The Revolution Generation (2021) - full transcript

[gunshots]

We're talking about
millennials here

and their scatterbrained
attention deficit disease.

Millennials, we all get it.

They're somewhat annoying,
to say the least.

[man] A recent survey suggests
six out of 10 millennials

cannot change a lightbulb.

[man 2] What the hell
is wrong with your generation?

Generation Snowflake.

- [overlapping shouting]
- Black Lives Matter!

[man] I know millennials
who are outstanding.



A couple of 'em even voted
for President Trump.

[screaming]

[woman] Well, it looks
like it's time

for millennials to grow up.

With 32.1% of millennials
living with their parents.

We are not leaving!
We are not leaving!

- They're lazy.
- Lazy.

Lazy entitled narcissists.

[Michelle Rodriguez]
Am I, like, a millennial?

Bitches.

Yes, sorry, [bleep].

I mean, like, who decided that
I'm part of that generation?

Some anthropologist somewhere

who's just like,
"Yeah, that's the line.



[sighs]
It's official."

I don't know what to tell you,
I'm horrible at this stuff.

I don't like telling people
what to do.

You ever googled me?
[snickering]

I'm like the example of like,
"it's okay to [bleep] up."

[camera clicking]

'Cause I'm trying not to dictate

what millennial is,
you know what I mean?

Let me take that from the top.

So, what are we gonna do?

The media would like you
to believe the story

that millennials are a bunch
of lazy narcissists.

Which is ironic,
because it's up to us

to fix all the problems
the world faces today.

From international
migrant crisis,

to wealth inequality,
to climate change.

That's why it's time
to set the record straight

about our generation.

This film is about
our true and untold history...

How we fix climate change

and how we win back our future.

MAN: CiCi Battle,
take one, marker.

Are the cliches
about millennials...

- Uh.
- Lazy?

- Uh-huh.
- Narcissistic?

- Uh-huh.
- Entitled?

- Uh-huh.
- Self-absorbed?

Okay.

Do I think we're lazy?
No.

Do we care about the things
that everyone

thinks we should care about?
No.

Do we think we're narcissistic?

Mm, you know, everybody got
a little piece of that in them,

you know, that's okay.

What people try to do
to millennials

is what was done to them.

I think there's multiple things
that I've overcome.

I am a Black woman
living in a world

that in every turn
tells me that I'm not enough,

and tells me that
I'm not beautiful.

I'm the director
of Young People For,

a national long-term leadership
development program

for young folks.

But specifically how we do
leadership development

is through the lens
of social justice.

So, everyone who comes
through the program

develops something called
a blueprint for social justice,

which is their campus
or community action plan

how they wanna build
a better now.

The suicide rate
for LGBTQIA+ youth,

it's two to seven times higher
than straight youth.

I was almost lost
to that statistic,

and I just don't want to see
that happen anymore.

So, I think the work that I do,
making sure that the identities

of queer and trans people
of color

that come from low-income
backgrounds are reflected,

so that my people
don't have to face what I did.

[CiCi] Young people
already have the answers,

but what's missing
is the access, opportunity,

and specifically the resources
to help them get there.

I think that our world seeks
to separate us and divide us,

whether through systems
of oppression

or the structures that
are built into our policies,

even the ways that
our neighborhoods are set up.

And so, there's something
really radical

about bringing people together
around a common interest.

I teach young folks,
and I think that everyone

should have some type of role

within the youth,
whether it's a coach,

or a counselor, or a teacher,
after-school teacher.

I know for sure that young folks

are always going to be
the voice of change,

because they're the ones coming
with the fresh ideas.

[CiCi] As a Black woman
in this country,

my survival is tied
to access to education

and access to fair housing.

My survival is tied
to reproductive justice.

I can't choose not to care

because millennials,
we're living the issues,

and this is our reality.

The MLKs of the world
are here already.

You don't have to be
a certain age to be a leader.

The people who are feeling
the issues have the answers,

and we need to step aside,
let them lead,

and support them along the way.

[Dan Schawbel] Every generation
has always

negatively stereotyped
younger generations

and positively stereotyped
their elders,

saying they're wise
and willing to mentor.

And the difference now

is that social media
and traditional media

has amplified
the negative stereotypes.

I think the reputation

and the stereotypes

that millennials have gotten

has set a precedent
for what people expect.

And so, millennials,
it's up to them

to bust this stereotype.

[music]

[Renaldo Pearson] I attended
Morehouse College.

It's the alma mater
of notable freedom fighters

like Dr. King and Julian Bond.

Naturally, I took a deep dive

in civil rights movement
history and ecology.

Understanding
the civil rights history,

you know, juxtaposing it
to Michelle Alexander's book,

"Mass Incarceration in the Age
of Colorblindness,"

you know, I've gotta
get involved in the fight.

I didn't see enough folks
who looked like me

at the decision table...
Certainly not voicing

the outrage that I had
about the system.

So, I got involved
as a criminal justice advocate.

I said, literally,
my grandparents

did not sacrifice their lives
for the right to vote

just to see the vote
of their grandchildren

purged a generation later.

And that kind of began my path
on this road of activism

and political engagement.

I'm an organizer
with Democracy Spring.

[man] There were mass arrests

along the steps
of Capitol Hill today

as more than 1,000 protestors
converged.

[woman] Several hundred people
sat down

asking to be arrested.

This event is all about people

reclaiming their voice
in government.

I got arrested, forced out,
misdemeanor charge.

But that's a badge of honor,

and I'm gonna share it
with my kids one day.

[music]

[David Burstein] Like the
millennial generation or not,

have your frustrations
or feelings about them,

the reason that people
should really care

about this generation,
is if you wanna understand

the future, you have
to understand this generation.

[man] Attention,
attention, everybody!

[Jason Dorsey] There's like
80 million of us.

We're the most diverse
generation

in the history
of the United States.

We're the largest generation
in the U.S. workforce,

and we're pretty much
gonna change everything.

[man] The police
are not the problem.

The problem is the system.

Of course there are millennials
that are entitled and lazy.

There are Gen X-ers that are
entitled and lazy.

There are boomer...
There are just people

that are entitled and lazy,
so yes,

some millennials
fall into that category.

But wouldn't it be a disgrace

if a quote-unquote
"entitled generation"

continued to kind of go
on this sleepwalking,

"yes, I will go do this
till the age of 65" mentality,

and instead kinda said,
"yeah, we're gonna use

that opportunity,
that privilege, to give back."

[Ana Kasparian] The majority
of millennials

identify as Independents,

and then about 27%
identify as Democrats,

and 17% identify as Republicans.

So, there are a lot
of similarities

among most millennials.

They're more socially liberal.

They want gay rights.

Equality among races.

They're more likely
to want these things

as opposed to baby boomers.

