Last night, a man named Philando Castile was shot during a traffic stop in my home state of Minnesota. Philando was a black man. The officer was white.

​Today there is outrage. The live stream has been posted all over the internet. I have not watched it. I don't think watching it makes you a better person nor does it prove you care. It is part of the narrative and important, but I've heard the important details and don't need to witness more violence. That's why any link to the video will be excluded from this post.

​This isn't the first time this has happened. I can't imagine it will be the last. It's outrageous.

​There will be protesting in Minnesota today. Chants will ring out declaring that there should be justice for Philando. That officers need to change and that black lives matter. There needs to be justice in this case. The officer murdered Philando.

​I'm convinced that justice and accountability won't lead to change.

​Black lives do matter. I doubt that if you would have asked the young cop who shot Philando last night he would have said anything else, nor would he argue today.

​Then why did a white cop shoot a black man at a traffic stop?

The answer is simple: he was afraid.

​Yoda said it best. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate, and hate leads to suffering.

​And we can see how fast that progression can develop. It can happen in the span of a simple traffic stop with enough fear.

​The young cop was afraid of what he didn't know and instead of understanding, operated on assumptions and reacted to these with a primal me-or-you decision and action.

And that's how he was trained. When a police officer feels threatened, he or she can use force.

​Then you place the cop in an environment where there's tension between who he represents - white cops - and the black community. Each fears the other deeply. It's an environment where there's very little understanding between the two communities and situations escalate quickly. It's why this will happen again.

​We need the black lives matter protests. This is an issue that needs to be addressed. What the protestors need is to encourage understanding above justice. People are mad - rightly so. The justice system will do its work and there's very little we can do at this point to sway it. What we need to focus on is making sure the next black man who is pulled over for a traffic violation is not shot dead. We need understanding. We need love.

​But things don't stop at the violence from cops against black men. That's a tragedy, but it's a symptom of a much larger, broken system. We live in a violent, dog-eat-dog society. The only way I make it up the ladder of success is by ensuring there are more people below me. Capitalism is driven by greed and valuing the self above all others. As Edward Snowden pointed out that politics is "the art of convincing decent people to forget that the lesser of two evils is still evil." And that has never been more true than in 2016.

​I'm going to talk about politicians here for a moment. These are our leaders. They are who we elect re represent us. We trust them with our voice. More and more, government officials have been practicing discourse and avoiding compromise. Recently, they have aggressively reinforced a false dichotomy where one way of thinking is correct and every other way is wrong. Instead of understanding and listening, we are getting shouting and stubborn behavior. Now we have a soon-to-be-leader of one of our major political parties clearly justifying and promoting hate and fear. We need to examine how we got to this point and get back to a state of existence where we can understand and appreciate differences and use those to create compromise into policy to ensure we have the best future for everyone.

We need to change things. It's a fundamental change that needs to happen within every one of us. You and I need to love everyone. You and I must push for an understanding of the things we currently don't understand. We need to practice non-violence. You and I need to work toward a new baseline of equality for everyone. We need to listen more. We need to spend more time embracing and  focusing on the needs of others rather than the progressions of ourselves. We need to realize that what we do in this life echoes in eternity. My actions affect you, and yours, me. We are all in the same boat, and we'll sail or sink as a crew.

​It is through love and understanding that we can achieve peace. Right now there's not a lot of either, and people are suffering everywhere. Go out. Get to know people you don't. Practice approaching new situations with an open mind, ready to love the variety. Challenge your grandfather's views. If you're stuck not knowing what to do in the wake of violence, this is a good place to start.

​It's a lot to ask, but we need to do these things: Trust others. Seek love. Seek understanding. Seek peace.

​I love you. Thanks for reading.

​​This article was written as part of The Millennial Quest blog. Check it out here!

Millennials can know everything. We are the first generation that has access to the sum of most of human knowledge and understanding all at once at our fingertips all the time. We’re the first generation to grow up using personal computers. We begged our parents for cell phones, smart phones, and we’re forcing them to update and connect as well.

At the same time as our ability to learn and understand is expanding, so is the amount of knowledge and wisdom. Science is accomplishing and studying things generations past could only dream about. There are new avenues for study, new tools for processing, and new methods of distribution. We have a better understanding of this planet and how it works every time we open up our news apps.

Which leaves us as millennials in a weird place. The great machine of knowledge that is the internet is showing some trends. As it turns out, humans haven’t been treating the earth with the respect it deserves. We are also not treating other humans with the dignity they deserve. If we look, we are able to see gross inequity and suffering in the most prosperous era in human history and visible disintegration of the processes required to support life on the only place that we’re certain can support our species.

