Let?s start with the difficult facts: Millennials are disillusioned. Only 50 percent of millennials voted in the 2012 presidential election, and this statistic has been used as evidence that this generation?those of us born between about 1982 and 2002?is apathetic.
But this is a gross oversimplification. While 43 percent of millennials say Washington is broken and one-half identify as Independent rather than as one of the two major parties, seven out of 10 millennials identify as activists. And that is huge.
The truth is that civic engagement and activism don?t look like what they used to look like. And millennials are the ones shaping what our country will look like in the future.
In order to understand how to engage with millennials and how to further your cause with this passionate generation, you must understand our perspective. Yes, it is true that protests are less prominent with our generation than with others. But that?s in part because these events are often not given the social context we need to understand them and believe that they will make a difference.
And yes, we may not donate in the volumes that other generations do. But that?s because we are buried in student loan debt and/or making minimum wage and trying to figure out how to pull ourselves into a better financial life.
Millennials see the system for its pieces and have moved outside of the political realm to try to enact change. That is not to say we can?t be engaged on political issues, but it is bes...