Comments on Quiet the Thunder: Top 5 Ways Gen Y is Helping to “Spread the Wealth”...

Interesting post. I think that our generation's a...

2009-10-19T19:57:07.576-04:00

Interesting post. I think that our generation's attitudes toward spreading the wealth has been shaped by the technology we have grown up with.

The first time I ever interacted with anyone on the Internet was in 2nd grade when my entire class made its way to the library once per week to talk to kids our age in Guatemala. Whereas our parents might have learned about kids in Guatemala, we interacted with them. Our technology has allowed us to interact and see positive results. I wonder if the hippies of the 70s would have tried to use business to make a difference if they would have had our technology. I think they resorted to non-violence and anti-business (think "its the corporations man...) because they could not make a difference any other way. We can.

I start to disagree with part of your post because I see many people in my age still wanting to redistribute wealth via government programs. Many of my friends had no problem with Obama's statement during the campaign that we needed more "fairness" and that we were going to "spread it around" when talking about wealth. I think entrepreneurs/non-profits are more likely to want to help the rest of the world via investment/new ideas, whereas others who work in large companies will still fall back onto the redistributionist rhetoric.

First off, the first name that came to mind as I r...

2009-10-13T19:52:59.335-04:00

First off, the first name that came to mind as I read this post was Ayn Rand. Makes me want to go back and re-read some of her books in the current societal context. I've been steeped in the world of philanthropy and nonprofits in my career so far, but so far I've noticed there is a huge cavernous difference between the way my Gen Y peers and I view the field versus how the Baby Boomers (and even some Gen Xers) view the field. Perhaps you could say we look at philanthropy and service as more our responsibility as informed consumers than our responsibility as a member of a congregation or a citizen of a country. I think you summed it up well here, but I'm really interested to hear what David Breuhan has to say about how to Spread the Wealth after my last three years in a traditional field of asking people to blindly write a check to charity to do good. I've been reading your blog for about a year now and never commented until today, but I've got to tell you that I'm thinking about going back for my MBA and a lot of my interest in that has originated because of your perspective. Thanks and keep up the great posts.

Heck yeah, Milena! Honestly, I don't think I have...

2009-10-13T14:42:34.810-04:00

Heck yeah, Milena! Honestly, I don't think I have seen anyone give this perspective before, but I think you are dead-on. Our generation definitely is not all on some "syrupy-let's-heal-the-world-by-giving-everything-we-have-without-knowing-how-to-pay-the-rent." We have learned from our parents and our parents' parents how that doesn't really work.

I feel galvanized; hear me electrically roar!