Is There Hope for Millennials?

This week is all about the young Vigilant Viewers of #OffTheGrid, the Millennials-- who they are, how they got in financial despair, and what they can do to change the world for the better. Can I provide hope for a seemingly hopeless generation? Watch the episode below and let me know if you agree or disagree?

a reply to: JesseVentura

Just going to say this because I am pretty sure you either got your words mixed up, or you need to re-evaluate them and try something different....

Thanks for calling me "seemingly hopeless". Me and a lot of other people I know my age are not hopeless Jesse. You are losing your touch on reality and are missing A LOT of the big picture. Thanks for calling me helpless and hopeless.

And no and I am not going to watch your video because I KNOW that I am not helpless nor hopeless when it comes to anything pertaining living " Off The Grid". Thanks anyways.

a reply to: JesseVentura

Maybe there is hope, if 50% of them don't believe in the two party monster!

I won't be alive to see the change, but my heart and hopes are with them!

Yeah...okay, I watched it ...the Millenials are the CHILDREN of (us) the Hippies. Good for them that they're not buying into materialism, and are "tightwads".

Well done, kiddos! (Plus, I disagree that they're not concerned about the environment - which we "hippies" also were concerned about.)

But - and I encourage you to run for President - PLEASE take a stand about ELIMINATING/FORGIVING/ERASING Student Debt.



Not that I expect a response, since you never do respond after posting your thread/OP.
That, in my opinion, is a shame. But, I know - you're a busy guy.

Thanks, Jesse, for your efforts.

My children and I are Millennials together. So this a huge concern for me. I have my own student loans. How am I going to pay theirs too?

When I needed help getting out of default my Dad picked up the slack. There's no way I could do that.

I don't see a solution, that doesn't make us hopeless.

a reply to: JesseVentura

Wow, have a whole lot to say in response to this. I've done a great deal of reading on the subject of Millenials that started out as being simply because I had to write a really great research paper when I went back to college (earned an A+) and then, just out of pure interest because the Millenials are very different indeed. These generational differences is something I've actually blogged about. That said, I'm going to toss a few more things into the fray that didn't get mentioned that might be yet more differences, ergo, possible conflicts with the "status quo" that Millenials may have with prior generations and particularly Baby Boomers.

Millenials aren't just the cheapest generation. They also tend to be what is called in the business world ethical consumers. In other words, part of their value measurement isn't simply what's the cheapest. It's who is doing what and any ethical issues that may be associated with the manufacturing company, materials, location and more.

Ethical Consumers Among Millenials

So cheap, picky and a tendency for caring about what effects their acquisitions might have on the larger world in general. That's really different from prior generations and is most likely due to a completely different worldview. Unlike even Gen X, Millenials grew up in a globalized world and with the internet. Their community isn't just what's around them like in previous generations but is fully globalized. I think that's pretty awesome. On top of it, they also have a preference for working collaboratively.


The Millennial Generation: A Strategic Opportunity is a really interesting read on many levels but particularly in those generalized traits that one finds within this specific generation. While the article's focus is primarily on workforce, those same traits also pose some interesting ramifications in terms of politics. If you have a generation that is geared towards working together collaboratively and also excels at both acquiring and disseminating information AND also is on the politically cynical side and globalized, well, that's a "problem" for a lot of things--especially politically. lol

Millenials are a big problem and, as you mentioned, the hippies shifted into the Disco era and then, the ego-centric 80's to become Yuppies. Jerry Rubin is a classic example of that transition. Unlike the hippies though, Millenials are struggling with debt and have that high unemployment rate. Those two things combined make it less likely for them to assimilate into the status quo. Like you said, the New American Dream is now "getting out of debt" instead of having a house with a white picket fence. Good luck to anybody thinking that this particular crew is going to become heavy consumers or less cynical voters.

The one other thing that I don't recall you mentioning was the generation's size. The other names for the Millenials are "Echo Boomers" or "New Boomers". They are our largest generation and with size comes power. This is why there is some research being done on this generation in particular.

Pg. 6 to show the difference in generation sizes as of 2008: www.prb.org...

I love that you're actually trying to reach the MIllennials. They're going to be a force to reckon with. All the research states that and I do think that's why there are so many attempts to marginalize this particular generation. They are going to change things and those that don't want those changes are going to try to stave that off for as long as they can or utilize it as much as they can. Like you, I welcome the change.



PS. One thing I would change is the hopeless or needing of hope. They need to be reminded of what they are--hope incarnate.