Two of the gravest threats the United States faces as a country are extreme individualism and the deterioration of our democratic norms and institutions. We see the costs of hyperindividualism in everything from our epidemic of loneliness to rising deaths of despair to the enactment of libertarian policies that undermine the common good and abandon the vulnerable. Far too many Americans are sad, lonely, isolated, and alienated. What do they desperately need? Solidarity.

American democracy, meanwhile, is menaced by the prospect of another Trump presidency. His first presidency saw democratic norms, which were already in peril, decimated and democratic institutions pushed to the absolute breaking point. Threats to democracy, however, extend beyond Trump. Extreme economic inequality and the disproportionate political power of elites, technocratic mentalities, antidemocratic populism, toxic polarization, and more are weakening American democracy. What is needed is not a return to an imagined golden age, but the establishment of the most genuine, participatory democracy in US history.

For his efforts to promote democracy, participation, community, and solidarity, Pete Davis is our 2023 Millennial of the Year. In an outstanding 2018 Harvard commencement speech, Davis called for a counterculture of commitment in our age of liquid modernity. In 2021, his book Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing he deepened that argument, and he continued to promote this countercultural approach in 2023.

Davis cautions that we are being educated for advancement over attachment, that our endless array of options have become an obstacle to the slow work of building relationships and advancing justice, and that vital institutions are crumbling. He acknowledges the appeal of novelty and exploration, and he understands why trust in various institutions has collapsed, but he also recognizes that the formation of our identity and the discovery of our authentic selves cannot be done in isolation—that these are shaped by our relationships and the commitments we have within communities. We need relationships and community to flourish.

In his 2023 film Join or Die, which he co-produced and co-directed, Davis and his colleagues highlight the work of social scientist Robert Putnam and its great relevance for the challenges we face as a country. Putnam warned the US that the collapse of groups, gatherings, and social connections that fostered a sense of solidarity, mutual trust and reciprocity, and social mobility posed a grave threat to our democracy and country. Putnam and the film make a great case for revitalizing our civic life and rebuilding the solidarity that we so desperately need.

Putnam is a key influence for Davis, who is deeply read and draws on an electric mix of inspirations. These various influences have helped Davis to explore a myriad of ideas for rebuilding civil society and making our democracy more participatory and authentically democratic. They allow him to see how the strength of our communities, the depth of democracy, the justness of our economy, and the authentic flourishing of our people are all intertwined.

With his profound understanding of the nature of the human person and the necessity of genuine participation in fostering the common good, the influence of communitarian and personalist thinkers, like Martin Luther King Jr., Jacques Maritain, Alasdair MacIntyre, Michael Sandel, and Martin Buber, is clear, and it provides his work with great depth and coherence.

And as extreme individualism continues its reckless advance, civil society lays in tatters, and democracy struggles for survival, this generation needs leaders who will carry forward these insights and this vision—and champion solidarity and democracy.  That is precisely what Pete Davis is doing and why he is our 2023 Millennial of the Year.