[Lindsey Horvath] Millennials
increasingly care less

about where you were born

or, you know,
what religion you practice,

or you know, who's in
your bedroom at night.

And we care about who you
choose to be as a person,

or how you're bettering yourself

in the community around you.

That's who you are as a human,

and that's what
we wanna know about you.

[Jason] We recently
did a national study,

and one of the questions was,

"How would you define yourself?
Male, female, other?"

Right?
And what we found is,

people that would
define themselves

as male or female
were much more likely

if they were a millennial
to pick "other"

purely so their friends
who would check "other"

did not feel excluded.

I mean, that's a massive shift.

How many boomers do you think
are gonna go check "other"?

[Michelle]
Speaking of baby boomers,

before we talk about where
our generation is going,

we need to talk
about where we came from.

Neil Howe is a sociologist...

Author, demographer, economist.

[Michelle] ...who studies how
the cycles of American history

repeat themselves.

[man] Neil Howe, coauthor
of the new book "Generations,"

what's it all about?

Well, "Generations"
is a whole new way

of looking at how the past
shapes the future.

Along the way, we discovered
some outstanding patterns

in history that seem
to be recurring.

We found, for instance,
that every generation

belongs to one
of four life-cycle types

that seems to repeat
in the same order over time.

There are four basic types
of generations.

There's the hero archetype,
like the greatest generation.

There's what we call
the artist archetype,

like the silent generation...

Heavily protected
in their youth,

and they tend to be improvers.

There's the prophet archetype.

They're born
right after the crisis

and they come of age
as young adults

during the awakening.

And then, you have
the nomad archetype,

which is like Generation X...

The totally individualist,
left-alone kind of archetype.

These repeating archetypes
take place

within a series of seasons

of history, and four turnings.

Turnings are the result

of this generational evolution,

this aging of generations up.

We define a turning as a period

that's about the same length
of the generation,

and each turning is an era
in which each generation

is moving
into a new phase of life.

We think that turnings,
just like generations,

repeat in cycles of four.

History suggests
that third turnings

eventually end
in fourth turnings.

The fourth turning
is the end of the cycle.

So today, we are back
in that era.

[clock ticking]

[Michelle] So, four generations
is about 80 years.

And about every 80 years...

[alarm clock ringing]

there's a major crisis.

About 80 years ago,

America experienced
an economic crisis...

and a man-made
environmental crisis.

And then, we entered
World War II.

[gunfire]

It was a bleak time.

[Neil] The fourth turning
usually manifests

in a number of events
and issues that come up

which represent
a perceived threat

to the nation's very survival.

[Michelle] Forged from
these hardships

came the G.I. Generation.

[gunshot]

The women built tanks and bombs.

The men fought in battles
of epic proportions.

And together, they won
the Second World War,

and they helped liberate
the world from fascism.

They became known
as a hero generation.

[Neil] We give each
of these turnings names.

The first turning
we call a high.

We think of a high as a period

when institutions are strong,
individualism is weak.

Society feels like it's more
than the sum of their parts.

The last period like this
was the American high.

Basically it lasted
from the end of World War II

up through John Kennedy's
presidency.

[swing music playing]

[Michelle]
While the silent generation

were still in their childhood,

the young G.I.s
had returned from the war.

They married,
and the privileged ones

settled in vast numbers
into suburbs.

The white middle class
was ballooning

and the American economy
was booming.

And when things are going well,
what do people do?

[sultry music playing]

They have lots and lots of...

[record scratching]

Babies.

Now, this was before
the internet.

There wasn't much to do.

[Neil] The second turning
is an awakening.

An awakening is a time
when everyone

tires of all
the social conformity,

so it's a turning toward
the individual.

The last time we remember
a turning like that

was obviously
the late '60s, 70s.

[Michelle] As those babies
became young adults,

the baby boomers were told...

Turn on, tune in, drop out.

♪ War, huh, yeah ♪

♪ What is it good for? ♪

[Michelle] They lived through
the era of war in Vietnam...

the draft, LSD, love-ins,

and the shootings at Kent State.

Leave this area immediately.

[Michelle] Theirs was a time
of extreme experimentation

and extreme disruption.

Throughout the late 1970s,
birth rates dropped

due to the birth control pill.

[announcer] The pill.

[Michelle]
And the divorce rate climbed,

the economy sunk,

and a smaller generation
of children was born.

♪ War! ♪

Which became known
as Generation X.

This was a time when our culture

looked down on having children.

Oh, shit!

What's wrong with my baby?

[screaming]

[Neil] A third turning,
individualism is triumphant.

Institutions are disrespected,
not trusted anymore.

These are all decades
of cynicism and bad manners.

This would be like the 1990s,
the 1920s, the 1850s.

They all have the same flavor.

[music]

[Michelle] And then, the values
of those nonconformist

baby boomers
took a complete 180.

♪ It's a brand-new day,
I'm Mr. VIP ♪

♪ I'm gonna make some money,
it's good to be me ♪

♪ Ooh, yum-yum-yummy ♪

[Michelle] They were done
with acid and free love,

and were now into...

[sniffing]

The key to success.

[Michelle] ...cocaine
and the free market.

A new era of hyper consumption
and extreme materialism began.

It was time for the largest
generation in history

to give birth
to an even bigger generation

that would come of age
in the new millennium.

And they would call us
millennials.

[harp strumming]

Oh, it works!

[Michelle] Suddenly,
people cared

about having kids again
and raising them right.

- It's me.
- [children] What?

[Barney] That's right!

A mirror will always show you
somebody very special.

[music]

[man] Welcome to America's
trophy culture.

[man] Everybody ready
for some trophies?

[kids cheering]

These days kids get trophies
for participating.

We lost almost
every game this season.

[woman] It sets the bar
pretty low.

[Michelle]
But as we came of age,

cracks began to appear,
and the media narrative

of the perfect world
we were promised.

On this day in 1991,

Rodney King, viciously beaten

by L.A. police officers

at the end
of a high-speed pursuit.

[woman] Orenthal James Simpson
not guilty

of the crime of murder.

[Michelle] Subconsciously,
we concluded that celebrities

play by a different
set of rules,

and that fame makes you
more important than others.

♪ Bones sinking like stones ♪

♪ All that we fought for ♪

The disconnect between the world

that we were raised
to believe in...

I did not have sexual relations
with that woman.

[Michelle] ...and the reality
that we were inheriting...

Indeed I did have a relationship

with Miss Lewinsky.

[Michelle]
continued to grow.

[man] ...believe 25 students
have been killed.

[woman] Eighteen people
have been killed,

six of them children.

[woman 2]
There are 95 people inside,

of them, 17 below the age of 10.

[Michelle] But the moment
that truly marked

the end of our innocence

was a moment so devastating...

it would leave a permanent scar
on the subconscious mind

of an entire generation.

