I've heard about the trend toward communality in Millenial housing arrangements, though I could've made a pretty good educated guess from the references to square footage and social connectivity. I think it was forced at first by economic necessity, but like a lot of things, the young'uns are figuring out how to make the best of their world and turn it into something positive. And they'll change the world. Living arrangements matter, and large numbers of people living communally are going to develop a more communal way of looking at the world. They're bending the moral arc of the universe through their choices.

Here's another trend that's changing the world: They seem a lot less in love with cars than the last several generations. More of them live in cities with mass transit, of course; but they also have Uber and Lyft, and self-driving vehicles on the horizon. With that in front of them, the car-fetish culture behind them must be looking pretty foolish and destructive. As a not-unintended consequence, they're bending the arc of petroleum consumption down by the simple power of their choices.

Those two examples show this generation maintaining a decent lifestyle at lower cost. They still have shelter and transportation, and it costs less because they're learning how to share efficiently; they're getting smarter. Their ornate online culture I mentioned earlier is another example: They're richer than we can see in their own milieu.

Xenogeny...unlike the ancestors...and a damn good thing, and about damn time. I'm such a contrarian, but I'm not worried the Millenials will be the end of the world, I'm hopeful they may be the ones to save it.

If they don't, who will?