Transforming Society

The Future is What We Make of It

2008-04-13T21:14:00.002-04:00

This short video clip is not what you expect, and is really good. Watch and consider how our actions together determine our future together.

Too Many Choices

2008-03-20T15:33:00.003-04:00

I have been thinking lot lately about choices, particularly vocational choices. My quest to find the perfect vocation has been a long and (mostly) fruitless search, as everything I encounter has drawbacks along with the good. My search is especially complicated because I am a generalist by nature, not a specialist. In our society, there is very little value placed on the generalist. Trust me, putting down a broad range of disparate skills on a resume only hurts your appeal, "jack of all trades, master of none" is no longer a compliment in our society. There is an incredible pressure to "make up your f*cking mind" and just focus on something!

Yet for some of us, this very act of "making up our minds" feels like a trap. With the bewildering array of things to learn about, careers to pursue, ideas to wrestle with, etc etc, it just seems plain wrong to have to limit my scope! Yet last I checked, there aren't a lot of vocation's out there for "renaissance" men and women, probably the closest you could come would be as a small business owner, where you wear many hats at once. Yet even that feels too narrow to those who want to experience it all!!! I mean, you only live one life, why spend most of it on the same thing?

And yet... The reality is that we can't have it all, we can't do it all. Not only that, but to some degree the constantly present notion that we are "missing out" may be more a product of the contemporary array of jobs than an actual reality. In other words, because we have thousands of interesting careers to choose from, there is always a sinking suspicion that we have chose the wrong one. Many folks seemed perfectly satisfied with their career "choices" back in times when they only had a dozen or so to choose from! So is our discontent a reflection that we are on the wrong path, or simply that we have a hard time believing that we have found the "best" possible vocation for our lives...

In my mulling over the issue, I stumbled across a damn good blog post, check out THIS LINK by the refreshingly blunt (albeit self indulgent) V.

Fired Up Obama Addresses Virginia Crowd

2008-02-10T18:59:00.000-05:00

In the following video, Obama addresses cheering crowds of Virginians in Richmond Saturday night, after sweeping Tennessee, Washington, and Louisiana. This is a great speech, Obama really gets fired up and demonstrates why so many of us have put our hope in him.

Obama 2008

2008-02-04T17:51:00.001-05:00

On the eve of super Tuesday, I must confess that I have forgone my former support of Senator Clinton and now find myself championing Obama. Granted, I still support Hillary and believe in much of her agenda, but her shortcomings on the character front have become very difficult to ignore, and will clearly handicap her in a bid for the White House. At the end of the day, I want to see a Democrat in the office, so it is pure pragmatism!

Besides, what's not to like about Obama? Other than his halting speech in debates, which appears to be more a delivery style than an indication of clouded thinking. He does make sense, although I often struggle to follow him on key points. BUT, at the end of the day I find myself really trusting Barack, and believing in his sincerity and depth of character. Also, his positions have shown increasing depth, allaying some early concerns that I have had about his lack of experience and poorly define positions.

Policy differences between Clinton and Obama are not as dramatic as they would have you believe, which in the end leads me to the candidate with a fresh face, optimism, and sincerity. I hope to see him take the majority of states tomorrow night, and fully expect that will happen. I am also thrilled to see McCain will likely by the Republican nominee (even though I predicted Romney some months ago), as he is the most progressive Republican in the race and also shows a depth of character often lacking in politics. This election it may be the "better of two good options" instead of the "lesser of two evils."

Here is a graph showing the huge bounce Obama received after his strong showing in South Carolina and Edwards subsequent departure.

From realclearpolitics.com
Click on image to enlarge

Israel Starving Gaza

2008-01-23T10:52:00.000-05:00

This story is both beautiful and horrible at the same time. Beautiful in the sense that thousands of desparate people from the Gaza strip are flooding Northern Egypt to replenesh critical supplies. The scene that has unfolded is a triumph of humanity over military might. I greatly applaud the Egyptian government for allowing this to occur.