[loud rumbling]

[people screaming]

♪ Bones sinking like stones ♪

And if we look at the world
that we were sold,

the world that we were
promised...

♪ When I grow up
to be big me ♪

[Michelle] ...versus the world
that we got...

♪ All of us are done for ♪

what is the underlying
context of our generation?

The message
that we received is...

[explosion]

you are not...

[Lily Comba]
I have anxiety today,

just like doing simple things...

Going to an amusement park,
going to a concert.

When the fireworks
are going off at Disney,

why is my first thought,
"Oh, this would be

a perfect place
for a terrorist to attack"?

It's a very anxious way
to live your life,

and that's just how, you know,
our generation grew up,

is in fear, really.

[Michelle] While we were
getting mixed messages

about the reality
of the world at large,

something else was taking place.

[fanfare playing]

A new era was coming into being.

[dial-up modem chirping]

We found an antidote
to being unsafe.

We found a way
to fix that problem.

Connections, friends,
being liked.

We found safety in numbers.

[Mark Zuckerberg]
These are some of the moments

that I'm really proud
of what we're doing, right?

I know that we're making
a positive difference

in people's lives.

And I know a lot of you
are gonna have questions

about this, so I wanna be clear
that we have designed this

with privacy and safety
in mind from the beginning.

[music]

♪ Post it, tweet it,
share it, like it ♪

There's a lot of research
that shows

that we are increasingly
anxious, depressed,

fearful, unhealthy society.

And I think that technology's
a big part of that.

A lot of reasons why
so many millennials

suffer with the depression

or the anxiety,
is because everybody

puts their highlight reel
out there.

There's who they are
in their day-to-day lives,

and then there's who
they project themselves to be.

♪ Post it, tweet it,
share it, like it ♪

♪ Share it, like it ♪

[Adam] You see a lot of people
that spend their days

taking other people's lives in,

and just,
this person's in India,

this person's got a new job,
this person just got published.

This person's dating someone
who's really attractive.

I look at that stuff
and I'm like,

oh, man, my life sucks.

♪ Tweet it, share it, like it ♪

♪ Share it, like it ♪

[Christine] Because there's
sort of this expectation,

especially thanks
to social media,

that "Here I am with my selfie,

and I'm happy all the time,
and my life is great,"

they're repressing
a lot of their emotions.

And so, that's leading
to a lot of depression.

So, if I'm feeling sad

and I don't have the tools
and resources for it,

and I feel ashamed about it,

I'm gonna go to my doctor
and talk about it,

and they're gonna
give me medication, because...

[snapping]
That's the quick fix.

[Preston Smiles] Because
we've been so advertised to,

we're having to figure out
how to be bigger

than our base desires.

Because we were drugged
as children

and given labels
like ADD and all of that,

we're having to navigate
those things.

[Christine]
One of the main reasons

this is the most
over-medicated generations

that we're seeing is because
they're constantly

comparing themselves
to the outside world,

and they're terrified to make
the wrong decision.

[Michelle] This was a warm-up
for what was to come next.

Because we wanted to live
as perfect avatars,

a lot of us dreamed
of getting a college degree.

But that dream
came with hidden costs.

[toy xylophone chiming]

[babbling, laughing]

My name's Carole,

and I have over $500,000

in student loan debt.

How am I gonna pay
for your college?

I mean, honestly, like, the way
that it was all presented

was, "This is normal,
this is what people do."

Many of today's grads
owe more than $100,000.

College tuition has gone up 234%

over the last 20-some-odd years.

[woman] Millennials
mired in debt, it's massive.

[Adam] There isn't really
a path for people

coming out of college now.

First of all,
they've just spent $200,000

on an education that doesn't
really prepare them

for the world of work,
and puts them

in a pretty precarious position
going into their 20s,

because they can't get a job,
and they have all this debt.

So, they're forced to take
a job they don't want.

[Preston] I think a lot of
people have this

internal sort of conflict
where it's like, your parents

are saying, "You have
to go to school," right?

'Cause the parents...
In the parents' mind,

they want the kid to be safe.

But that world doesn't even
exist anymore.

[Alan Collinge] In the, say,
mid '90s,

student loan debt stood at less
than 100 billion dollars.

Just in the past 10 years,
we've gone from 300 billion

to 1.4 trillion.

So, it is an exponential curve,

and it's reaching
the vertical part

of that curve very quickly.

[teapot whistling]

[Carole] They won't refinance
my interest rate

and they're insanely high.

So, that's 10 years
of paying on these loans,

and it's still more than
the cost of a house, so...

I mean, it's pretty criminal.

[Alan]
63%... so 27 million

of these 44 million borrowers

are currently unable
to make payments

on their student loans.

[Dan] The effect
that student loans have had

on the millennial generation,
it's prevented them

from getting married,

starting families,
buying houses.

It's really pushed back
their adulthood.

[Alan] The stories that
I've seen come across my desk

are extraordinary.

Many suicides where people just
couldn't handle the pressure

of their debt.

- [baby fussing]
- [Carole] My own personal debt

is definitely what holds us back

from being able to even
consider owning a home.

Definitely not
the American dream.

[laughing]

[David] People are saddled
with, you know,

student loan debt
in... in huge ways.

But we have to remember,
that's only actually a fraction

of the country, 'cause it's
only a fraction of the country

that's going to college.

[Tamara Draught]
Having a college degree

is pretty much a requirement
for achieving

any kind of middle-class
security in our economy today.

And when I let people know

that only about one-third of
even young people

have college degrees...

These are journalists...
They're like,

"What? That's it?"

[Michelle] About two-thirds
of our generation is stuck

in what's called
the wage labor, or gig economy.

We face an impossible choice...

Get the college degree
and the debt,

or don't graduate from college,

and get stuck in a dead-end job.

60% of people
making minimum wage

are millennials.

If you work for tips...
And many young people do...

You can legally be paid
$2.13 an hour.

Today, what we have
is the proliferation

of what I call
the bargain basement economy,

and this is this massive,
massive amoeba

of low-paying jobs
with no benefits,

with erratic schedules,

that really outnumber
professional occupations

by about 3-to-1.

[Michelle] The number-one job
for a millennial man

in America today,
college degree or no...

is driving a vehicle.

And where are those jobs
gonna be in 30 years?

Driverless car.

[Michelle] As our generation
became aware

of just how screwed up
the system was...

a lot of us started
to get involved.

Activism... we got political.

And for most of us,

our first taste
of American politics

was filled with hope.

[music]

For many of us,
2008 was the first year

we could vote.

We were pivotal
in electing a man

that embodied our generation's
view of diversity.

[Barack Obama] Tonight,
because of what we did

on this day, in this election,

at this defining moment,
change has come to America.

[cheers and applause]

[Preston] When CNN
announced that he won,

everybody just kinda
sat there like, "Whoa."

