The discussion with Dr. Gluss was very thoughtful – his insights reminded me of the way people with whom I worked in the entertainment industry are so good at putting their fingers on the pulse of the public’s sensibilities.

Link to podcast

Even in the highly charged 2008 presidential election, only 52% of 18-24 year-olds voted, a mere 4% increase over 2004 and on the low end of trends since 1972 (when 18-year-olds were first granted the vote). Our own research on youth purpose has found that only a tiny fraction of young Americans now aspires to political leadership. What’s more, young people’s attitudes about our democracy are often marked by skepticism, distrust, and lack of interest. Of special concern is that disadvantaged and culturally marginalized populations of youth often express the highest degrees of alienation and disaffection.

Over the past several years, I have pursued a research program devoted to understanding how young people acquire and act on goals that are both personally meaningful and oriented toward contributing beyond the self – that is, how young people develop purposes that motivate their social behavior over the long term. This research has documented the positive effect of purpose on academic, social, and civic outcomes. A dimension of purpose that is critically important in a democratic society is civic purpose. When young people acquire civic purpose, it can motivate them to tackle noble challenges, such as establishing organizations for environmental protection and providing much-needed assistance to people in developing countries.

Civic purpose is a fundamental developmental and educational outcome that prepares the ground for fully engaged citizenship. Civic purpose requires the following:

1. Concern beyond the self: The recognition that we live in an interconnected society in which the welfare of any one individual depends to a large extent on the well-being of the whole society.
2. Civic virtue: A sense of obligation to protect, defend, and contribute to one’s society, and to sacrifice for it when necessary.
3. Awareness of politics as consequential: Appreciation that political decisions and actions affect our lives, the lives of those we care about, and the welfare of the society we share.
4. Agency: The desire to have a voice in what happens and the belief that one’s voice matters.
5. Preparation for participation: The recognition that, in order to make a positive contribution, civic knowledge and skills are needed.
6. Practical idealism: Ideals and aspirations must be put into action; reciprocally, actions must reflect careful judgment and informed choices.
7. Identity: A sense of self as a concerned citizen, an attachment to one’s country, and an awareness – suffused by gratitude – that the best traditions and ideals of one’s society are a legacy handed down through the labors and sacrifices of many who have gone before.

In our initial research on the state of civic purpose among American youth today, we have found little interest in national political affairs. But we did find civic activity around issues of personal concern, such as the availability of sports programs. We have recorded instances of early civic and political activities such as preparing for future leadership through studying and learning; giving speeches; writing essays about civic and political issues; organizing other students and raising their awareness of civic issues; fundraising; representing students in school government roles; campaigning by going door to door; interning for a political official; making changes at school by advocating new policies; meeting with experts on issues such as environmentalism and law; protesting community events that cause anger; lobbying; writing e-mails to officials; and communicating to one another about issues of societal concern on social media. In addition, we found expressions of faith in the American democracy and the American Dream that contain far more idealism than common media portrayals of such notions, even among students from highly disadvantaged urban areas. But all of these positive glimmerings of civic purpose are set against a backdrop of far too much apathy, detachment, and lack of interest. I’ll be writing on this blog more about this in coming weeks, as a follow-up to the book that is to be released in May 2011, Failing Liberty 101 How we are leaving Young Americans Unprepared for Citizenship in a Free Society.

Many individuals find themselves adrift in a vacuum of belief, searching for something that they can wholeheartedly devote their talents and energies to. The search for meaning is especially acute during the time of adolescence and emerging adulthood – in our society, the teens and twenties – and so this is the first, and perhaps formative, “age of purpose” during human development. Yet the need to find purpose continues throughout life, right up into the retirement years, when folks who have succeeded in everything (business, raising children, gaining social status) suddenly can find themselves coming up empty unless they find a new purpose for what some authors have recently called “prime-time” (Marc Friedman) or “half-time” (Bob Buford). So, for the individual, the age of purpose comes early but re-appears late, and self-renewal, as the great John Gardner once wrote, is the entry fee that we always must continue to pay for a meaningful life.

On a societal level, we are at a pivotal time in history. Traditional systems of cultural and social meaning – faith, patriotism, matrimony, vocation, paternity, maternity – have been challenged in their ancient forms. In some cases, these challenges have lead to progress towards liberation and greater equality; in other cases, the challenges have lead to nothing more elevated than confusion and doubt.

Our civic society in recent years has vacillated between despair and hope. Revered social institutions in finance, education, and the popular media, have fallen into disrepute; but at the same time creative new approaches to democratic communications and networking in our burgeoning social media have triggered optimism and energy, especially among the young. Global conflict and criminality seem to rise, hydra-like and unmanageable, from every corner of the earth; yet there have been courageous political and military responses to some of the most fearsome incidents. Whether, as a society, we will end up traveling down the road to despair or the road to hope is still unknown: the answer, once again, is blowing in the wind.

The road to hope, for both the individual and the society, can only be approached by the path to purpose. Purpose is required to fill the spiritual vacuum that leads to drift, apathy, cynicism, and nihilism. Purpose is needed to sustain the will to strive, achieve, contribute, and continue learning. Purpose provides resilience in hard times, elevation in good times, and confident aspiration all throughout life. It is the key to psychological survival for the individual, economic and civic survival for the society, and a state of thriving and well-being for both.

Since publishing The Path to Purpose in 2008, I’ve been trying to see how ideas from the book can help with some of the challenges we’re facing as we move into the 21st Century – a new era that already has shown itself to be incredibly dynamic, intricate, and rich with opportunity and risk. It is a time that has been especially tricky for many young people, in their school years and beyond. Despite heroic efforts by leaders in the worlds of business, education, and government, rates of school failure and the “achievement gap” among our students haven’t budged much over the past three decades. Post-school, legions of young adults have been drifting through life without finding anything to dedicate themselves to that they consider meaningful. These are amazingly bright and talented young adults who deserve a chance to employ their many gifts for their own hopeful futures and that of the society that they will inherit.

Fortunately, I am not traveling alone in my post-Path-to-Purpose explorations. For one thing, during the talks that I give to parents and teachers, people in the audience share illuminating stories, insights, and comments with me, and they ask questions that help me stretch my thinking beyond anything I have previously imagined. I have many colleagues in education and psychology who offer me great ideas and give me feedback on what I’m working on. And I get fascinating e-mails from folks whom I have never met, pushing me in new directions and correcting wrongs turns I may have taken in my writing. All of this communication is tremendously generative in helping me address complex issues that are far larger than anything I could solve alone.

This is where this blog comes in. I’m starting this blog as a way to be more systematic in my efforts to communicate, and get feedback on, my explorations in new areas that I still have lots to learn about. Some of these explorations are conceptual, involving ideas about education, human development, and the future of American society. Others are practical, involving ways to bolster young people’s aspirations by helping them find purpose in life.

The blog format will provide me a way of airing new ideas of this sort. The ideas will be unproven; and in some cases they will be too hastily considered and mistaken. For this and many other reasons, I welcome your posts to this blog. I may or may not agree with what you say, but I will certainly take away something valuable from any comment that you care to make.