"I think back to those words John (Perkins) told me on our front steps of Potter House ... "You'll see things begin to change ... after about 10 years." Commitment is not a cultural value. Wanna be radical? Commit to a neighborhood for 10 years! Every generation has its good and every generations has its bad. One of the great things about my generation is our global awareness. With the Internet and all, the world has shrunk into a global neighborhood. Folks are aware of what's happening in Uganda and East Timor. Young folks care about who made their clothes and where their bananas come from and how much the folks who grew their coffee got paid. But there is also a sort of missional ADD. Young people want to do everything ... for three months. They want to go to Africa. They want to do Mission Year, and City Year, Americorps, Peace Corps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps. They want to do Teach for America and be an intern here and an apprentice there. But it can be very parasitical. They glean all this knowledge and experience but can end up doing internships until they're 40! Then they are ready to retire! Incidentally, these short-term experiences have to lead to long-term commitment. Otherwise, you end up running around from experience to experience and doing all sorts of little projects that are great for your own information and sense of meaning, but they have very little lasting fruit or enduring impact on anyone else."