Who Cares Who John Galt Is?

 

If you came up in the 80's it was al about 'getting mine.'  Greed was good, and conspicuous consumption was de rigueur; not for this generation.  Be it simply a reaction against the previous generation or the reality of the Great Recession and its impact on their employment opportunities, Millennials talk more about making a difference than they do about making the dough.

 

I know a lot of sectoral elites - captains of industry, punditry and politics - that think this approach is bass-ackwards.  They think millenials are messed up in their priorities and simply don't get/refuse to accept how the world works.

 

Which is kinda funny, because all those folk who came of age in the 60s had the same mindset, once.

 

The truth is the world works the way the people who run it do.  The people who run the world are successful only in as much as they are able to manipulate the masses.  It's hard to do that, successfully, when there is a going demographic that you simply don't understand.

 

Maybe the Millennials "don't get" the way the world works.  They will, however, be shaping how it works tomorrow.  It's not the first time such a shift has happened.

 

If the people wielding power and wealth want to check out and retire to wealthy estates somewhere warm, now's the time to do it.  The shifting demands of the younger demographic in both what they consume, what work means to them and how they are willing to define their work/live divide are such that if you aren't prepared to adapt, your future as an active player is limited.

 

Such is the nature of evolution - that which adapts, etc.  It's simply an interesting coincidence of history that when people put their own interests first, society falls, while those who believe in moving forward together thrive.

 

And who are we to challenge the natural order of things?