The Revolution Generation INTRODUCTION Millennials, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is, according to the media, you are the most lazy, narcissistic, entitled, self-absorbed generation ever to walk the earth. The good news? This entire book is about you. But here''s why it''s different from everything else you''ve probably read. The vast majority of what is published about your generation is an overt or covert attempt to teach people older than you how to hack your brain to make you do something, sell you something, or convert you to some form of belief system. I know this because I''ve surveyed literally thousands of articles, books, websites, and blogs on Millennials. And it''s safe to say, Millennials, that you have been strategically targeted by the largest corporate-controlled media manipulation machine in history. And that is just the beginning.

Even the established frame of reference for you, Millennials, the one in which you are lazy, narcissistic, entitled, and self-absorbed, is a purpose-driven creation. Behind its rinse-lather-repeat retelling by the media machine is an insidious goal--to disenfranchise, disempower, and shut you down before you even walk through the door. That''s why this book is a deviation from the mountains of regurgitated clickbait about you. Instead, it''s a formula for how you accelerate, amplify, and strengthen what you are consciously and unconsciously doing: disrupting the world we once knew. THE GREAT MILLENNIAL AWAKENING By the time these words are printed, all the members of your generation will have crossed the threshold into voting age. By 2020, when the next US presidential election takes place, along with hundreds of state and local elections and the redrawing of countless voting districts, you, Millennials, will be the largest voting bloc in the United States. For Millennials and people of all generations living in the United States, the 2016 US presidential election was a clarion call for action. On the morning of November 9, 2016, one thing came into sharp focus: our democracy is an illusion.

In our republic, and the money for which it stands, there are approximately four hundred registered lobbyists for every member of the House and Senate.1 A seat in the House costs about $1 million. The Senate is around $40 million,2 and the presidency? Well, that will set you back $1 billion.3 Thus, in 2016, the popular vote, also known as the will of the people, was ignored. Whether you love her, hate her, or are indifferent, the fact remains that Hillary Clinton received over 2.5 million more votes than her opponent. But the woman Americans elected by popular vote did not become their president. Instead, a real estate mogul named Donald Trump was placed in the White House by a rigged system.

But the powers that be didn''t count on one thing: they didn''t realize that in rigging an election, they would awaken a sleeping leviathan. More than any other group of people, your generation holds the power to determine the future. With so much responsibility and so much at stake in our world, there are signs that a Great Millennial Awakening is under way. Inside of this awakening, more and more of you are finding your passion and marrying it with educations and jobs in which you are actively altering the structures of power. For millions of others, who find yourselves either unemployed or in a gig or job that doesn''t change the world, you are engaging in online platforms from Change.org to Facebook initiatives. This is why your Millennial Awakening is totally different from that of your parents'', the people known as the Baby Boomer generation. In contrast to the Boomers, whose movements tended to be confrontational, the pragmatic optimism that runs strong in the veins of your generation finds many of you blending into the systems of power you wish to alter.

So much of your civic tsunami is a silent and powerful undercurrent. Like one of those puzzle pictures, you can see it only when you know what to look for. Your generation is taking over the world. In so doing, you are already revolutionizing old systems. But your biggest revolution is yet to materialize. I''m talking about the one in which you use your power to change the political course of history. On the whole, the Millennial political activists, a number of whom you will meet in the coming pages, are equal parts pragmatists, team players, builders of things, and idealists. If it is to take place, your Millennial revolution will be based in the practical, in compromise, in tangible solutions, and in bold new models.

That''s a good thing, because there has never been a greater need for compassionate, large-scale change than now. For all you interlopers reading this--i.e., Baby Boomers and Gen Xers who are still trying to figure out Millennials--get ready to get woke. This is the story of an underdog generation that is dealing with collective trauma, catharsis, and empowerment and, most important, one that is about to pull its sword from the stone. Steven Olikara, a first-generation Indian American Millennial, heads up the Millennial Action Project (millennialaction.org), a bipartisan group of about five hundred young elected officials at every level of office across the country. Says Olikara, "The definition of leadership involves bringing up people behind you.

So, if you''re a Baby Boomer or Gen Xer, one of the great legacies you can leave is to build the next generation of leadership: mentor, advise, cultivate, invest in the next generation of leaders." After all, a positive future for you, Millennials, is a positive future for our country and quite possibly our civilization. All futures being possible, the opposite pathway is also plausible. As our world hurtles toward what the United Nations tells us will be ten billion souls by 2050, you could turn out to be a generation that unveils, through a combination of action and inaction, unimaginable darkness for humanity. But let''s not do that, okay? Due to your connectivity, Millennials, you can move quickly, en masse, and in a completely unexpected direction. This may prove to be your single most important tactical advantage. To make the most of that advantage, especially in the thousands of pivotal city, state, and federal elections that will happen in the upcoming months and couple of years, which collectively may decide how we deal with the future of life as we know it, it is important to understand a few fundamentals of structural change. STRUCTURAL CHANGE Think of this book as your training manual for how to make structural change.

Structural change is a term borrowed from economics that refers to bringing about a new order that forces businesses and the market itself to change. It often happens through politics when a new regime takes over or when major overhauls are made to laws that regulate business.4 The type of structural change of which I will speak in this book refers to deep, lasting change that alters the very structure of society itself. It''s the kind of change that happened when the US Constitution was ratified and when the French Revolution took place. On a foundational level, the structure of a society is its immutable commandments, core truths, inalienable rights, given norms, acceptable behaviors, allowable violations, and consequences for transgression of its rules. To be more specific, most societies, and especially modern societies, operate on three primary levels of structure. 1. The underlying culture--the beliefs, ideologies, language(s), religion(s), iconography, fashions, memes, and traditions 2.

The political structures--the laws, governance, judicial system, punishment system, rules of business, and organization of commerce 3. The infrastructure--the energy systems, transportation systems, agricultural systems, cities, bridges, freeways, schools, etc. Each layer builds upon the previous one. A freeway, for instance, can be built only when sanctioned by a law that is, in turn, driven by the collective belief that we must have a way to move our cars. To build on that example, the energy system and pipelines that deliver fossil fuel to gas stations to fuel those cars can operate only through laws that give them power in a society that demands automobile transportation, regardless of the environmental or sociological impact. Infrastructure needs political power, which needs shared belief. Now, here''s the important part: to accomplish structural change, you must change all three layers. Much of the Millennial Awakening has thus far failed to accomplish structural change because its change makers have targeted only the top layer--i.

e., beliefs. This is the trap of many recent movements (think Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, etc.). These and other widespread hearts-and-minds campaigns often begin with social media and engage tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of people. They bring to light dire injustices. They create petitions, there are protests, and they demand action. Yet, when all that collectivism alters nei.