Comments on Bob Giloth: Social Citizens

I completely agree with the sentiment of identifyi...

2008-05-01T21:42:00.000-04:00

I completely agree with the sentiment of identifying with older generations. I'm a 27 electrical engineer and soon to be lawyer - I grew up on the internet (pre-graphics of course;) go BBS). I've always appreciated my grandparents' and their parents' generation more than the baby boomers. There are a lot of our Millennial Generation who feel like the Baby Boomers screwed up the world. My own father, born in 1955 believes this very thing.

I think the point about arbitrary hierarchy is a g...

2008-05-01T11:04:00.000-04:00

I think the point about arbitrary hierarchy is a good one. What we don't want is a "tryanny" of structurelessness" in which anything goes, without norms of interaction and decision-making. A little hierarchy may be helpful -- but it must be accountable and transparent and promote democratic engagement.

As a "millennial" this quote really resonates with...

2008-05-01T10:46:00.000-04:00

As a "millennial" this quote really resonates with me:

"Millennials are hands on 'experience seekers' who don't trust the reporting of others... Millennials are generally opposed to hierarchical structures."

I think most of these descriptions fit all younger generations as they are coming up though. I guess the difference for the current generation is that they were the first to come of age with the world literally at their fingertips.

My parents bought me my first PC at age 5 and I was on the Internet pre-World Wide Web in 1992. Having access to news beyond stale television programming and the local newspaper, as well as cultures far different from our own, gives us a unique perspective. It is this perspective that allows us to break down traditional strategies and ways of viewing problems and organizations and put them back together in a way that makes more sense.

Some of us, at least.

I'm going to have to disagree; Millenials (of whic...

2008-05-01T10:01:00.000-04:00

I'm going to have to disagree; Millenials (of which I am one) are not opposed to hierarchy, but rather to arbitrary/non-traditional hierarchy. I saw once a report that noted that persons around my age respect tradition a great deal more than the past two generations. In fact, there have been a great rush of conversions in my generation away from 'freer' more 'democratic' and 'do it yourself' Protestant/liberal Christian expressions and toward more stable, traditional expressions of religion including Roman Catholicism, but most notably Eastern Orthodoxy.

As for how we conduct ourselves in practical life I think the assessment is correct; we want a more hands-on approach to building our family, maintaining our home, doing our job, and interacting with our social network. We rely on tradition to provide a framework (rather than a dictate) for us to do these things. Religion in particular provides a powerful framework that frees one from meaningless licensiousness and allows us to cut right to what is meaningful and fulfilling.

Like the freakin' neo-Victorians, but without all of the prudery.