Award winning philanthropist and businessman Eric Greenberg is the
independent publisher and co-author with accomplished editor and writer
Karl Weber, of
Generation We: How Millennial Youth Are Taking Over America and Changing the World
(Pachatusan, 9780982093108, November). He expects to be on the way to a
million or a million and a half free downloads with its launch on
www.gen-we.com this past Monday. Printed copies of the four color illustrated, 256 page book will be available in October
The
book is the outcome of Greenberg’s concern with the “abuse and erosion”
of our American system, “—the concept of freedom under law and a
flexible, balanced government responsive to the will of the people as
formulated by our founders and delineated in the Constitution they
wrote over two centuries ago.”
To reverse this abuse and
erosion, he believes, is a mission for today’s generation of emerging
leaders —the Millennials (people born between 1978 and 2000.). Muhammad
Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank and Co-Winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace
Prize, recently validated this premise, when he said “I share the hope
expressed by Greenberg and Weber that this new generation will help
re-orient our planet and conquer the problems of poverty, war, and
pollution that currently plague it."
“The We Generation” is a
compelling public affairs and futures study, lends distinction to
independent publishing, and delivers a powerful personal manifesto.
The Making of the BookIn
preparation, Greenberg had read the writings of, and met with “many of
the world’s leading experts on the major problems of our time, from our
reliance on fossil fuels and our burgeoning burden of debt, to the
deepening crises affecting the environment, health care, and
education.” He met Karl Weber, who joined him as a collaborator in the
research and writing of the book.
Greenberg engaged
Gerstein/Agne Strategic Communications to conduct a comprehensive
research study into the values and attitudes of the Millenials. It
included a survey of 2,000 individuals aged 18 to 29, as well as series
of 12 focus groups. Its cost—one to one and a half million dollars. The
results of the study, details and transcripts of the focus groups are
all available for free access on
www.gen-we.com.
What
they found in the main is that “the worldview of the Millennial
generation is shaped by two overriding dynamics that set this
generation apart from those that have come before them. The first is a
commitment to the common good over individual gain, an ethos that
reaches across traditional divisions such as race, ideology, and
partisanship. The Millennials are not a ‘Generation Me’ but rather a
‘Generation We.’ ”
The second dynamic that fundamentally
shapes the Millennials’ worldview “is a comprehensive rejection of the
country’s current leadership and dominant institutions. Whether it is
Congress and the federal government, major corporations, or organized
religion, these young Americans believe the large institutions that
dominate so much of our modern society have comprehensively failed,
placing narrow self-interests ahead of the welfare of the country as a
whole.”
According to the survey, Millennials by percentages
ranging from 73-76% highlight a series of social and political issues
they believe are being neglected: “America’s dependence on fossil
fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil . . . America’s dependence on
foreign oil . . .declining quality and rising inequality in America’s
public education system . . .the rising cost of health care and
growing number of uninsured… Lack of long-term job and retirement
security . . . Increase in obesity and chronic disease . . .rapid
shift of the U.S. economy from manufacturing to services”
While
by a margin of almost two to one, Millennials say “they are less likely
than previous generations to believe that government has a positive
role to play. . . The scale at which Millennials want to tackle
problems suggests a potentially large role for government. ”
Greenberg
and Weber analyze the various issues and Millennial attitudes in
detail. These observations and the survey results are the meat on the
bone in this book and should serve as a wakeup call for every reader.
They
then propose an agenda for the future.”History shows that every
generation has a mission. Some rise to the challenge nobly as the
Greatest Generation rose to the challenge posed by the Great Depression
and the rise of fascism . . . Others muddle through, as the Silent
Generation of the 1950s . . .. For the Baby Boomers, the verdict seems
to be mixed . . . as evidenced by a wealthy nation plagued by a sense
of moral and spiritual emptiness.”
So it is the Millennials to
whom the authors assign the cleanup. “We believe that Generation We,
together with their supporters from other generations, can and will
band together to create the greatest political force in the history of
our nation.
“The first step in the restoration of their
birthright and the revival of the American dream: Project FREE, to
technologically innovate the next generation of energy. . . . We must
immediately implement an Apollo- or Manhattan-like project to invent
new sources of non-fossil fuel energy free from carbon emissions, based
on hydrogen, fusion, or other means.”
This isn’t just another
blue sky energy program. It fits into a larger concept of what society
is all about and how to get there. The authors show how the program
will relate not only to national security, job creation, economic
growth, and environmental sustainability but also to the societal
transformation proposed.
While government action in the form of
some central agency with a strong leader and budget will be needed, the
ingredients for the social and political movement are in place in the
form of the “real time society” network of the internet, Greenberg
feels.
I am reminded of the dream that “If you build the
field, the people will come,” to paraphrase the movie . I think this
book can be that field.
Posted by: Eugene Schwartz, Editor-at-Large