I had a recent text message exchange with a friend from college; he informed me that he may be switching his party registration from Democrat to Republican. I realize to the perfect stranger reading this, the magnitude of that switch is lost. Let me take you back to when he and I were studying for a test during our college years. I remember the poster which adorned his wall very well; it was a poster of the president with the iconic word from his first campaign: hope. Now, three years later, my friend, a New Jersey native, is a campaign worker for Governor Chris Christie. I'm not sure how he feels about the president anymore, but he believes in Christie, the conservative-icon's re-election, and the cause for which he devotes much of his time.
The latter-half of the text message, which I failed to mention at the outset, said that my friend didn't know if he could make the full switch, because of the "crazies," he perceives to be in the GOP. I reminded him, there are crazies on both sides of the aisle. This anecdotal text exchange between friends underscores what our generation desperately wants: results.
Millennials are a generation which believe in getting things done. We are tired of having our figurative future farm mortgaged by politicians who are not thinking of our future, or of us. The struggle is not about ideology, it's about the elusive thing so central in life: time. As the debt and deficit grow every second, there is reason to pause and consider what kind of America will we inherit? Will we be able to come together as one generation, and recreate and project American greatness? Will that be possible?
Some of you reading this are members of my parents' generation, the countless baby-boomers. Some, if not many, are sullen about what your generation is doing to mine. Others want to see Millennials step-up and lead. Both are true. For our generation to be taken seriously, we need to lead, vote, hold-office, and positively influence the direction of the country.
As a school director, I often think about how my decisions affect the students of the school district; it's inherent to the position I hold. Politicians in Washington do not have that same mindset, inherently or otherwise. But they need to. They need to hear from Millennials about how the status quo is unacceptable. The government is run on continuing resolutions, Washington-speak for "we're not thinking of the future." One day though, the future will be the present. The implications of the decisions made today will be unavoidable. We'll be paying dearly for the mistakes of today. We won't notice how high our income tax is, how high the excise taxes are; that'll simply be normal. It'll be acceptable. But, it doesn't have to be. We can lead. We can influence the agenda now. The future depends on today. Get involved, make a difference. There is an easy first step: call your Congressmen and your Senators and tell them to fix the debt.