[Corbin Bleu]
That was the first year

that I was able to vote.

Having our first
African American president

was a huge milestone
for us as a generation.

[Alexi Panos]
We had a movement,

an uprising with Barack,
a movement of people

who were sick
of the old politics

could come together and say,
"Let's utilize this voice

"that we have called
the internet,

and let's reach people like me
who never cared to vote."

2008, I think for everybody
across the board,

it shook everything up,

and we got to see the power
of the internet,

and we got to see the power

of the millennial generation
in action.

Yes, we can!
Yes, we can! Yes, we can!

[Obama] For even
as we celebrate tonight,

we know the challenges
that tomorrow will bring

are the greatest
of our lifetime.

[woman] The stock market
is now down...

[woman 2] Let's talk
about the speed

of which we are watching
this market deteriorate.

[man] 'Cause we're now down 43%.

[man 2] We haven't seen
anything like this

probably since
the Great Depression...

[Michelle] From the 1929
Great Depression

to the 2008 Great Recession
was almost exactly 80 years.

[clock ticking, chiming]

Neil Howe has a name
for this type

of recurring crisis.

He calls it a fourth turning.

We think that America entered
a fourth turning in 2008.

It's a time of death and rebirth

of institutional life.

All of these entropy trends
toward individualism

and lack of sort of organization

eventually culminate in sort of
a crisis for society.

[Erica] I remember driving
through the neighborhoods

of these massive, like,
single-family homes

that all these affluent
Black families had lived in.

They were all foreclosed.

Suddenly, like,
families that I had known

were either homeless,
near homeless,

and these were families
that just a year or two before

weren't even close to the brink.

[woman] 11 million homes
that their mortgage

is more than the value
of their home.

We're doing a...
Serving an eviction on you.

You have to get a change
of clothes, stuff like that,

and take off
in about 15 minutes.

Well, I have my son upstairs
and he's sleeping right now.

Okay, you need to wake him up.

In the 1930s we had bread lines.

Venture out before dawn
in America today

and you'll find mortgage lines.

[Roza Calderon]
I came to the U.S. as a refugee

from El Salvador.

I was two years old
and the war was rampant.

My mother, who actually worked
as a secretary

for the military government,

she knew that the only place

that we would be able
to have an opportunity

to actually make it
was here in the U.S.

She risked her life, she risked
never seeing us again

to cross the border
to give us that opportunity.

When I was actually
starting my family,

I realized that we couldn't
afford to have a child.

Both my husband back then
and I made $10 an hour each.

We could not even afford
daycare.

I've been trying
to pay for school,

I've been trying to pay
for my mortgage,

I've been trying
to get a better education

not just for myself,
but for my daughter.

[woman] The vote comes
just as nine

of the nation's biggest banks

reported losses
of 82 billion dollars

while paying bonuses
totaling 33 billion dollars

to employees...

Banks that took
taxpayer bailout money.

One of the things
that happened to me

and millions of other Americans

was that we not only lost
our jobs,

we lost our homes,
we lost our families,

we lost our spouses.

And we lost our sense
of security.

Even though Obama represented
hope and change,

there was zero accountability

to those who crashed
the housing market.

Not one executive
went to jail over it.

The people united
will never be defeated!

The people united will never
be defeated!

Whose street?
Our street!

Whose street? Our street!

[woman] The protests
are spreading

from cyberspace to streets
all around the country.

[overlapping shouting]

I have done nothing wrong!

[man] There is high unemployment

among young Americans

'cause this economy
is having such trouble,

and young people
are having a difficult time...

[man 2] Let me break it
to you...

- But young people...
- All you have to do

is take a shower,
and they can get a job

if they went to college.

[Ana] Occupy Wall Street
was an important movement

that I believe was undermined
by the mainstream media.

[woman] Here's what I saw.

It's not just a bunch
of dancing hippies protesting.

There are all kinds
of people there...

Babies, teachers, cheerleaders,

Uncle Sam-ta, and... that.

Seriously?
What are they protesting?

Nobody seems to know.

[man]
The federal reserve system

is printing money
out of thin air

to bail out the banks

so they can buy
your foreclosed home.

[Renaldo] Nonviolent
direct action

is civil disobedience.

It is putting your body
on the line

to do what John Lewis calls

getting into good trouble.

Civil disobedience,
nonviolent direct action,

is not the liberal
or conservative thing to do.

It's the right thing to do

when unequal and unjust laws
stand in the way.

[music]

[Jay] A lot of people argue
that Occupy was a failure.

But actually,
it was incredibly successful

insofar as it helped
acquaint the country

to the conversation about
the 99% versus the 1%.

The Occupy organizers,
a number of them

started to rethink, "How do we
bring about social change

through electoral politics?"

This platform became
the people for Bernie.

[crowd cheering]

How many people here
are dealing with student debt?

Raise your hand.
Whoa.

[Christine] Bernie Sanders
really spoke

to a new generation of voters.

[Nina Turner] When you look
at the sea of people

that he attracted, you did see
the millennial generation

out there in full effect.

That generation
is sending a signal

to Gen X
and to the boomer generation

about the type of future
they want to inherit.

[woman] Welcome to the stage
activist and acclaimed actress

from the "Divergent" series,
Shailene Woodley!

[Shailene] I'm 24 years old,
and for many years

I was the farthest thing
from calling myself political.

Can we just acknowledge
how beautiful this day is?

Look at how lucky we are!

I know it's hot,
but it's beautiful!

I'm so grateful to be here.

A lot of people feel like
their voices don't matter.

- Does your voice matter?
- [crowd] Yes!

[Shailene] I felt like I didn't
have a voice in politics.

And I spent months
doing a crash course,

educating myself, learning,
being inspired

by people around me
who were political.

And what I've realized is that
all the suffering I see,

all the oppression I see,

all of the fear and the sadness,

every single thing
that I care about

eventually end up in politics.

So, whether I like it or not,
I have to be political.

[man] The single largest
campaign event

of the 2016 presidential
election.

[woman] Senator Bernie Sanders!

[crowd] Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!

Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!
Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!

Bernie! Bernie!

And now, to Vermont.

How do you cast your 26 votes?

[cheers and applause]

[crowd chanting]
Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!

I move that Hillary Clinton
be selected

as the nominee
of the Democratic party

for President
of the United States.

[cheers and applause]

[Michelle] So, what really
happened in 2016?

Well, a couple of things.

First, the polls showed
that Bernie had a better chance

of beating Donald Trump
than Hillary did.

So, why didn't Bernie
run as an Independent?

After all, he definitely
had the support.

The short answer is America
is a two-party system,

and that system
has been invaded.

Take a good look
at your beloved candidates.

They're nothing but hideous
space reptiles.

[crowd gasping, screaming]

It's true.
We are aliens.

But what are you
going to do about it?

It's a two-party system.

You have to vote for one of us.

