The Great Recession has spawned unemployment figures not seen in 30 years. The cases of families facing foreclosure continue to mount. Despite discussion of a developing recovery, economists who sounded unheeded alarms before the spectacular crash warn we aren’t out of the woods yet. Nonetheless, the task of learning from the fatal flaws of the past economic system falls to our generation — the chance not only to recover, but to truly thrive is in our hands.

Unfortunately, we don’t have too many positive examples to follow. Thus far, few members of the political class have gleaned much useful wisdom from the crisis. The New York Times recently juxtaposed statements of a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the supposed peak of the turmoil with their views today. Noticeably absent from the comments is the sense that the recession provided an opening for robust regulatory reform.

Once again, big government touted as the problem.

Even President Obama has said policymakers shouldn’t “begrudge” the masters of the universe for their swashbuckling ways.

Underscoring their eagerness to resume business as usual, firms that were bailed out have largely ignored the executive compensation reforms proposed by “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg, according to The Washington Post.

For many, recovery will mean returning to what economist Thorstein Veblen called conspicuous consumption. As Wall Street wizards dream up new financial products – beyond the obscure collateralized debt obligations and structured investment vehicles – things will get humming. As they return to the Wild West, the barons of finance will once again stock up on $1,400 trash cans.

Or is it possible that the doldrums of the national economy have prompted a fundamental rethinking of social values? Purveyors of optimism look to our generation, the Milennials.

In a recently released survey of Milennials’ attitudes, the Pew Research Center found an age group less reflexively opposed to affirmative government – the notion that the public sector can be a force for good, helping alleviate social ills and rein in the excesses of free markets.

One might surmise that a generation largely supportive of government as a countervailing force to business would be less impressed with firms reaping gargantuan profits and hedge funders raking in billions in annual compensation.

If only. The study found Milennials to be no less likely than other age groups to attach significant importance to working in a “high-paying” career. Even among those who don’t see wealth as a noble end in itself, there is no reason to believe we won’t witness a shift in values.

The mass protest movements of the 1960s were animated by the fervent idealism of college students who advocated a more conscientious society and a “penetrating mode of living,” as Wellesley College graduate Hillary Rodham put it in her 1969 commencement speech.

Many of those activists, however, could later be found running investment banks and griping about the capital gains tax. It seemed that buying into the corporate culture was simply a sign of maturity, on par with getting a mortgage or buying a Cadillac.

If such small-minded reversions to the greed-is-good, more-is-better mindset are to be headed off, action must start with the Milennials – and what better place to teach the necessary lessons than universities?

In a widely discussed 2009 essay, Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust lamented the rise of the “market model” in higher education. Universities no longer offer “depth and breadth of vision.” Instead they are expected to demonstrate their utility in leading to a fat paycheck.

That’s not too surprising, given the inexorably increasing cost of education – yet another reason to rethink national priorities.

In the case of national recovery, Father probably doesn’t know best.

— Luke Brinker is a U. Kansas freshman history and political science.