Gen X & Y: We’ve Got To Have a New Vision

I’m sure no one needs reminding that Michael Jackson passed away last week. Love him or disagree with him, part of the reason that his death is so shocking when taken in context with the broader state of the world we live in is that Michael Jackson was very much a mainstay in popular culture and now the cultural stability that he provided is somehow gone.

His music definitely spanned generational boundaries as even my Mom grew up listening to Michael Jackson. He was just 4 years younger than her, so she practically watched him grow up.

The reason I am bringing this up has not so much to do with our trading than it does with our broader philosophy as human beings.

Everyone is going to pass away at some point. But what sort of social, cultural, and generational impact will we be leaving the world when we do?

I’ve never quite figured out whether I belong to Gen X or Gen Y. To other people, not knowing exactly which demographic you fall into may not be that important, but to a marketing professional, it’s virtually a sin.

I tend to think of myself as a combination of both – not exactly Gen X but not quite Gen Y. But this is not so unusual considering I also happen to be amongst the estimated 0.0000001% of Chinese origin who actually don't gamble and at the same time have naturally wavy hair. Strange, but true. Whilst no one likes to be boxed in in that “ticks all the boxes” kind of way, the way Gen X and Gen Y are perceived today really makes people cringe at the footprint we will be leaving behind.

Prejudices aside, we are perceived as selfish and superficial in general. A study done in 2007 indicated that 81% of the Gen Y population view getting rich as the most important or second most important goal in life.

I agree with that notion and have been agreeing with that notion for some time. Yet, I really feel we should be thinking much harder about what we can do with our wealth and our time.

The global financial crisis is a wakeup call to everyone. It’s not just about the depreciation of assets, but it’s asking us: What are we doing with our time and money? Have we got our priorities straight?

And what exactly could we be doing today to constructively reshape our future for the better?

We are the leaders of tomorrow and there’s all this pressure for us not to mess it up. It keeps many of us from actually doing something about it. We have more power today than we realise. Our leadership roles will not start tomorrow – it’s already begun. In deciding to do only good with our money, we are in our own small way actively reshaping the world into a better place.

In investing, this could translate into investing only in companies that are ethical and fair-minded with a bigger global vision than just maximising profits.

In shopping, we can only purchase products from the better companies out there.

In our careers, we can choose only to work for companies that are genuinely concerned about their employees and just as concerned about leaving a positive blueprint for society at large. Well for anyone wishing to change jobs, this probably is not realistic right at this moment, but something to keep in mind for the future.

So survival of the fittest will have to take on a whole new meaning post-crisis.

How fast can our economy recover? I think this depends on how willing we are to actually do something productive and constructive about it. As much as we cannot alter the world as individuals, if we all do something small, the impact could be great.

As Gandhi said: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”