaged and work for social change. As you are about to read, there are many pressing issues that demand the creative, capable hands, and minds of the Millennials. We must not sit idly by and listen to the band play on as our nation sinks, unable to overcome partisan rhetoric and a public turned off to our failing democracy. We will not be passive participants in our nation’s politics; it is time for us to make ourselves be heard!