The 60's were a bit early for me to be involved, but there *were* worldwide protests, marches and street fights, assassinations and what-all. From uprisings burning black ghettos and National Guard shootings on campus to sit-ins and exorcising the Pentagon all the way to the Paris riots and protests and killings in various colonies from Vietnam to Belgian Congo. There's no context in this lukewarm complaint, so let me dissect it a bit: Maybe it will help us understand, or just feel a bit superior and disapproving.

"For decades you have complained that politicians are corrupt and do not listen to the people and yet every election instead of voting for someone who promised idealism you turned away and embraced the status quo." - laughable as recently as 2008. "You watched as America lost jobs, income inequality grow rapidly, and did nothing to defend minorities because they were not you." - the Great Society programs of the 60's were to address this, the imperfect 90's greatly increased black employment and decreased black murders and tried to fix a dysfunctional welfare system, and it was the Republican neocons that came in and reversed any progress. 'Now, unlike Earlier Generations blaming Millennials, I do not, and will not, blame entire generations because it’s not entirely your fault." - whew, we dodge the bullet - a bit.

"Over time the media stopped talking about issues that matter to people such as universal health care, universal college education, and getting money out of politics and, instead focused on trivial matters." - true, ignoring HuffPost and McClatchy, but we have blogs that picked up these conversations, and it was a huge part of the 2008 debate. "The rich and powerful stole America and democracy from you, and when people like Martin Luther King Jr. demanded equality, you were afraid or too cynical to fully embrace this change." - WTF? the Democratic President pushing the voting rights bill and Civil Rights Bill and the protests at multiple levels in support was not fully embracing the change? Jesse Jackson Jr was a near-nominee in two 80's election cycles. "Even with this fear and cynicism you taught us, the Millennials, to hope and dream, to stare at the future and the world in wonder, and to change the world and to care for our fellow human beings." - uh yeah, cause we were traipsing around the world doing the JFK Peace Corps and other do-gooder stuff, forming communes, playing with microfinance, building social media communities, doing benefits for Africa, et al. Along with desegregating schools in the south and north and pushing for black representation at the highest levels of government. Not bad, guys, especially considering the Reagan/Gingrich/Cheney/Tea Party opposition.

"Some of you may have actually believed that we could, while others might have said these things so that we could remain naïve and childlike for a little while longer, but something interesting happened." - uh yeah, 50 years of Peter Pan syndrome? "We believed you and held onto that message. We saw the harm done to minorities and shouted NO; we saw the massive income inequality and shouted NO; and we saw the damage that had been done to the earth due to climate change and shouted NO." - uh, that was Al Gore and MLK/Malcolm X/RFK/Gene McCarthy and even Bill Clinton - check income growth across the board during the 90's. "We then looked around and saw that you, who had taught us so much, were silent…" - yeah, right - didn't say nothing about predatory loans, bank bailouts, trickle-down effect, the unaffordable Bush tax cuts, OccupyWallStreet - we were just 'silent'.  "There were pockets to be sure and still are, but we did not see entire generations joining us to make the world a better place." - I'm still trying to figure out who the 'us' were that was leading rather than teams organized by Howard Dean then Barack Obama to Get Out The Vote, and more recently the Ferguson and similar protests of all ages. "Instead we were told that we were naïve and that the world doesn’t work that way. We were told we were lazy when we didn’t have a job because so many jobs have been sent overseas." - still hard to see who 'we' is, since the tech and business and pharma industries have lots of jobs, and manufacturing  jobs shifted to other areas. and it's primarily minorities who suffered, Are you a minority? "When we said that student debt was crippling us you said that when you were in college you could pay for it by yourself and we must be lazy." - absolute BS - we know that many colleges were free or nearly, and that scholarships have turned into crippling loans, and that it's a huge problem. There have been numerous congressional meetings and bills to address the predatory interest rates, et al. "When we said that climate change must be addressed to save our planet you didn’t believe the scientific community." - who exactly is the scientific community but previous generations? you're mashing up Republican conservatives with elder Democrats - did they teach you this poor of writing style in school? "We were devastated and were beginning to lose hope and were not involved in politics as much as we should have been." - wow, must have been tough. Really so abstract - are these millennials in the early 2000s or when? would be nice to say - us old farts get confused you know.

