University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Fast Future
Book

Fast Future

How the Millennial Generation Is Shaping Our World

David D. Burstein
Beacon Press, 2013
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Visionary
  • Background

Recommendation

Just who are the Millennials? Some observers refer to them as “the dumbest generation” and deride them as narcissists. Others applaud Millennials as passionate, idealistic humanists with a mature touch of pragmatism. Approximately one of three people alive in the world today is a member of the Millennial generation, now 1.7 billion strong, born in the 1980s and 1990s. Author and activist David D. Burstein focuses on those born between 1980 and 1994. Because of their great numbers, their activism and their accomplishments, this age cohort is “shaping our world.” The founder and director of a youth voter-engagement organization, Burstein provides a close look at his own generation, discusses their strengths and weaknesses, and explains how Millennials are making modern society their own. Though Burstein may sometimes seem a bit overly loyal to his peers, getAbstract recommends his perceptions as a worthwhile backgrounder for those seeking deeper understanding of this pivotal demographic.

Summary

Changing the World

Members of the Millennial generation – born between 1980 and 1994 – are busily restructuring the world and everything in it. Though Millennials are young, they have been successfully initiating change across the globe for years.

These dramatic changes are taking place in a “fast-future” world undergoing tumultuous technological, political, sociological, cultural, institutional and governmental transformation. Older generations may have difficulty keeping up with today’s rapid changes, but not Millennials. They thrive on change and are at home in the “new world order.” Born into a world in constant flux, Millennials may well foment continual, radical change for the next six decades.

According to some demographers, America’s 80 million Millennials constitute a bigger generation than the original 76 million Baby Boomers in the US alone. Millennials are a global generation, ready and able to contact and communicate with each other via their usually connected electronic devices.

American Millennials already have been through a great deal, including the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, the Columbine tragedy, the September 11, 2001 attacks...

About the Author

Writer and filmmaker David D. Burstein founded and is executive director of Generation18, a nonprofit organization that engages young voters.

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