What do the reports from the President’s Fiscal Commission and all the competing budget plans teach us? Americans are searching for answers to questions about our future. What will we invest in, how will we strengthen our communities and overcome the host of challenges we face? The recession, heightened economic insecurity, and a changing world have us asking, “What will the period of American economic growth look like?”
How will we strengthen our country’s fiscal future while investing in our people? Who will invest in new companies and Americans’ ideas? Commentators like David Brooks, Thomas Friedman, and Joe Stiglitz have put forth their visions. Deficit hawks, social security advocates, and now, even the President’s Fiscal Commission have weighed in. The truth is, however, that new workers, entrepreneurs and leaders will be the ones to define our future in new terms. And the generation of Americans that stands to inherit the consequences of our actions has put forth a plan of their own.
The largest-ever generation of Americans — the Millennial generation, born between 1980 and 2000 — has designed the future that they want to inherit. A movement of young people nationwide convened in communities across the country and online to articulate their values and priorities and provide concrete answers to the questions about the American economy, as well as education, energy policy, foreign policy, our democracy, social justice and health care. Through the Roosevelt’s Campus Network’s Think 2040 program, thousands have contributed to a shared vision for “2040 — A Blueprint for the Millennial America.” Released recently, the Blueprint paints a vision of an America that invests in jobs and infrastructure, that curbs the federal debt, and that strengthens a flexible social safety “trampoline” to better respond to the 21st century challenges Millennials face.
Think 2040 participants identified rising debt, economic instability and chronic unemployment as key challenges to address. The Blueprint highlights key priorities for America’s future to rebound and eventually flourish. In order for every American to have the opportunity to thrive, we must build a “trampoline” society that bounces people who fall behind back to economic stability, through fostering entrepreneurship, increased community ownership and a reformed banking system. Millennials want to start with local change, which embodies their bottom-up philosophy toward spurring America back to prosperity.
Best of all, in communities nationwide, young people are already working to achieve their Millennial America. Millennials across the United States are remaking America to reflect the values and priorities of the generation, and most importantly, the needs of the communities they live in. Local economies have always shaped the American dream. Even in this “information age,” local endeavors are at the center of youth efforts to reshape America’s future. For example, the Roosevelt Institute at AU is collaborating with local businesses, teachers, non-profits in order to reach full employment in the D.C. area through the Chesapeake Bay Green Jobs Corps initiative.
This community-focused approach stands at the core of the Roosevelt Campus Network’s mission to engage, empower, and promote the next generation of progressive leaders. Through the Roosevelt Campus Network, the nation’s largest student policy organization, young people engage identify challenges in their cities, states, and nation, then campaign around their own policy solutions to solve them — a sort of grassroots, student-driven think tank that fosters the next generation of American activists and thought-leaders.
The bottom line: Millennials are speaking for themselves about the future that they want to inherit. We are looking to our leaders to listen. We are looking to our communities, America’s thought-leaders, and activists for guidance and support as we pursue our vision. We are hoping to learn from the past, build toward the future, and design an America reflective of our values and our priorities. We are your children, your grandchildren, your neighbors, your co-workers and your best bet at overcoming the 21st century challenges that we face with a comprehensive vision we can get behind, support, implement and achieve.
Aaron Goldstein is a junior in the School of Public Affairs and the president of the Roosevelt Institute. Learn more at www.think2040.org.
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