It’s the prerogative of every generation to think theirs is the one that will catapult the world into a new era of consciousness. Our generation of Americans, those born from 1982-2004, however, has been branded by our baby-booming predecessors as the “Lost Generation.”
Already we have been relegated to the scrap heap of history as the first generation of Americans not to be as well off as our parents’ generation. I think it is not only unfair and wholly premature to start dictating what and whom our generation is to become. Our generation, while appearing apathetic to outsiders, is quite in touch with not only ourselves, but  also the world.
Baby boomers simply dismissing us as lost shows their short-sighted views, which have gotten us into our current mess, sells the most technologically advanced and informed generation very short. Pointing to trends that millenials will wait longer to parent children and buy homes as an alarming statistic seems ridiculous. Perhaps, instead, it shows we have seen the mistakes of previous generations and the headache mortgaged to ones’ eyeballs. True, we will be saddled with more debt after college, but there has never been a generation before with so many college graduates.
We understand  knowledge and information are power. We may live to see the death of printed newspapers, but never has there been a more prolific magazine-reading generation. Obviously, our economic salvation will not come from the pages of “Us,” but the deep niches our generation carves with our media consumption highlights the breadth of the Millenial generation’s interests.
There is also a shift in our consciousness of how we view work, play and family. Studies see those on the leading edge of the millenial generation having closer ties to family, focusing on teamwork and most importantly, maintaining a balance between our work and professional lives.
It has been much to the consternation of businesses to find incentives and motivators for our generation. Unlike baby boomers, we aren’t willing to wholly leverage our best waking hours simply for more money. An interesting fact is our at-risk behavior rates are lower than previous generations. Maybe it is due to the fact that we care more about quality-of-life issues than monetary issues. Also, Millenials are more concerned with environmental and health and wellness issues. Finally, the message is being heard and heeded that our current systems of production and consumption are unsustainable.
However, it’s not all roses for us. We are going to face some economic hardships that are not of our own making. As the baby boomers begin to gray, they are going to be an even bigger voting block, and our smaller generation will be supporting their vast hardships throughout the ends of their lives. The working generation and the retired will be at odds. We’re probably going to have to see the holy cows of Medicare and Social Security slaughtered and new solutions devised.
There is one thing in our generation’s favor: hope. Our visions of the future seem well grounded and realistic. Our American can-do attitude has not vanished; it has just been hidden beneath the problems of our predecessors.
Those who fought in World War II have been called the greatest generation, but our generation has bore the brunt of two wars with an all-volunteer force, reinvented the way people communicate and keep in touch with Facebook, realized our planet’s resources are finite and, with a current revolution in Egypt and a former one in Iran, grasped the hidden power of the Internet.
Historians have already named the greatest generation, but I say the best is yet to come.
David Breland is the life editor for The Reflector. He can be contacted at [email protected].