I’m going to level with you. I don’t care much about generalizations and think that generation theory is somewhat silly. Each one of us has free will and the ability to act in any manner that we please. This idea is the very cornerstone of civilization and free society. But we are also creatures brought into being at a very special time in history.

We rest on the verge of a great human shift. Our technology and ever-increasing interconnectivity is driving us forward into the wide gulf of opportunity. Imagine what our world will look like in 20 years. Are you happier, healthier and more secure in purpose? Are we in the midst of a new American century or just beginning to realize that our time has passed us by – another seat at the table and voice in the crowd?

People our age and those roughly 10 years older and younger than us are members of the so-called “Millennial” generation – those born between 1980 and 2000.

You’ve probably heard or read some of the growing hyperventilation from older folks regarding who we are, and what we’re about. The generalized cacophony sounds something like: entitled, everybody-gets-a-trophy brats, victims of helicopter parents and over-stimulation. The tired list goes on and on.

Don’t mind that humming noise, it’s mostly the static of stagnation and boredom. We can’t get psyched out because we have work to do.

Our generation has a chance to be especially great in the eyes of history. The stage is set for our ascendance and we must answer the call. If we don’t, then we will dangerously flirt with the tipping point, when our problems may consume and outweigh our capabilities to solve them. Those problems are many and daunting.

The planet is hurting and our justice system is broken. Millions of Americans go to inadequate schools, live in unsafe neighborhoods and survive paycheck to paycheck. Women are still not treated as full equals in our workforce and countless unseen souls rot in despicable mental health facilities. The right to health is treated as a consumer product to be bought and sold like a pair of shoes instead of a privilege of citizenship and humanity. Wall Street goes largely unpunished for bringing the nation to its knees, while our politicians are trapped in a state of gridlock, protected by safe districts and unwilling to take on the big issues that they won’t live to see come to a head.

We are coming up at a strange point in time that has the potential to reshape the human experience. Things are moving faster; buildings are constructed quicker; attitudes evolve more rapidly; information is distributed more freely and openly; and governments even rise and fall in as little as 140 characters. We have the tools at our disposal to reject the ills of the past. Our generation can act as the next “greatest” one that sees a crisis and rises to the challenge.

We can be the framers of the 21st century and serve as an example to the globe of how people embrace this brave new world. But in order to do it, we need a general vision of where we’re going. This is what I humbly propose we do to get started.

We should harness the gifts granted to our species from a higher being and turn those into the fuel that propels us forward. We need a new Manhattan Project to solve our energy crisis and create a more robust green sector. Oil is the past, and America should stand as the global leader in the race to power the world.

We should build bridges to cultures and people once seen as opposed to our very existence. Talking to our enemies does not make us weaker; that is an old way of thought that must be replaced with a reasoned modern foreign policy.

We should leave the culture wars in the dustpan of history, while backing away from fundamentalism of all kinds. Gay marriage should be legal and abortion should remain settled law. Birth control should be easily accessible and abstentious-only education should be ended.

Our generation has the chance to give our kids and those that come after them a truly incredible, previously unthinkable life. We can cure disease and make things safer.

Our time is coming and the world will be better for it.