3 ms·

Why don’t Millennials care about their physical communities?

6 points by krausejj 9y ago

krausejj 9y ago
Just to be clear, the title isn't (just) meant to be provocative. I'm honestly curious why Millennials don't seem to be engaged locally with their communities. Any ideas?!
- eesmith 9y ago
  My impression is that they are more involved than the 20-year-olds of a generation previous.
eesmith 9y ago
How can any essay written today about young people (not) caring about their physical community completely ignore the high school students protesting, marching, and speaking out against gun violence? Okay, so maybe they are too young to count as Millenials. Then what about Occupy Wall Street? I saw a lot of Millenials in pictures from that, along with spin-offs like Strike Debt, the events leading to the UC Davis pepper spray incident, etc. Or Millenials protesting the rescission of DACA ... including those Millenials otherwise protected by DACA. Or the Millenials involved in DisruptJ20, many of whom are still dealing with indiscriminate and haphazard police roundup during the inauguration. This Medium essay completely ignores all those Millenials who both care about their physical communities and are active in trying to do something about it. By doing so, this made me angry. Who is this "we" the author purports to stand for? The essay ends "Our silence is deafening." Perhaps instead the author isn't listening.
- krausejj 9y ago
  I'm the author—I think maybe I should clarify in the article, that I'm talking about young people not engaging with local/municipal issues like they do for issues at the national level. The point that I was trying to make is that these local issues also matter, and reinforce many of the national trends. It's possible I didn't do that as eloquently as I hoped to. [update]: I decided I wasn't making my point well at all and need to re-frame this before I post it.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - eesmith 9y ago
    Such activism rarely makes the news. Searching "students city hall" on Google News finds that it's dominated by gun control. However, http://www.hannibal.net/news/20180223/city-council-members-approve-ordinance-receive-bicentennial-ideas-from-pace-students http://www.hannibal.net/news/20180223/city-council-members-a... gives: > Ellen Stuhlman’s PACE students took an active role in city government and watched as Palmyra City Council members unanimously approved an ordinance pertaining to items blocking city streets and sidewalks. and https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/Gay-pride-parade-organizers-sue-Mississippi-city-12710534.php https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/Gay-... > Mississippi State University students Bailey McDaniel and Emily Turner filed the federal lawsuit Monday against the city of Starkville, asking a judge to overrule the city and immediately grant a parade permit to Starkville Pride. While you now specify "local/municipal issues", the original essay included state issues, and the UC Davis Occupy mace incident concerned state tuition fees. Again, why do you think Millennials are somehow notable in this perceived lack, rather than "20 year olds in general, as have been for generations"? There's a sort of template that some people follow, once they get old and forget what it was like to be young. They complain about how lazy kids are these days and how when they were young things were better. Stick in a few bits of youth slang (like 'woke'), purport to highlight some contradictions, and poof, you're done. It's why we have pieces now about Millennials eating avocado sandwiches instead of buying cars or moving away from home. When really it's that food distribution has made avocados cheaper, while post-war car-centric urban design - based as it is on cheap oil and constant growth - is breaking apart, and the cost of an education has skyrocketed as states pull back funding in order to give tax breaks to the rich. But those are details for Millennials. Go back a generation and you'll see the same thing. Remember, the Boomers called Generation X a bunch of slackers. All this essay did was hook into the boring complaint template that old people have made of young people for 1000s of years. And no, it isn't only made by old people. I don't know your motivations for not even mentioning that real-world activism that your generation has done. Perhaps you are practicing to be a NYT Op-Ed columnist, sucking up to the rich, powerful, ... and old?

6 points by krausejj 9y ago

Just to be clear, the title isn't (just) meant to be provocative. I'm honestly curious why Millennials don't seem to be engaged locally with their communities. Any ideas?!

eesmith 9y ago
My impression is that they are more involved than the 20-year-olds of a generation previous.

eesmith 9y ago

How can any essay written today about young people (not) caring about their physical community completely ignore the high school students protesting, marching, and speaking out against gun violence? Okay, so maybe they are too young to count as Millenials. Then what about Occupy Wall Street? I saw a lot of Millenials in pictures from that, along with spin-offs like Strike Debt, the events leading to the UC Davis pepper spray incident, etc. Or Millenials protesting the rescission of DACA ... including those Millenials otherwise protected by DACA. Or the Millenials involved in DisruptJ20, many of whom are still dealing with indiscriminate and haphazard police roundup during the inauguration. This Medium essay completely ignores all those Millenials who both care about their physical communities and are active in trying to do something about it. By doing so, this made me angry. Who is this "we" the author purports to stand for? The essay ends "Our silence is deafening." Perhaps instead the author isn't listening.

krausejj 9y ago
I'm the author—I think maybe I should clarify in the article, that I'm talking about young people not engaging with local/municipal issues like they do for issues at the national level. The point that I was trying to make is that these local issues also matter, and reinforce many of the national trends. It's possible I didn't do that as eloquently as I hoped to. [update]: I decided I wasn't making my point well at all and need to re-frame this before I post it.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- eesmith 9y ago
  Such activism rarely makes the news. Searching "students city hall" on Google News finds that it's dominated by gun control. However, http://www.hannibal.net/news/20180223/city-council-members-approve-ordinance-receive-bicentennial-ideas-from-pace-students http://www.hannibal.net/news/20180223/city-council-members-a... gives: > Ellen Stuhlman’s PACE students took an active role in city government and watched as Palmyra City Council members unanimously approved an ordinance pertaining to items blocking city streets and sidewalks. and https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/Gay-pride-parade-organizers-sue-Mississippi-city-12710534.php https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/Gay-... > Mississippi State University students Bailey McDaniel and Emily Turner filed the federal lawsuit Monday against the city of Starkville, asking a judge to overrule the city and immediately grant a parade permit to Starkville Pride. While you now specify "local/municipal issues", the original essay included state issues, and the UC Davis Occupy mace incident concerned state tuition fees. Again, why do you think Millennials are somehow notable in this perceived lack, rather than "20 year olds in general, as have been for generations"? There's a sort of template that some people follow, once they get old and forget what it was like to be young. They complain about how lazy kids are these days and how when they were young things were better. Stick in a few bits of youth slang (like 'woke'), purport to highlight some contradictions, and poof, you're done. It's why we have pieces now about Millennials eating avocado sandwiches instead of buying cars or moving away from home. When really it's that food distribution has made avocados cheaper, while post-war car-centric urban design - based as it is on cheap oil and constant growth - is breaking apart, and the cost of an education has skyrocketed as states pull back funding in order to give tax breaks to the rich. But those are details for Millennials. Go back a generation and you'll see the same thing. Remember, the Boomers called Generation X a bunch of slackers. All this essay did was hook into the boring complaint template that old people have made of young people for 1000s of years. And no, it isn't only made by old people. I don't know your motivations for not even mentioning that real-world activism that your generation has done. Perhaps you are practicing to be a NYT Op-Ed columnist, sucking up to the rich, powerful, ... and old?