Under 30...under involved.

You know that feeling when everyone at the table is talking about you as if you aren't present, rather than talking to you to get your opinion? I feel like that is America in a nutshell in reference to young adults and our future. We let these "experienced professionals" plan our future for us even though they won't be around to deal with the consequences. Their motives are sometimes noble but often fail to adequately solve long term problems. Othertimes, the motives of our granfathers are simply for their immediate benefit. It's time for young people across the country to completely invite themselves into the conversation on all topics. Though we lack significant experience, we are full of ideas and goals. Our parents borrowed and spent their ways through life, and now we're stuck with the bill. It's time for us to tell the generations that came before us that this is our life now and we would like to create something a bit better for our kids than what they have created for us. Thanks for all you've done, but please step aside.

International young professionals often ask me why Americans are so resistant to rally behind a cause. I don't know the full answer, but I do know that we are mostly "happy enough." This sense of contentment makes it difficult to pull the masses behind a single cause.

Perhaps we need to encourage more people to run for office in their 30s rather than their 50s and 60s? Another option is to help raise funds for programs that lobby for entrepreneurs 35 and under. Finally, it's not enough to hope that a group of liberal youth will promote their cause, we need a bipartisan approach -- after all, at the end of the day we all want the same things - 1)more jobs, 2)long term stability, 3)innovative growth opportunities, 4)high quality health services at affordalbe prices...to name a few.