The tragedy is that this had to happen in the first place. Israel has systematically been starving the Gaza strip of critical supplies in retaliation for missile attacks. The problem is that the Israeli approach is non-discriminating between the perpetrators and the innocent majority. Indeed, this borders on "passive" genocide. I don't pretend to know the solution to the Israeli-Palestenian conflict, but I can guarantee that Israel's current approach will not achieve their own goals (peaceful border), but rather strengthen and embolden their enemies. Shame on Israel.

Red arrow shows location of breach.

Wasting Time

2008-01-17T12:30:00.000-05:00

One thing we Americans hate to do is "waste time." Whether it is in the check-out line at the grocery store, during our morning commute, or running errands on the weekend. It seems that we spend the vast majority of our waking hours getting things done as efficiently as possible. Implicit in the fear of wasting time is the notion that certain critical "things" won't get done. I wonder how often this assumption is accurate?

For instance, fifty years ago we had far more limited transportation, no internet or cell phones, little in the way of fast food, and the term "multitasking" hadn't even been coined yet! Yet somehow people managed to work a job, raise a family, and have some hobbies or pastimes. I don't mean to paint American society idealistically fifty years ago, indeed I do not think that is the case. Instead I am raising the question of how much our increased speed and activity has really benefited our quality of life?

A number of thinkers such as Eckhart Tolle, have proposed that by being so busy, we actually miss out on experiencing what is happening right now. In other words, we are effectively living outside the moment by focusing on accomplishing things in the future (or alternatively obsessing over the past). By living outside the moment we are literally not allowing ourselves to experience real life as it is unfolding, so in a very real sense we are wasting time!

Stopping to experience what is happening right now is often much harder than it appears. For example, walking to my car after work is a great excuse to lose myself in thought, instead of being present to my surroundings. Why would you want to be present to a parking lot you ask? Good question indeed. For one thing, it is real life occurring around you. You are a physical body located in space and time, which currently happens to be a Friday afternoon in an asphalt covered parking lot. Escaping this reality into mental abstraction is terribly tempting, but is it really beneficial to you and your quality of life. Something worth thinking about (no pun intended there!).

I wonder if we stand to learn a lot from other cultures that do not have this deeply ingrained fear of "wasting time?" For instance, during my summer stay in the impoverished country of Mozambique, I noticed that many inhabitants were content to allow the day to unfold at a leisurely pace, to respond to needs and situations as they arise, not obsessing over them in advance. I can't pretend to understand the Mozambican mindset, but I might offer that in a country where the life expectancy is a mere 47 years, that living "in the moment" becomes all that more critical then working toward the future. We have all heard stories or seen films regarding someone who found out that they only have 1 week to live, thus setting them on a fantastic journey to experience as much of life as possible in such a short time. Can you imagine someone who only had 1 week to live spending an inordinate amount of time working toward future goals? It would be silly, as at that point your only goal would be to live as fully as possible.

In the overall scheme of things, is 47 years (or 85 for that matter), really that much different than a week left to live? Of course no one can live all the time in the moment, some planning and working towards the future is inevitable. But will anyone lay on their deathbed and bemoan that they had not spent more time planning and working toward the future, or rather that they had not "wasted" more time in relationship with people and nature?

Huckabee Scares Me

2008-01-15T20:52:00.000-05:00

As the results of the Michigan primary come in, I am very satisfied to see Mike Huckabee is a distant third place. His rapid rise to become a front runner for the Republican nomination has been very disturbing, as he holds many unusual, if not downright frightening ideas. For one Huckabee favors amending the income tax to represent a flat tax, instead of a progressive tax. This would be a huge boon to upper middle class and above, as the "tax brackets" would be disposed of. The entire premise of the tax brackets are that low income people cannot give up as large a percentage of their income without directly impacting their ability to provide for basic needs. The progressive tax has been away to bring equity to the system, and it certainly hasn't impoverished the rich, as the gap between the upper and lower classes continues to widen.

