Its been a while since I talked about generational differences (not really my expertise, the last one I can remember being a few years ago, talking about Odyssey life stage, which is during 20-somethings people go to school and take breaks from school. They live with friends and they live at home. They fall in and out of love. They try one career and then they try another.
This newest article in this generation comparison of my parents and myself is David Brook’s op-ed Today’s Experience Economy where is reflects on the current best selling e-book “The Great Stagnation” by Tyler Cowen.
I’ll do my best to re-reflect on this article.
Lets break down and compare INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY vs EXPERIENCE ECONOMY Lets compare….Maybe we are only talking about American economy here, but maybe in a way global.
Industrial economy – our parent’s experienced this…..wars created jobs. Created wealth. We invented cars, invested new products that NEEDED PEOPLE to make them. Work hard, do your job, follow instructions, collect your paycheck, get a job raise, a promotion. Get married, buy a house, get a loan, pay off the debt over time, have kids. Send them to school, use the savings from your job to help them in college.
Experience Economy – not much new products are made, at least not requiring large new manufacturing line like cars and large scale equipment. Stuff was outsourced overseas. Business leaders focused on knowledge and service. We made things that didn’t require PEOPLE behind them….actually most things we invented reduced jobs, not created jobs. Technology makes things faster, easier, more convenient.
Then we hear “the jobless recovery” that the stock market is rebounding, but where are the jobs? Also the whole Wall Street banking schemes, over-leveraged houses….wealth disappearing overnight….realizing money and wealth can be lost overnight. Why work so hard and be a loyal staff when people are hopping jobs so frequently and companies come and go. Retirement savings, whats that, live for now?
Maybe I am exaggerating a bit there at the end, but I don’t think I am so far off….I think our current generation is not just gonna keep our heads down and do busy work. We question more. What was this wikileaks crap? Is the US government really representing Americans the way Americans want to be represented internationally? Do Americans really have the freedom and choice we are promised? Or are we simply tools and lemmings to feed the governments and banks?
I don’t want to get too political, but I really and truly believe, and wonder who the future politicians in America will be.
I love my peers, we are sharp people, flexible people. Funny people. And we are getting older….I’m 30 in a couple months. We will soon be the country leaders….and I think we have our eyes open a bit more then our parent’s did.
We want a quality life, we want to travel, to experience, to be healthy. To have a full life, because we are starting to realize just having the house and the mortgage isn’t enough. We are not pawns for wall street, right.
Comments
Experience and “knowledge” economy is all well and good, but we still need all the “stuff” from the industrial economy like housing, food, etc. Other countries aren’t going to keep sending their produced stuff to us unless we have something they want in return. That’s what trade is, right?
I never did understand when USA leaders thought to outsource all manufacturing….and be a service economy….
then to outsource service too.
And simply be a consumer……in debt.
I don’t know the answer here, but I am blogging about how today’s generation are more “intelligent” aware people who will have to expect to live with less, and hopefully be less materialistic
ya is one generation the way to better life
or does it take two or more to get there???????
i think life is all about the struggle……
life can be very simple if we want it to be, but humans always make it more complicated….
guess we get bored easily, need soap opera lifestyle
people watch tv and movies and wether they admit or not, want that lifestyle
I totally agree that our generation is different. It makes it a very exciting time to live! What role do you think the access to the world via the internet has had in that? In my case, I think it has made it easier for me to see that there are other ways of going about things and finding people with similar mindsets.
yes, information access via the internet…..as we are witnessing people now are able to more easily over throw governments when they are not happy, comparing their quality of life to the rest of the world……..now governments try to restrict people from seeing this, crazy world and i love the power of it