People helping people...

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this recession/second-coming of the Great Depression happened to the people who may be the best equipped to handle it. For all the talk of "helicopter parents" and kids not learning responsibility, I think people my age have turned out pretty okay. The Yale Daily News has an article about how applications for service programs have skyrocketed and not just because of the economy limiting paying jobs. Twenty-somethings see the value of affecting change around them.

People genuinely want to pitch and help others. Maybe some of that is based in the service requirements many middle and high school students must fulfill to be eligible to graduate. The culture of service is a little more ingrained now. But as an article in usatoday.com points out, the current generation came of age post-September 11 and understand the need for and benefits from pulling together. The "Millennials" are now being called the "Civic Generation" - a group willing to roll up its sleeves and do the job. 

The levels of service today haven't been seen since Pres. Kennedy made his famous "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country" speech. And the fact a lot of Americans are taking their volunteering global is awesome to me. "Voluntourism" is right up there with the Peace Corps and Doctors Without Borders. Building international good will along with wells and compost pits is, to knock off Martha Stewart, "a good thing" in my book.