RE: Generation DO

There is this pretentious little article that describes the "entrepreneurial generation," something I have been talking about and seen constellate since about 2009-2010.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/opinion/sunday/the-entrepreneurial-generation.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

The thing is, this isn't an old happening. We've only become this way two years ago. I remember being shocked at my class' apathy during the Bush re-election. Valuing more that cache of taste and experience: what you've read, what music you listen to, and where you've been, along with intuitively stepping ahead of the latest past-referring fashions (scarves in the summer, mustard colored tights, the glasses our mothers wore in the late 70s, the glasses our fathers wore in the early 80s, denim versions of the bike shorts we wore in the 90s, etc.) There was no uprising, no unification, no attempt to walk against something unjust that wasn't tugging at our pockets or disturbing us from cataloguing our Penguin collection or occasionally leaving to hack away at buildings in New Orleans or India.

What I've seen in 2009-2010 is my generation finally rising from taste-based apathy into something, to reconciling the pull of monetizing our passions and standing as individuals against a system of government that is putting us to sleep and robbing us of agency in Byzantine ways, and apparently this author wants us to return to our empty writer-photographer (while stamping papers in a corporation or slinging coffee), rather than use a corporate model to give neighbors a chance to grow their own food, realize our dreams of making our own innovative food or bringing accessibility to fundraising.

Twin forces of start up businesses and Occupy Wall Street prove my assertion wrong that my generation would dally abroad until settling at home to become a professor, editor, or corporate hack. No matter if we are just screeching at the corruption we've come to recognize, we are finally moving now that we've been pinched in the money. No more are we wearing an exaggerated neon version of the windbreaker I wore when I was 12 and drinking FourLoko with a breakdancing Jesus (sure as shit we were not people pleasing splayed out on the floor with PBR, being photographed by a hairy man in a wrestling onesie). We are making moves to monetize our dreams.

Facebook and twitter are durable marketing products because they clearly feed the id or tap precisely into consumer "wants," but this is not why our generation is "people pleasing" or works on a "personal brand." Our generation is beginning to use these platforms to take action and also maximize their privacy.

Not three years ago, when the internet was still considered the "final frontier," message boards and blogs under the cloak of anonymity bred all kinds of crap, either trolling arguments or the pointless spouting of feelings. People would spend their time creating a personality on the internet for no reason, proclaiming. With less privacy and jobs, people become more guarded with their "personal brand," which, to the general public means filtering out personal material that could hurt your job search and, to marketing tools that gape at social media and people who are starting their business without support, could mean a witty, targeted campaign worthy of the most talented copywriters. You would sell, too, if you HAD something to sell, or at least withdraw from buying, if your internet usage was as closely monitored as everyone's now is. Essentially, we now navigate and are forced to dust off our jackets with a twinge of fear.

This feeds the dueling potential of the internet, both as a tool for an individual lacking "cronies" and industry contacts to get their message out, and to streamline and market their product. Essentially, the individual rebel without action has the opportunity to either clean up and pitch their idea, which can involve some inevitable "selling out" as they structure their corp for durability, or organize and make some move to effect change.

Blogs have transformed during my time from xanga/livejournal rant fests, to niche, simply and engagingly written, and well arranged gimmicks. Sometimes to the point of being basically captions. This reflects the general public of 2011's short attention span and desire for innovative entertainment. Never have we had such an accurate gauge of what people want. Ad agencies could stand to learn from Stuff White People Like, Shit My Dad Says, etc. Except when they do go corporate, they generally wreck the premise with their fear of the death of the 30 second spot, etc. When blogs get the book deal it generally proves to be hollow entertainment, not exactly on par with the David Foster Wallace ambitions of a liberal arts kid that got a good simple idea. But so what? Ad agencies, if using the blog model, would want the tag line to stick around. If a blog with grand writerly ambitions brings in the wisdom of clean structure and a gimmick, maybe it can stick around and pull in views. A start up business with a creative, well executed campaign that mimics the best internet content can easily withstand the whole "Oh shit, this Stuff White People Like premise ain't Tolstoy" bit because you can hold the Big Gay Ice Cream or kimchi taco in your hand.

Similarly, the best Twitters are trim one-liners that build in quality, rather than just linking to content.

Just last year, the use of facebook has transformed radically. From people proclaiming what they ate for dinner (granted, the instagram picture is new), facebook has become a medium for people bringing news and issues to light, regardless if it is in a pat, simplified image. After all, the most prevalent memes are made of an image and a caption (I almost wrote catption). These are frequently things that Bill Maher, John Stewart, and Ira Glass won't bring you immediately, but if you get it George Takei might.

I am dumbstruck by the amount of men who now define themselves by what they do, and insist on liking what they do, rather than the people who used to obsess about High Fidelity ideas about taste who have by and large missed the plane. The image on the NYT article points to the pretension of personal brand, as the many hollow badges we wear. Yet what I hear when I read something like this is: I own operate my own innovative pizza parlor, I have a new bar and have created my own recipes for it, I am pitching a new conceptual idea that is concrete enough that I am taking it to the people to fund it, I am a fucking BEEKEEPER in this city of ours (I don't care if it's a TREND). In other words, I AM a new school pizzaiolo, I HAVE CREATED new drinks for a bar I own, I ORGANIZED beekeeping.

This is the type of person that CREATES and works to make their conception a concrete and durable business model. Someone that has integrity because they are at least attempting to live their dream rather than talk about it (Cc: Troy from Reality Bites).

My peers have organized community gardens, founded dance troupes, organized a collaborative "house of art," worked for various eminent magazines... and generally used their liberal arts degrees rather than piling up an MFA and chucking it all to be a Computer Programmer.

I wonder, of course, where I fit into this. Whether I have a stop motion web feature somewhere with in me, a hilarious sketchbook or useful idea. Whether I can persevere in something more concrete and something less blatantly low skill than writing, which, to not quote Anthony Bourdain correctly, apparently anyone can do. Or whether I'm just another loser who, in 2006 style, will be suckered into going to a corporate job and only half fulfilling my dreams.... which are apparently of downhill biking across India and motorcycling through the West, building houses with minimal instruction from 3rd Ward, creating a Claymation animated feature and Shaker-inspired furniture, and most importantly, scaling up several start ups. All while listening to random TED talks, devouring nonfiction books, playing experimental music, and reading Richard Feynman.