He's right, this is
a two-party system.

Well, I believe I'll vote
for a third party candidate.

Go ahead, throw your vote away!

[evil laughing]

[Michelle] America's
two-party system

sets up a lose-lose scenario
for third party candidates.

Here's how it works
against them.

If we take the entire electorate

and boil it down to 100 voters,

those on the right
vote for a Republican

and those on the left
vote for a Democrat.

Those in the middle...
The 5 to 10%

who might vote either way,

actually end up
tipping the election.

But let's see what happens
when we introduce

a third party candidate.

If their progressive,
the progressive vote is split,

and the conservative wins.

If the third party
is conservative,

the conservative vote is split,
and the progressive wins.

In this system,
the winning candidate

usually wins with less than
half of the winning votes.

If Bernie had run
as an Independent,

he would have split
the progressive vote

with Hillary Clinton,

and both of them
would have lost.

Thank God that didn't happen.

The second thing
that happened in 2016

was that even though
80% of millennials

were registered to vote,

only 50% of us
showed up to the polls.

Why is that?

Disenfranchise... to deprive
of a legal right

or some privilege,
especially the right to vote.

They didn't have to physically
take away our right to vote

or prevent us from voting.

All they had to do
was convince us not to care.

In total, 102 million people
did not vote in 2016.

In other words,
our two-party system

actually disenfranchises

almost half of the voting
population.

But there is another way.

In other countries,
like Australia and Ireland,

they use ranked choice voting.

Here's how
ranked choice voting works.

Instead of choosing
just one candidate,

you rank candidates
in order of preference.

So, let's say your first choice
is mathematically eliminated.

Your vote automatically
goes to your second choice.

Ranked choice voting
is important

because the majority
of Americans actually agree

on the big issues...

and America is actually
a purple country.

Ranked choice voting
would give us something

we desperately need
to be a true democracy...

A third or even
a fourth party...

unlike the current system
which always pulls us apart.

And that's exactly
what happened in 2016.

[applause]

[Hillary] I know how
disappointed you feel,

because I feel it too.

And so do tens of millions
of Americans

who invested their hopes
and dreams in this effort.

This is painful,
and it will be for a long time.

But I want you to remember this.

Our campaign was never
about one person,

or even one election.

It was about the country
we love,

and about building an America
that's hopeful, inclusive,

and big-hearted.

This loss hurts, but please,

never stop believing
that fighting for what's right

is worth it.

[cheers and applause]

[Michelle] Even though the 2016
millennial voter turnout

was weak, Hillary Clinton
won the popular vote

by almost three million votes.

That means that almost
three million more people

voted for Hillary Clinton
than Donald Trump.

[crowd] USA!

[Michelle] If you're wondering
how the candidate

who lost the general election
became our president...

Nobody knows the system
better than me.

[Michelle] ...let's go back
to answer

a very important question.

Why didn't
the popular vote count?

[man laughing]

Well, due to an outdated
pro-slavery contraption

called the electoral college
in America,

we vote in districts.

After each census,
which occurs every 10 years,

representatives
at the state level

redraw the district lines.

To keep themselves in power,
these representatives

use advanced software
to cut out dissenting votes.

It's called gerrymandering.

It is the very thing that makes
many of our votes not count.

After Obama was elected in 2008,

red states worked hard
to elect officials

who would redraw
key district lines in 2010

to lock out progressive votes.

Then, in 2013, an important part

of the Civil Rights Act
was overturned

by the U.S. Supreme Court,

making it okay for mostly
white Southern districts

to turn away people of color
from polling places.

So, now you know why 2016
was such a cluster[bleep].

In the wake of the election,
a youthful mix of rage

at a broken political system

and the desire
to do something grew.

The Me Too Movement...

Time's up! Time's up!

To the Women's March...

We are here
for the women of the world!

To Black Lives Matter.

- Hands up!
- Don't shoot!

- Hands up!
- Don't shoot!

- Hands up!
- Don't shoot!

- Hands up!
- Don't shoot!

I can't breathe!
I can't breathe!

Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

[Michelle] But there was one
area of resistance

that didn't quite get
the attention it deserved.

[Shailene] When you enter
Standing Rock Reservation...

you see the beginning
of the revolution

that we are all a part of.

[crowd] We are not leaving!
We are not leaving!

[Michelle] This was about
an oil company

that wanted to put a pipeline
over Native American grounds

which we had granted
to Native American people

as a result of treaties.

[Shailene] This is a pipeline
that originally was meant

to be built in Bismarck,
North Dakota.

And when the people...
Mostly white...

Found out that this pipeline,
when it breaks,

would compromise the integrity
of their drinking water,

they chose to move the pipeline

to half a mile north
of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

[Michelle] It was there
in North Dakota

that a handful
of Native American millennials

began a peaceful protest.

I saw young people
coming together,

young people really being
at the forefront

of this movement,
having a voice.

Indigenous rights
and environmental justice

are so tightly tied together

because when
these projects happen,

they happen in our backyards.

They happen in indigenous lands

where we still are.

We're still dealing with
the effects of colonization.

We're still dealing
with land theft,

with resource theft constantly.

[Shailene] This is bigger
than a pipeline, you guys.

This is about humanity.

We all look different, we all
believe in different things.

But we all recognize
that water is not a privilege.

Clean water is a right.

We gained support from people
all over the world.

You know, this is
a very clear issue

of people defending water.

[people shouting]

[phone ringing]

[man] Corson County
Sheriff's Department.

[woman] I need to report
an assault.

There are malicious-style police

firing at point-blank range
with high-powered mace.

[man] Ma'am, yeah,
if there's police there,

then it has...

[woman] The police are the ones

attacking innocent,
unarmed people.

We have elders here,
we have children here,

we have all ages here.

Nobody is armed
except for the police.

Who protects the people
from the police?

[Tara] I've seen people
brutalized by police officers

defending a pipeline,
defending corporate interests,

seeing a counterintelligence
agency being deployed

to infiltrate unarmed citizens

and paint us
as jihadist terrorists.

[Shailene] I'm being arrested.

I hope you're watching,
mainstream media.

[woman] We're protecting
the water,

they're protecting oil,
that's what's happening.

[man] The big question tonight
is how is the incoming

Donald Trump administration
going to handle this project?

It's no secret
President Elect Trump

and his cabinet are pro-oil
and pro-pipeline.

[Donald] This is with respect
to the construction

of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Nobody thought any politician
would have the guts

to approve that final leg.

And I just closed my eyes
and said, do it.

[scattered applause]

[Tara] For every single person
that was there

and for everyone
that followed that movement,

they got to see firsthand what
corporate interest looks like.

To understand that their rights
as citizens

mattered less than
the rights of a company,

and that was a huge win
for changing people's minds

and opening their eyes
to what's really happening.

