The European Enlightenment: The Power of Technology

After centuries in which church authorities dominated government and daily life, Europe was ravaged by religious wars in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Finally, Europeans said, “Enough!” Turning away from superstition and authoritarianism, they launched new modes of thinking that included the birth of modern science, the political ferment that led to the French and American revolutions and eventually the freedom of the world’s colonial peoples, and the rise of democracy.

Although many factors played a role in stimulating the birth of the Enlightenment, scholars agree that it was made possible largely by the invention and spread of the printing press, which made scholarship and information accessible to millions of people for the first time. In the same way, the coming Millennial revolution will be shaped in large part by today’s new technologies—the Internet, instant messaging, text messaging, streaming video, the cell phone, and Wi-Fi— which are bringing new knowledge and power to millions of people who were once voiceless and able to access only the information and ideas provided by corporate media masters.

The Industrial Revolution: Economic Creativity

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Industrial Revolution created a surge of economic productivity, freed millions from back-breaking labor, and ultimately fueled an incredible increase in individual and societal wealth that is still driving unprecedented improvements in living standards around the world. This change in the basic conditions of human life was driven not only by scientific and technological advances (such as the steam engine and iron founding) but also by new economic structures (including mass production, the assembly line, and the emergence of the corporation).

In the same way, new forms of creative capitalism are already being unleashed by Generation We, including the application of modern management techniques to nonprofit socially oriented businesses(social entrepreneurship); the use of social networks to spread, consolidate, and mobilize ideas and information; the organization of work through electronic networks that connect people from many geographic locations; and the growth in self-employment, entrepreneurship, and independent initiative among young workers.

The American Revolution: The Spark of a Powerful Issue

The American colonies had existed for almost two centuries before the movement toward political and economic independence came to fruition. The revolution occurred when the growing American colonies were psychologically and socially ready to embrace an independence movement, and when a particular issue-”taxation without representation”-provided the spark that ignited national outrage and patriotism, and convinced a majority of Americans that political freedom was both necessary and achievable.

In a similar way, the rising discontent felt by millions of Americans today will eventually spark a reaction, in which the vast numbers of Generation We will surely play an important role. The specific cause the Millennials will rally around may be global warming, poverty in the developing world, economic fairness in the United States, peace in the Middle East, censorship and authoritarianism-or some emerging issue we can’t even imagine today. But when the revolution begins, it is likely to have far-ranging consequences that extend well beyond the initial stimulus.