Liza Stewart
Aug 22, 2017 · 2 min read

Since we all seem to know what is meant by this, I will simply add to your description that being a young person in country does indeed suck, and there seems to be no way to get out of it without actually getting out of the country. I admit feeling “survivor´s guilt” about my absence from the US now and, perhaps, indefinitely.

But what if I could create a meaningful life in, say, Chicago? What would that look like? What would I need to pursue it? To echo what I asked before — what do I (people, millennials) want?

Social issues have become a political tool while the economic issues, which are actually social issues, go unsolved — while the left is busy reacting to the onslaught of civil rights violations, important looming economic reform is overlooked even at the ground level. The Democratic Party is a hero with no substance — they have an enemy but no future and no cause.

I think about the power of story telling, and self narration, applied to the sociopolitical… I agree that “We no longer need the present system to fill out our expansive visions of our best selves” but what will that other framework be? If we are to achieve an alternative framework, it will only be by dismantling the current one, so I disagree that marching is futile. Overgeneralized marching, yes, (99%, Black Lives Matter, etc.) but narrowing the focus of protest brings issues out of the shadows (“I defaulted on my student loans,” “culture and empathy training for police”), allowing people to establish authentic communities and to question the authority of ethically moribund corporations, leaders, and policies, and provide potential solutions. Importantly, this would reach beyond the partisan rhetoric of us v. them where the blue collar Republican is purposefully kept away from the single white mother and the black family.

If it is incumbent on us to write a story of hope, inclusion, and meaning, we might begin with the practical issue of employment (and lack thereof) which will only become more pressing. We must rethink modern jobs and work — if work can happen from home, can we pay employees more without the overhead of office space? If 40 hours of work can happen in 20, employers might demand an amount of community service. If we work less, what can we do with our leisure? Can two or three people do the work of one, thus providing everyone with an income and with time to pursue their interests?

What else might benefit from being turned on its head?

And of course I wonder, would an outsider political party be able take on these important questions and initiatives about lifestyle and fulfillment and pursuing our best selves? Is that a fight that might break the elite “death grip on the system”?

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