recently while I was reading a story in
The Wall Street Journal I learned that I
am a millennial now you have to
understand that yeah you have to
understand this came out a little bit of
a shock because my entire life I
genuinely believed that I was a you know
a Generation X kind of guy so as I’m
reading this journal article I did what
you know any generation Xer worth his
salt would have done and I said okay
Wall Street Journal you’ve got me all
wrong see because I’m not a millennial
I’m I’m not addicted to social media I
don’t you know binge watch stranger
things
I don’t wear skinny jeans and for heaven
sakes I didn’t even meet my wife on
tinder there’s no way that I qualify as
a millennial right so there was you know
I’m having I don’t know like I guess
you’d call it this generational identity
crisis and I began to ask myself the
question what’s the importance of a
generation naturally I began to reflect
on our greatest generations and I found
this reflection I began to see a common
thread many of the generations that we
considered to be our greatest
generations they left incredibly rich
legacies of rebellion they were the
generations who had the courage to stand
up and rebel against the inherent wrongs
of their time when those inherent wrongs
became the status quo that’s a lot to
take in and maybe a lot to wrap your
mind around
I didn’t bring me slide with me today
but I do want to show you a timeline
let’s start here at the beginning the
men and women who came over here and
settled the first American colonies they
were rebelling against religious
oppression now we fast forward a little
bit to our founding mothers and fathers
and we see where they were rebelling
whenever they raised up an army and
defeated the most powerful military
force this world had ever seen in an
unwinnable war to rebel against a
tyrannical Empire we fast forward a
little bit more to the 1840s and 1850s
where we see the abolitionists rebel
against the institution of slavery when
the concept that one human being could
actually own another human being became
the status quo they were the
had the courage to rebel let’s fast
forward again this time about a hundred
years where we see the men women and
children of the civil rights movement
rebelled against the institution and the
woes of institutionalized racism so I’ll
repeat the premise many of the
generations that we considered to be our
greatest generations are the ones who
had the courage to rebel against the
inherent wrongs of their time when those
wrongs became the status quo today we as
Millennials including myself I guess we
stand on the precipice of an era that
has not yet been defined by the legacy
that we choose to leave so what would
that legacy be will it be a legacy worth
leaving to lead the generations that
follow us well these are hard questions
maybe they’re impossible to answer I
don’t know but what if we did this what
if we just started right here and we
asked ourselves what is the greatest
inherent wrong that we face today that
has also become the status quo look
make no mistake here there are many many
inherent wrongs in our world there’s
racism poverty violence and many many
more but there is one inherent wrong
that we face today perhaps more
troubling than any other and that is the
hyperpolarized idealistic state that you
and I we collectively are is in as a
people collectively as a society we have
become so polarized that it is now
commonplace for us to vilify and
demonize anyone who has a different idea
or opinion than our own each of us on a
daily basis we’re being pushed and
pulled towards the fringes of an
idealistic landscape we are encouraged
to adopt these idealistic brands and
even any deviation from one of those
brands will leave you ostracized from
both ends of this idealistic spectrum
any deviation from these extremes and
you’ll be vilified because today that is
the status quo it is this
hyperpolarization that cuts away at our
progress it cuts away at
the process that our republic was
designed to facilitate and it cuts away
at our synergy as a people
it is this hyperpolarization that
inhibits us from being able to address
those other wrongs in our world poverty
racism sexism violence you know climate
change opioids healthcare you name it
we’re not going to be able to solve any
of those problems until we’re ready to
start acting like grown-ups and
recognizing the humanity of other people
than ourselves who have different ideas
than we do so I believe that it’s us
this millennial generation it’s up to us
to lead a rebellion against this
polarization it’s up to us to throw up
our hands and say hey look I get it we
are a generation mixed we are both black
and white liberal and conservative
straight and gay religious religious and
agnostic and most of all we are also
right and probably more likely and more
often than we would like to admit man
sometimes we can be wrong so let it be
us let it be our generation that leads a
rebellion against this polarization let
it be us that recognizes there is no
individual group or set of beliefs that
controls the market on good ideas let it
be us that leads the generations to
follow into an era where this inherent
wrong is no longer the status quo thank
you [Applause]
