The Millennials are all that can save us in this post-truth world

As a year, 2016 really pissed me off. I remember when 2008 ended. I remember people saying that it would be consigned to history as the year of the Great Recession. My call is that 2016 will be seen as the year of the fuck-up. The future looks uncertain and shaky. No one planned for political tragedy and who knows when deaths of refugees on the Mediterranean, of Syrians in their homes and terrorist bombings will end. Last year the world saw a profound change.

This was accompanied by a generational shift that has seen the concept of the Millennial placed centre stage. But do most of us fully grasp what this involves? I don’t think so, so I’m going to make a stab at describing the fundamental differences between the lives of a 60’s kid and a 90’s kid. Why is this important? 2017 needs to be spent fixing this bloody mess, and if we make use of the character traits that set us apart from past generations, we can get somewhere better. Also, we need to understand the broader picture of societal change. Answering the question ‘What makes young people in general pro-EU?’ is important in understanding how to clean up the turd 2016 left behind on the living room floor.

We need to acknowledge the fact that our life attitude, drive and aims are distinctly different from those of our parents. Many of us were brought up in an environment where we were told that we could do whatever we wanted with our lives, where avenues of opportunity opened up to us. How different that is from my Italian grandparents, who stayed near the villages they were born in, used to visit the same beach nearly every Summer on holiday. Nowadays, we are taught to take advantage of our individual freedom in such a way that all of these things become a personal choice. The world is your oyster, and you can travel and find jobs wherever you fancy. Also, you are not compelled to stick with the religion of your heritage.

Young Millennials will therefore make life choices in a new way, motivated by a different combination of factors than their predecessors. In 2010, Pew Research Centre found that of eights choices presented to US 18-29 year-olds, the third most important priority in their lives was to help others in need. Having a high-paying career only came sixth. So there does appear to be a consensus that young people strive towards a life with purpose, in which self-fulfilment is achieved by making a positive impact rather than by pecuniary reward.

In my opinion, the growth of secularism in society has forced us to reassess our place in the universe. Faith prescribes meaning to people’s lives. It tells you how to be good in the eyes of something higher. Without it, we must decide our role in the world for ourselves. There is less emphasis in our lives in working towards pleasing God and more on living either for ourselves or for the good of our community, whether it is local or global.

The job market has responded to our changing view of the world. Many of our parents will have worked for the same company for as many as 40 years. When they were applying for jobs, it was seen as risky to employ someone who had done many different things for short amounts of time because they were more likely to leave and move elsewhere. Now we care less for the stability of a long-term job. It is now normal to spend several years in different jobs, then leave to follow a passion. The modern thinking sees this favourably since you have accumulated a variety of experience and have seen things from more than one perspective. In fact, it is harder to gain a promotion within your own company because recruiters will search outside for the best talent, and it becomes more appealing to go elsewhere to work.

It is apparent that we see our own personal development as more valuable than loyalty to an organisation. This gives us the drive to do something that can selflessly take the world forward – perhaps contributing to renewable energies or organisational transparency. As nations have become more prosperous, new technologies, in particular the internet, have been developed and put at the disposal of Millennials who want to do great things with them. However, there are times when personal gain is prioritised above the greater good, as can be seen by Buzzfeed’s reports of teenagers from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia making money by creating fake news supporting Trump.

My hope is that our lot will one day repair the mess left by the year of the fuck-up. This cohort is more well-educated, tolerant and open to different perspectives – even though Brexit might seem like a vote for change, it was actually led by nostalgia and a resistance to modernity. As we grow older and Millennials become more dominant, I see a future where post-truth politics will wilt.