[Ana] I think that
the protests at Standing Rock

represent a cross-section

between two huge issues
that we have,

not only in this country,
but throughout the world.

There's the issue
of corporate power

and corporate influence,
and of course,

the issue of climate change

and what we're doing
to our environment.

[Xiuhtezcatl Martinez]
Anything we care about

in our lives,
whether it's gender equality,

racial equality,
or indigenous rights,

clean water,
access to good education,

healthy international
relations...

Like, if we look
at these different things,

climate change touches
all of them.

If you look at
industrial developments

since the beginning
of the Industrial Revolution,

our society, we know how
to build pipelines really well.

We've built a lot of 'em.

We know how to build
coal plants,

and power plants, refineries.

We know how to grow an economy
based on fossil fuels.

So, the question now
is not whether we can,

but how long until we transition

to the next phase?

There's really a fight
between what's right

and what's easy.

I think the biggest question
is whether we'll do it in time.

Yeah, I wouldn't be doing this
if I didn't think we could.

[Chase Iron Eyes]
Our liberations are tied up

and dependent on each other.

We're playing both sides
of this drama.

I have to play this side,
and some people

are born in
and playing this other side.

But we have to realize that
there are these common forces

which are causing that drama
in the first place.

The entire
petrol chemical industry,

that entire complex forces us

to participate
in our own destruction

and causes this
cognitive dissonance.

This isn't just about
Standing Rock.

This is about the entire future
of humanity and Mother Earth.

We're all in this together.

[Michael] The places
that our members

have worked to protect
are under threat

because of climate change.

And our air quality
is threatened

because of climate change,
and the stability

of our entire civilization
is at risk.

[Corbin] That is
the biggest issue

that my generation faces,

it's the environmental crisis.

We are in a do-or-die situation,

where we have to choose
right now,

what are we going to do?

[woman] The biggest wildfire...

[woman 2] The worst drought
to hit...

And I think now it's a question

that all of us
have to ask ourselves.

Are we willing to save
our species?

Because that's what
it's coming down to.

- [clears throat]
- [man] All right.

- So, we're ready to roll?
- Rolling.

[music]

- [Bill Maher] You're 16.
- [Xiuhtezcatl] Mm-hmm.

You may be the youngest
person on our show.

Setting records,
that's what's up.

I stand before you today

representing my entire
generation.

You've made three speeches,
right, at the UN?

- That's correct, yeah.
- Wow, that's three more

than I've made.
[laughter]

[Xiuhtezcatl] I saw
that climate change

was gonna be the defining issue
of our time.

Hello, my name is Xiuhtezcatl,
I'm six years old, I'm a boy.

So, for the last nine years,
since I was six years old,

I've been on the front lines

of climate
and environmental movements.

Climate change has got to go,
hey, hey!

In 2015 myself
and 20 other young people

filed a lawsuit against
the federal government

for failure to act
on climate change.

A federal judge
ruled in your favor.

It's going forward now, right?

- So, congratulations.
- Appreciate that.

[Xiuhtezcatl]
We created a model

of what it would look like
if we put power

into the hands of young people.

We can if we unite together
as one people, one voice.

We can do it.

And if we actually
listen to their voices

and elevated their voices.

Now, who wants to make
a better future

for us and our children?

[cheers and applause]

Young people will need to play
a really critical role

in leading
these movements forward

if we wanna see
the kind of change

that the world is gonna need
to go through.

We just gotta make sure
it happens quick enough.

♪ Till the day we die,
everything I have ♪

♪ And everything
I've proven to be ♪

♪ Everything
the revolution could be ♪

♪ I can bleed onto a page,
claim that I'm the king ♪

♪ I believe that you can
realize your dreams, stop ♪

[music stops]

We know that we have
the solutions

to climate change.

We need to build
the political will

to make those solutions
go from ideas into reality.

[Michelle] Scientists tell us
that what happens

during the coming decade
will determine the fate

of our climate,
and possibly our species.

[Neil] The fourth turning is,
in a way,

the winter of history.

Today, we've entered another one

of these fourth turning eras.

The mood in a fourth turning
is more urgent.

Social chaos, civil war...
I mean, these are the issues

that arise in a fourth turning.

Institutions are torn down
and rebuilt from the ground up

in a way that would have seemed
unthinkable in other eras.

There seems to be
such a threat economically,

geopolitical threats.

[man] The U.S. and Iran
on the brink.

[Neil] The first lesson
of history

to be aware of is that
all of the total wars

in American history
all took place

during fourth turnings.

[man] North Korea fired
yet another

ballistic missile overnight.

[Neil] This is a sobering
lesson for history,

because at a time
of intense solidarity,

when you feel that the survival
of your community's at stake,

anything's on the table.

On our last fourth turning,

we recruited all of the top
scientists in America

to work on a weapon
of mass destruction,

and which we then deployed.

[explosion]

You think about the Civil War.

If we had had such a weapon,
would we have used it?

I think the question
answers itself.

Of course we would have.

[Michelle] Unfortunately,
history tells us

that things will probably
get a little worse

before they get better.

It also tells us
that Western civilization

is very cyclical.

About 240 years ago
there was a generation

who stood up against
a foreign tyranny

and fought the Revolutionary War

that created the United States.

Eighty years later,
there was a generation

of white land owners
and Black slaves

who fought together
in the Civil War

to end slavery once and for all.

Eighty years after that,
the G.I. Generation

faced huge challenges.

They helped defeat the fascists.

They won the Second World War.

Eighty years.

Eighty years.

Eighty years.

Huh, it's been about 80 years.

[Neil] On our last
fourth turning,

Sinclair Lewis
wrote a book in 1936

called "It Can't Happen Here."

It was about the rise
of fascism in America,

and it was about a leader
who believed

in winning is everything,

and America has to do
whatever it takes,

however dirty it is, to get
itself back on top again.

It created a kind of world
that I would say to millennials

could best see embodied
in the movie version

of "Hunger Games."

Obviously, a very dystopian,

credibly negative turn
of history.

This is why
we need to take care,

we need to have wise leaders.

[Jennifer Lawrence] Hello.
Hello, New Orleans!

[cheers and applause]

So many of us have come from
across the political spectrum.

[cheers and applause]

Across ideologies,
across parties,

it's time to unite
to fix our democracy.

[Neil] A positive turn,
of course,

is that everyone
does their role well.

And millennials
keep the nation on track

toward a better future.

[man] This is our moment,
and it's time

to unrig the system.
Welcome.

By getting to the heart
of how corrosive an effect

money has on our politics,

and really regaining
that voice, and trust,

and confidence of the people,
that's how we can begin

to get back to a government
of by and for the people.

[man] We need people
in their 40s, 30s, and 20s

to take over our country.

All due respect
to people 50 and over,

we've had our way.

My generation
is the first generation

in the history of the country
that's gonna leave this country

in worse shape than we found it.