The Wall Street Journal I learned that I
am a millennial now you have to
understand that yeah you have to
understand this came out a little bit of
a shock because my entire life I
genuinely believed that I was a you know
a Generation X kind of guy so as I’m
reading this journal article I did what
you know any generation Xer worth his
salt would have done and I said okay
Wall Street Journal you’ve got me all
wrong see because I’m not a millennial
I’m I’m not addicted to social media I
don’t you know binge watch stranger
things
I don’t wear skinny jeans and for heaven
sakes I didn’t even meet my wife on
tinder there’s no way that I qualify as
a millennial right so there was you know
I’m having I don’t know like I guess
you’d call it this generational identity
crisis and I began to ask myself the
question what’s the importance of a
generation naturally I began to reflect
on our greatest generations and I found
this reflection I began to see a common
thread many of the generations that we
considered to be our greatest
generations they left incredibly rich
legacies of rebellion they were the
generations who had the courage to stand
up and rebel against the inherent wrongs
of their time when those inherent wrongs
became the status quo that’s a lot to
take in and maybe a lot to wrap your
mind around
I didn’t bring me slide with me today
but I do want to show you a timeline
let’s start here at the beginning the
men and women who came over here and
settled the first American colonies they
were rebelling against religious
oppression now we fast forward a little
bit to our founding mothers and fathers
and we see where they were rebelling
whenever they raised up an army and
defeated the most powerful military
force this world had ever seen in an
unwinnable war to rebel against a
tyrannical Empire we fast forward a
little bit more to the 1840s and 1850s
where we see the abolitionists rebel
against the institution of slavery when
the concept that one human being could
actually own another human being became
the status quo they were the
had the courage to rebel let’s fast
forward again this time about a hundred
years where we see the men women and
children of the civil rights movement
rebelled against the institution and the
woes of institutionalized racism so I’ll
repeat the premise many of the
generations that we considered to be our
greatest generations are the ones who
had the courage to rebel against the
inherent wrongs of their time when those
wrongs became the status quo today we as
Millennials including myself I guess we
stand on the precipice of an era that
has not yet been defined by the legacy
that we choose to leave so what would
that legacy be will it be a legacy worth
leaving to lead the generations that
follow us well these are hard questions
maybe they’re impossible to answer I
don’t know but what if we did this what
if we just started right here and we
asked ourselves what is the greatest
inherent wrong that we face today that
has also become the status quo look
make no mistake here there are many many
inherent wrongs in our world there’s
racism poverty violence and many many
more but there is one inherent wrong
that we face today perhaps more
troubling than any other and that is the
hyperpolarized idealistic state that you
and I we collectively are is in as a
people collectively as a society we have
become so polarized that it is now
commonplace for us to vilify and
demonize anyone who has a different idea
or opinion than our own each of us on a
daily basis we’re being pushed and
pulled towards the fringes of an
idealistic landscape we are encouraged
to adopt these idealistic brands and
even any deviation from one of those
brands will leave you ostracized from
both ends of this idealistic spectrum
any deviation from these extremes and
you’ll be vilified because today that is
the status quo it is this
hyperpolarization that cuts away at our
progress it cuts away at
the process that our republic was
designed to facilitate and it cuts away
at our synergy as a people
it is this hyperpolarization that
inhibits us from being able to address
those other wrongs in our world poverty
racism sexism violence you know climate
change opioids healthcare you name it
we’re not going to be able to solve any
of those problems until we’re ready to
start acting like grown-ups and
recognizing the humanity of other people
than ourselves who have different ideas
than we do so I believe that it’s us
this millennial generation it’s up to us
to lead a rebellion against this
polarization it’s up to us to throw up
our hands and say hey look I get it we
are a generation mixed we are both black
and white liberal and conservative
straight and gay religious religious and
agnostic and most of all we are also
right and probably more likely and more
often than we would like to admit man
sometimes we can be wrong so let it be
us let it be our generation that leads a
rebellion against this polarization let
it be us that recognizes there is no
individual group or set of beliefs that
controls the market on good ideas let it
be us that leads the generations to
follow into an era where this inherent
wrong is no longer the status quo thank
you [Applause]
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