This article was originally written by Samuel Benson for The Deseret News
Even before Time magazine called them “entitled narcissists” and “fame obsessed” in 2013, millennials had a bad rap. They were made out to be self-absorbed and materialistic, shallow and lazy. A later Time story offered an ominous, follow-up warning to readers: “Love ’em or hate ’em, this much is true: one day soon, millennials will rule America.”
That day may come sooner than expected. Thirty-one members of the House of Representatives are millennials, up from five at the start of the 115th Congress (January 2017). And the Senate’s first millennial, Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff, took office this year.
Increased representation in Congress hasn’t erased the millennial stereotypes, though. In some ways, the most visible young members of Congress only cement them. Ossoff makes TikToks to inform constituents about vaccines; Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., lives by the mantra, “If you aren’t making the news, you aren’t governing”; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., gives Twitter lessons to her colleagues on the Hill.
But not all millennials in Washington are buying stock in this so-called “attention economy.” Rep. Blake Moore, a 40-year-old freshman representing Utah’s 1st Congressional District, was recently named a co-chairman of the Future Caucus, the first and only bipartisan caucus for young members of Congress. Joe Greaney, a senior manager of policy and outreach for the Millennial Action Project, which manages the Future Caucus, said Moore, who identifies as a millennial while on the older end of that generation’s age spectrum, is a perfect fit.
Original source can be found here.