Regardless of where
our politics fall,

at the grassroots,
the American people

don't deserve to pay taxes
to a system

that is rigged against them.

[bleep] that.

[cheers and applause]

[Josh Silver] The movement
to unrig the system

has to include everybody.

It's got to include
Independents,

it's got
to include conservatives,

it's got to include
progressives.

Why?
Only 25% of the American people

self-identify as liberal.

That leaves 75% of the country
off the table.

This is not radical stuff.

This is all within reach
if we can address

the structural problems
with our democracy.

[Michelle] If you want
to change a broken system,

you have to change
the structure of that system.

Structural change is a term
borrowed from economics.

It means change so vast

that it literally redefines
the fabric of society.

A great example
of structural change

comes from the unlikeliest
generation...

the silent generation.

[people chanting]

Turns out they weren't
so silent after all.

♪ Oh, this little light
of mine ♪

In the 1960s,
the silent generation

led the charge around
civil rights.

It culminated in the passage
of the Civil Rights Act.

The reason the civil rights
movement was so successful?

It had a singular objective.

The right to vote.

That kind of definable objective

is one of the most
powerful tools

in achieving structural change.

My fellow Americans,
I am about to sign into law

the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Its purpose is to promote

a more abiding commitment
to freedom,

a more constant
pursuit of justice,

and a deeper respect
for human dignity.

Thanks a lot.

[overlapping chatter]

[Michelle] And then,
our parents' generation,

the baby boomers.

They passed the 26th Amendment,

giving 18-year-olds
the right to vote.

Because if they were old enough
to be drafted

and forced to fight
and die for their country,

then they're old enough to vote.

[Richard Nixon]
The right to vote

of all of our young people
between 18 and 21.

11 million new voters that's
a result of this amendment

that you now will see certified
by the GSA.

[Michelle] In essence,
our parents

gave us the right to vote.

Real change is possible.

Our constitution
isn't written on stone.

It's written on a piece
of paper.

And if you read that
piece of paper,

when things go wrong,
you write some more stuff.

To achieve full
structural change,

you've gotta deal with politics.

[Steven Olikara] For every
person who cares

about cleaning up a river,
that's great.

Organize your friends,
clean it up.

But then ask yourself,
why is that river

dirty in the first place?

And when you get down
that conversation,

you realize
that's a policy question.

[Dwight Bullard] My mom
used to make the argument,

that even going to the bathroom
was political.

The idea that waste management
is a thing, right?

That is a government entity.

When you press that lever
to flush the toilet,

it has to go somewhere.

And so, when you think
about it in that sense,

that the air we breathe,
the water we drink,

has someone either pulling
or pushing

to make some change
better or worse for you,

you as a person
need to get engaged.

And so, especially people
at the age of 18,

I mean, the ability to vote
and exercise that right to vote

is so critically important.

[Josh]
We have a desperate need

for young people to seek
elected office.

There's so many people
who think,

"Oh, I couldn't get elected,

I don't have money,
I don't have name rec..."

It's amazing what elbow grease
and determination can do.

It happens all the time.

[Norah] She's the first member
in Congress

born in American Samoa,
the first Hindu,

and one of the first two
female combat veterans.

Congresswoman, good morning,
thanks for joining us.

Thank you, aloha, good morning.

You are new to Congress
and you have recently...

[Tulsi Gabbard] If I had
listened to all of the people

who told me
when I was 21 years old

that I was crazy
and I should never even think

about getting involved
with politics at that age,

then I wouldn't have run.

You know, at that time,
there was no political training

for young people to go through.

It was really like,
get on my computer,

build this
eight and a half by 11

black-and-white page
that I took to the copy shop

and printed out
a few hundred copies,

got in my car
with a bottle of water

and went out to start
knocking on doors.

I was terrified.
[laughing]

[Michelle]
Congresswoman Gabbard

was one of the first millennials

to break into
the political system.

But by the 2018 midterms...

The future belongs to all of us!

[Michelle] ...a wave
of millennials

on the left and the right

had decided to run for office.

And not only did they run,
but many of them won.

In fact, of the 93 members
elected to Congress in 2018,

almost one-third of them
were millennials.

It's all part
of a nationwide trend...

Young people running for office.

A record number of millennials
are running for office.

West Hollywood Mayor
Lindsey Horvath joining me now.

Until I was elected,
everyone on the council

was over the age of 50.

[man] Women, people of color,
Muslims,

members of the LGBT community,
they're all signing up

to get their names
on the ballot.

[woman] Chase Iron Eyes,
who is an attorney

and an activist in
the Native American movement,

he's running for Congress
in North Dakota.

What we're witnessing right now
is a movement.

[Michelle] And a
disproportionately high number

of them were women.

[woman] This is the year
of the woman.

One of those women,
Ayanna Pressley.

[Ayanna] The Seventh
Congressional District

is the most diverse

and the most unequal,
and I'm running

to do something
specifically about that.

[woman] All while a mother
and pregnant with twins.

Republican candidate
for U.S. Congress,

Christina Hagan.

[Christina] Being a young
woman, a millennial,

a conservative,
those are all unique things

in our political process.

[man] Roza Calderon, she is
the Democratic candidate

for California's
Fourth Congressional District.

[Roza] You know,
I'm a single mom,

and so I thought there's no way.

People like me
we're not supposed to run,

we're not meant to run.

But I kept thinking, why not me?

Why not an average
regular person

who understands the struggle
of the people to run?

[woman] Rashida Tlaib,
the first Muslim woman

in Congress in the country.

[man] Twin sisters
are both running

for Michigan County
Commissioner seats.

- Good morning.
- So, how did one

become a Democrat
and one become a Republican?

We are trying to move
things forward,

and we can't do it
when we're fighting

against each other.

[Michelle] Even President Trump
noticed that something big

had changed in Congress.

We also have more women
serving in Congress

than at any time before.

[cheers and applause]

USA! USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA!

Very good.

And congratulations,
that's great.

[Michelle] But perhaps
the most surprising thing

that happened in the 2018
midterms was this.

- I can't let you know...
- Oh my God!

She's looking at herself
on television.

We wanna begin with some
breaking political news.

A 28-year-old
Democratic Socialist

beating a man who some saw as
the next Speaker of the House.

[man] At 29 years old,
she will become

the youngest-serving
congresswoman ever.

[Alexandria]
Running for Congress,

it was never something that
I thought I'd be able to do,

because our system
is not designed

for working-class Americans
to hold office.

Working 18-hours days,
and little things

like trying to afford
health insurance

when you're a waitress,
showed me what it's like

to be an American in a way

that I don't think most
public officials understand.

[Michelle] Her values
were simple and clear.

[Alexandria] I believe that
healthcare is a right.

I believe that our climate
is in a crisis right now.

