For some reason, I just stumbled on one of Sara Foss’ posts from back in February, “Where are the sneers?” Sara was discussing her generation, the Gen Xers, compared to my generation, the Millenials.
She asked why we're not sneering at the world? It’s a good question. My U.S. history teacher used to ask all the time why no one gets angry anymore, especially in comparison to the mass protests that broke out during the Vietnam War.

And I guess we have a lot to sneer at. The economy is the worst it’s been in years. We’re fighting two wars. The planet is warming at an alarming rate. The Middle East conflict has gone on for hundreds of years. We’re running out of energy sources.

So why aren’t we sneering?

I don’t really know, quite honestly. Sara writes that one of her colleagues said, “I think what we’re seeing with the Millennials is a return to civic engagement, and a renewed interest in following the news.” I read in one of those “recession trend” stories a while ago that said Teach for America applications were way up this year. Then on Tuesday, I read another article that said service-type jobs are very popular for graduates this year.

The New York Times article argued that the financial industry has fallen from a high for students seeking jobs. It used to be that upwards of 40% of Harvard undergrads would enter the financial services arena, now not so much.

I can’t help but think that this doesn’t all have to do with the economic downturn. Obviously, a lot of it does.

But I like to think that instead of sneering, my generation is proactive. Instead of sneering, we’re becoming civically involved. The hot jobs this year are public service, government and teaching. We’re looking to make a difference.

Anger is a good thing sometimes. But it’s important for that anger to have a purpose. Instead of waving our pitchforks, I think we’ve channeled that energy into bettering our communities.
I guess the real question is: Would this have happened if we hadn’t had this economic downturn? My answer: yes, although in less dramatic numbers. Everything I know and everything I read about my generation indicates that we want to save the world, not sneer at it.