But where there are problems, there are also solutions. The problems we now face aren’t minor inconveniences, and if we don’t do something, there’s a pretty good chance it will be too late to completely recover from the damage we’ve caused.

The planet needs us immediately. We need to start thinking like the Iroquois – the name of the six joined Native American nations living in the Northeast United States and Canada. Decisions we make today need to be, in part, for the benefit of the generation 7 from now. I can’t replicate the quote with my own words and do it justice, so from Chief Oren Lyons writing of The Constitution of the Iroquois Nations: The great Binding Law:

In all of your deliberations in the Confederate Council, in your efforts at law making, in all your official acts, self interest shall be cast into oblivion. Cast not over your shoulder behind you the warnings of the nephews and nieces should they chide you for any error or wrong you may do, but return to the way of the Great Law which is just and right. Look and listen for the welfare of the whole people and have always in view not only the present but also the coming generations, even those whose faces are yet beneath the surface of the ground -- the unborn of the future Nation”

​​With this idea, we begin to see where there will be tension. Our capitalist, American Dream, work-your-way-to-the-top, sports cars, enhancement surgeries, ego-driven ideals, the thought of making a decision with the intent to benefit someone else doesn't seem fair. We got to this point because people were focused on elevating their own quality of life, and now Millennials have to make decisions that put our own interests aside in favor of those of people we won't get to meet.

​Here’s the first step to greatness for millennials – put the planet first. We have one. It’s done a great job with humans so far, but we need to start giving back. We can’t keep burning oil or discarding chemicals into waterways, or even regularly eating meat. Our efforts must be dramatic and sustainable. This means we’ll have to make concessions on the luxuries that the generations before us were able to enjoy endlessly. And instead of investing in our own wellbeing, we need to invest in the wellbeing of our planet. I will not have a house as spacious as my parents because it takes more than my fair share of the resources to build and maintain. Instead of putting money into additions and amenities, I’ll put it in to renewable energy, better insulation, and more efficient living solutions.

And yes, this will be good for my pocketbook as well since it will hopefully mean I’m able to spend less on my utilities. It’s not sexy, and it likely won’t pay for itself, but it’s how I will need to live to make room for the still growing population and the nature that I don’t want to lose.

But if we stop there, we’re the greatest generation since the Iroquois. What will set us apart is our concern and care for people across the planet. Apps like Twitter and Periscope allow us to spread raw news instantly across the globe. We can get cameras into plants that produce the electronics that keep us connected. We can witness the oppression of entire nations by powerful regimes. It’s what we do with this information that will make us the greatest.

Right now, if you’re curious for a specific example of human problems, you should ask your phone how many people die of hunger every year. One of the first results will tell you that 18,000 children die every day of hunger. And you’ll find that 850 thousand are hungry and malnourished. If curiosity then leads you to go on, you’ll find that it would take about 1/10th of the US’s military budget for the next decade to eliminate hunger. Maybe we could make some concessions here and overseas to make food available to everyone in the world.

When we start caring as much for the person building our iPhones as we do for the person who shows them to us on stage in Cupertino, then we will, in my opinion, become the greatest generation in history. There are plenty of sayings from plenty of wise people: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” “a chain is as strong as its weakest link,” etc. We have the highest capacity for compassion and the means to help now better than ever before.

And we care. The numbers support us tending in this direction.  61% of us feel personally responsible to change the world and 84% of us would rather know we’re doing good than get recognition at our jobs. A whopping 92% of our generation believes that we should judge the success of our businesses using more than just the profits.

It’s not going to be easy, especially since we’re so buried in debt we can hardly imagine not having student loan payments, car payments, mortgage payments, and credit card payments that we are trying to figure out what it means to have savings. We’ll have to get ourselves on the iPhone plan that renews every 2 years instead of every 12 months. Maybe we’ll live with more shared amenities instead of personal luxuries. We’ll be inventing amazing things in the near future to stop from burning fuels and creating waste, and we’ll be spreading wealth as far as we can. It’s the right thing to do. We can know and can see it. All we need to do now is change to adapt to this new understanding of what it takes to be a successful human. It’s up to Millennials, and we’re ready for the challenge and poised to create change.

And if any of the older generations have found themselves reading this, maybe consider a little less complaining about us living in your basement or retiring a bit early to help us out on our great millennial quest. We’d appreciate all the help we can get!