I believe that
every single American

should have the opportunity
to attend college

or trade school.

We see that this
is not a pipe dream.

Every other developed nation
in the world does this.

Why can't America?

We will not rest until
every person in this country

is paid a living wage to lead
a dignified life.

[Michelle] And perhaps
most importantly,

she wanted to do
something radical...

To use government policy
to combat the climate crisis.

[Alexandria] Climate change and
our environmental challenges

are one of the biggest
existential threats

to our way of life.

[man] The Green New Deal

calls for a 10-year
national mobilization

to bring greenhouse
gas emissions to zero,

meet 100% of energy needs
by renewable sources.

Our climate is in a crisis
right now,

and that for our economy
and for our children,

it is time to move over
to a renewable energy economy

by 2028.

[Michelle] It should come
as no surprise

that the Green New Deal was met
with heavy-handed opposition.

What is this Green New Deal?
Answer?

Radical,
environmental socialism.

When we outlaw plane travel,

we outlaw gasoline,
we outline cars.

There's another victim of the
Green New Deal, it's ice cream.

Wants to go after flatulent
cows, so what are they saying,

- we're gonna ban hamburgers?
- No more steak.

I guess government-forced
veganism is in order.

[Michelle] You have to wonder
if that opposition

has anything to do with
where our elected officials

typically get their funding.

[Alexandria] If I wanna run
a campaign

that is entirely funded

by corporate
political action committees,

is that... is there anything

that legally prevents me
from doing that?

No.

Are there any limits on the laws

that I can write or influence?

- There's no limit.
- So, there's none.

So, I can be totally funded
by oil and gas,

I can be totally funded
by Big Pharma, come in,

write Big Pharma laws,
and there's no limits

- to that whatsoever?
- That's right.

[Michelle] But AOC,
as she's now called,

isn't the only young leader
who wants to use government

to stop climate change.

[woman] A 15-year-old
Swedish climate activist,

Greta Thunberg, has called for
a global climate strike today.

[crowd] Climate justice!

You are not mature enough
to tell it like it is.

Even that burden,
you leave to us children.

But I don't care
about being popular.

I care about climate justice
and the living planet.

And if solutions
within this system

are so impossible to find,

then maybe we should change
the system itself.

We have come here
to let you know

that change is coming,
whether you like it or not.

[woman] Her speeches have
inspired children

around the world
to take to the streets.

[crowds shouting]

[music]

[man] An estimated
one million young people

across the globe struck today,
walking out of their schools

to protest the threat
of climate change.

[Greta] Why should we
be studying for a future

that soon may not exist anymore?

[Neil] 'Cause we often
think that, "Oh my gosh,

we just don't have the leader
for these times," right?

But my sense of history is,
whoever came up to plate

was impelled by the very nature
of the times

to make the right decision.

- Climate!
- Justice!

[chanting continues]

[Xiuhtezcatl] When people ask,
What gives you hope?"

Like, that's what gives me hope.

[inaudible]

There are youth worldwide that
are in positions of leadership

that are leading the way
for other young people.

This is a creative, innovative,
fast-paced generation

that is making things happen,
and at the forefront of change.

[Neil] There's a sense
in which the turnings

create the leaders,
not the leaders

create the turnings.

That is to say, the mood
creates the opportunity

for a certain kind of leader

to make a great leader
out of someone

who in another period
would have been a nonentity.

What I know for sure
is young people

have the answer.

Older people
have the answer too.

[Neil] I often get asked
the question, you know,

"Can we avoid
a fourth turning?"

And I guess my answer is,
we often want to avoid things,

and we're always sorry
of the consequences

of trying to avoid it.

Occasionally you need a fire,
occasionally you need something

to purge out stuff
that doesn't fit anymore.

It calls forth qualities

which otherwise remain
dormant in us.

Making us bigger, better,
sometimes larger

than we otherwise
would have been.

[Preston] So, my greatest hope
is that we come together

in unprecedented ways.

And let's figure out
a way to work together

despite our differences.

If we can do that...
When we do that...

Not if, when we do that,
the whole world shifts.

♪ This is a revolution ♪

This whole revolution thing
that we're talking about,

it really is a consciousness

that says that we will make
the impossible possible,

no matter our generation,
our race, our gender,

our sexual orientation,
our religion.

We're fighting for an America
as good as its promise.

[Shailene] We're here
for a reason.

That reason is to unite,
and that reason

is to put truth,
and integrity, and justice,

and kindness, and love
at the forefront

of every single thing we do.

Only love can defeat hate.

So, if there are things
going on that we don't like,

take that energy and fuel it
in a positive way.

But it's not gonna happen
unless you step up

and do something about it.

[Alexi] Yes, we might
be on our cellphones a lot.

But guess what, a lot of us
are creating movements

on those cellphones.

Whatever it might be,
we are literally the ones

changing the world
right now as we speak.

[Steven] This is real change
I'm seeing

on the ground right now,
but people don't see it yet

because it doesn't make
the headlines.

It's not sensational
and conflict-driven.

It's real progress.

[Neil] We need to keep in mind
who we are as a people,

and preserve those values
into the next turning.

And the next first turning,

which I think
will probably happen

at the very end of the 2020s,
that'll be the time

when the generation
after millennials,

this new homeland generation,
they will be coming of age.

My friends and I
might still be 11,

but we know what is right
and wrong.

We say, no more!

[Neil] Millennials
are beginning to move

into real leadership roles
for the first time.

This will be the new golden age,

because we will have
successfully,

finally by dint of this
great collective struggle

solved so many global problems,
environmental problems,

that will last
for the next couple

of generations after that.

[Xiuhtezcatl] Every generation
leaves something behind

to be remembered by,

and we are at a tipping point
right now.

We are being called upon
to use our courage,

our innovation, our creativity,

and our passion
to bring forth a new world.

[Renaldo] And with that,
I'll leave you

with these words from
Rabbi Maimonides.

"The world is equally balanced
between good and evil.

Your next act
will tip the scales."

[cheers and applause]

[Michelle] We're the most
educated, gender-fluid,

entrepreneurial,
mobile, text-savvy,

the most connected,
politically independent,

most radically diverse,

as well as the most
globally aware generation

in history.

The mission of our generation
is simple.

Use every tool we have,
including our political system,

to fix our climate
and save our future.

We don't need approval
or permission

to change our future.

We only need each other.

The hero of our generation
is our generation.

♪ This is a revolution ♪

♪ We are rising up,
we are rising up ♪

♪ This is a revolution ♪

♪ We are rising up,
we are rising up ♪

♪ This is a revolution ♪

♪ We are rising up,
we are rising up ♪

♪ This is a revolution ♪

♪ We are rising up,
we are rising up ♪

♪ This is a revolution ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪

♪ This is a revolution ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪

♪ This is a revolution ♪♪

[music]