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 Book

In 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