This article originally appeared in The Detroit News May 28, 2025.

To the class of 2025, congratulations. Whether you attend college or start a career, you are entering adulthood at the most hopeful and prosperous time in history.

People will tell you to worry about the future, and perhaps you do. People worry about many challenges — economic uncertainty, political turmoil, environmental concerns, the cost of living, artificial intelligence, the fragility of physical and mental health. Every generation hears that civilization is on the brink. But here’s a test: Would you trade today for living in 1970 or 1800 or the year 253? Probably not.

And that’s because, despite all these concerns, 2025 is a wonderful time to be alive.

Consider the evidence. Economic freedom is improving around the world. Extreme poverty has fallen dramatically in the past 200 years. Kings and queens of old times had no toilets in their castles; now the average home has two. Thanks to medicine, nutrition and sanitation, life expectancy in the U.S. is climbing and infant mortality is falling. Young Americans have not been forced to fight in wars in two generations. People today are less likely to be killed by bullets, bombs or blight than ever before.

As graduates, you enjoy conveniences unrivaled in history. Your generation will live more comfortably than any generation before. With a bit of effort, you will find interesting and meaningful work. The entire catalog of all music ever recorded is available for pennies a day. In 1985, a 10-minute phone call between New York and Los Angeles cost $13.47 (in 2025 dollars.) Today, a device in your pocket lets you call your mother anywhere in the world. Speaking of the world, are you considering a trip to Paris, Port-au-Prince or Peoria? Go for it. What’s stopping you?

Happiness isn’t guaranteed. You won’t get it from a politician or a political party. It’s the same formula that has worked for millennia: virtue, service to others, family, community, hard work.

Embrace optimism. Optimism helps you to fall in love, start a family, take a job across the country, launch a business and save for the future. Optimism sees the value — not the victimhood — of every person, and fights to safeguard that person’s liberty.

Look for the innovators and the investors. They’re an optimistic bunch because taking risks is an exercise in hope. Optimism says, “No matter what problems we face today, we can make tomorrow better.”

Every generation must tackle unique problems. We don’t know what yours will be. Think about the challenges in the world that you find compelling and build a career around that.

For starters, pick a problem close to home. Instead of raging at Washington, D.C., foreign powers or Elon Musk, start small and local. Not because you should settle for small problems, but because they are fixable, and fixing them will teach you how to fix larger problems. Mow the overgrown grass at the local park. Organize a community event. There’s probably a food bank within 20 miles of your home. Go volunteer there.

If you help solve a specific local problem, you’ll be asked to solve others. In this way you will earn influence. Swap “someone should do this” with “here’s what I’m going to do.” Don’t use the government to force people to change their behavior. Persuade them.

The world is full of critics and cynics. Choose optimism.

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.