Gen X takes 'FIRST' step toward civic duty

More than 130 future leaders of the so-called "Generation X" gathered at the Penn Tower Hotel this weekend to discuss the problems and issues facing the nation's young adults. The weekend-long "We the Future" convention was sponsored by the Foundation for Individual Responsibility and Social Trust. This is the second year of the event, which seeks to "engage a new generation of citizens" by encouraging more civic and social responsibility, FIRST President John Smith III said. "[FIRST] is about individual responsibility, it's about social trust, it's about your generation, a much-maligned generation," Smith told delegates representing 20 states in his opening remarks. The main purpose of the convention, according to FIRST Executive Director Josie Mazzaferro, was to begin a two-year process of drawing up a "Generational Action Plan." The delegates worked in small groups over the weekend to come up with questions that will face their generation in the future. The questions ranged from "How will we address the social security crisis?" and "How do we inspire our generation to become more involved in the political process?" to "What role should the United Nations play in world affairs?" On Friday night, two speakers -- author Neil Howe, the keynote speaker, and Rep. Rob Andrews (D-N.J.), the honorary co-chairperson -- discussed what they viewed as the greatest challenges to Generation X. Andrews said the biggest issue facing young adults is campaign finance reform, noting that despite the qualifications of everyone in the room, none of them is likely to hold elected office because of the "malignant system of money and politics." Under the current system, Andrews added, the only people that can run even a small-market congressional campaign must be able to quit their job and spend all their time raising money. "I believe we'll never have public trust restored until we change the way we [run] elections," he said, adding that until such trust is restored the federal government will be unable to deal with any other pressing national concerns. Howe, meanwhile, compared Generation X -- the first generation in American history to have a lower standard of living than its parents -- to the "Lost Generation" of the 1920s. He said the Lost Generation suffered through many of the same problems and even had a similar reputation for being apathetic and individualistic. "In the end, [members of the Lost Generation] found abundant meaning in their lives in [helping] the succeeding generation," Howe said. "They suffocated them with protection." Following this comparison, Howe suggested that Generation X should seek to improve the future for the "Millennial Generation," those born between 1980 and 2000. College senior Elizabeth Scanlon, one of the delegates, said that while the conference was important in terms of uniting a generation, she had reservations about how successful it would be in addressing national concerns. "I feel that some of the problems lie at a deeper level than fixing healthcare or fixing Social Security," she said. Still, she added, "The conference was good because it developed a dialogue. I know I'm going to take what we talked about and think about it personally."

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