"Obama helped keep the flames of our idealism alive for a time, but when he did not hold Wall Street accountable and didn’t get money out of politics we felt betrayed, even though we still like the President." - I don't recall his billion dollar no-matching campaign promising to get the money out of politics. I was pissed about Wall Street, but it was also a meltdown, a crisis surrounding banks and Wall Street - you either punish or build up - he was bailing water. "Perhaps I am speaking for myself, but I began to lose hope that the world would ever change; that we would never be able to put aside our differences and help pull each other up instead of fighting with each other and being divided as the rich and powerful have wanted the people to be for centuries." - despite recent history of the 60's, major steps into middle class for minorities in the 90's, the bonding together across the board in 2008 to elect the first black president and take a huge step towards solving our health care problem, along with the Wall coming down, the Arab Spring, et al. Why did you 'begin to lose hope'? "But then something happened, a 74 year old, white, Jewish, democratic socialist entered the race for President, and boy was he angry. He had seen the injustice in America for decades and had fought for 50 years to help those who did not have a voice. He brought a righteous anger to Congress and stood up for the American people when Congress only cared about their wealthy donors. He got silence at best and vicious attacks at worst for his efforts." - uh, well, he's a lot like Elizabeth Warren and Alan Grayson and other big-mouth congressional reformers. Grayson even grilled the head of the Fed on national TV. BTW, TeaBaggers have 'righteous anger' as well, but it's not very positive to deal with. "Now, I agree with almost everything that Bernie Sanders is proposing, and as the richest country the world has ever seen, America can afford all of his proposals, and if you all will indulge me for a moment I have a hypothesis as to why millennials support Bernie so much." - ah, so it's not getting money out of politics - it's focusing money on *your* politics. Ok, let's see the budget so we're sure we can 'afford' it - Bush said his stuff was affordable and it wasn't.

"Yes we love his policies, his authenticity, and consistency, but it’s more than that. It’s the fact that he holds on to what was taught to millennials ­­- that we could change the world and make sure that everyone has a good life. He didn’t give in to cynicism and the status quo. Instead he has fought with everything he has to destroy our oligarchy and give democracy, and a voice, back to the people. We support him because, whether or not you agree with him, he held onto his values and principles for over 50 years, which is hard enough as it is, and damn near impossible if you are a politician." - well, it's not damn near impossible in a tiny state, in a college town of a few thousand, far from industry and minorities and Wall Street and all the actual pressures of the world, far from the homeless on the streets and pollution and traffic jams and lobbyists handing out buckets of cash. But believe it or not, other people are fighting as well. But I acknowledge the power of good marketing and packaging and positioning.

"So, I ask the earlier generations to do something difficult, I want you to remember when you were filled with hope and idealism, when you believed with all your being that you could change the world. I want you to grab hold of that feeling with everything you have and believe that we have a shot, a real shot, to make real change for America." - done. It was like 5 minutes ago when I was working on biotech & new antibodies to help the immune system and several devastating diseases, wearables and human-computer interaction to help crippled and blind people control their environment, Big Data for better aggregating info & finding important new patterns, electric cars with car sharing, non-polluting detergents that allow much less water usage, a project to give high schoolers a safe inviting place to study and hang out...Not everyone's sitting on their ass wallowing in despair and cynicism, believe it or not. "I’m not asking you to trust Bernie Sanders. I’m asking you to trust your sons and daughters, your nieces and nephews, your granddaughters and grandsons, and to join us as we show the rich and powerful that united we are unstoppable. Yes, it will be hard, but anything worth doing is. Let’s change the world." - uh, I need money for that, adventurous venture capitalists and investors to take a chance on new far-reaching technology, to review and approve self-sustaining business models that will make a difference and improve day-to-day conditions for millions. Pissing on rich people and funneling their discretionary wealth into day-to-day needs may be required to some extent, but it's done at the expense of future thinking and practical projects. These are the real tough decisions, the compromise.

"From a hopeful Millennial" - would appreciate more practicality and educated effort, along with any serious historical reference. Grade: D.