However, perhaps the scariest thing about Huckabee is his "faith based" form of politics. We have seen the results of this type of politics before, and we should be extremely wary to even consider going down that path again. Indeed, Huckabee is even more brash than Bush with regards to his religious views, stating that we should "amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view." Folks, this is scary shit. At a time when we are trying to somehow rectify the animosity felt in the middle east toward perceived (or real) religious persecution, we have a presidental candidate who thinks this is a theocratic war, where it is us or them!

So it is with a great sense of relief that I see what appears to be early signs of the Republican core turning away from Mike Huckabee.

Truth is Useless

2008-01-14T14:34:00.000-05:00

Jeb Bush: "The truth is useless. You have to understand this right now. You can't deposit the truth in a bank. You can't buy groceries with the truth. You can't pay rent with the truth. The truth is a useless commodity that will hang around your neck like an albatross all the way to the homeless shelter. And if you think that the million or so people in this country that are really interested in the truth about their government can support people who would tell them the truth, you got another thing coming. Because the million or so people in this country that are truly interested in the truth don't have any money."

Spoken by Jeb Bush in conversation with Retired Naval Intelligence Officer, Al Martin, and Cited in Bushwhacked, by Uri Dowbenko, September, 2002

Ron Paul

2008-01-06T21:09:00.000-05:00

I don't know that much about Ron Paul and his ReVolution movement, but I have to admit I am very intrigued by his message as relayed in the following video clip. The man talks a lot of sense IMHO. Even though I am most likely to vote for whichever Democratic candidate wins, I would sure like to see Ron Paul do well. New Hampshire's primary on Tuesday appears to be his best chance to get national recognition, lets hope he gets voters out!

Freeganism

2008-01-06T15:47:00.000-05:00

I just recently encountered the term freeganism, used to describe a movement of people committed to reducing waste. From wiki, "Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed." Wow, doesn't that sound wonderful! Indeed, while it is a cool new term, it is an idea that is rooted in the founding works of many of our religious traditions. It has become much easier to be a freegan with the social networking provided through sites such as Freecycle or FreeAlert. People are empowered to share quality used items with other individuals, and since everyone can both give and receive, the desire to make a profit is removed. In my experience it is actually a cleansing feeling to give something away!

Another aspect of freegan life is dumpster diving, an activity that I have had recent encounters with, following the lead of two professional dumpster divers, Dee and Becky. Dumpster diving is a rare win-win for the individual and the environment, as "waste" food is used to feed families, reducing the impact on both the pocketbook and the environment!

A great introduction to freeganism can be found on GroovyGreen's blog, check it out. I certainly do not qualify as a freegan, as I am still stuck in the consumer model our economy is built around, but as I continually deconstruct my own consumerist mentality, I hope to begin my freegan novitiate.

MIT Offers Free Course Materials

2008-01-03T13:04:00.000-05:00

This is pretty amazing, MIT is now offering free course materials as part of their OpenCourseWare initiative. This is way, way cool! Check out their course material offerngs HERE. Particularly for someone like myself, who has a penchant for continuing studies for self-edification, this is a much cheaper alternative than enrolling in an online degree program (this doesn't mean I will drop out of my MA in Org Leadership though...!).

HT: BS

Eve of Iowa Caucus

2008-01-02T17:34:00.000-05:00

On the eve of the Iowa caucus and with politics very much on my mind, I thought I would post an interesting electoral map from the 2004 presidential election. It shows how population density plays a major role in determining which party an individual supports.

click to see larger image

HT: ESRI

Brett Dennen on War and the Holidays

2008-01-01T16:27:00.001-05:00

Brett Dennen is a breath of fresh air in today's commercialized music industry. He writes his own music and lyrics. His message in this song is fantastic. Be sure to check out his Aint No Reason and I Asked When songs as well. A few days late, here is his YouTube live performance.

I hope that 2008 will be a much better year for our world than 2007.

Lyrics

Pilgrims in the parking lot
Arteries clogged with blood clots
Pushing through the aisles of department stores
Neon crosses and Christmas lights
Credit card debts and brand new bikes
The holidays are here and we're still at war

The rabbi reads from the testament
The banker gazes at the year's investments
Salvation Santa's solicit for the poor
Deception of democracy
The philanderings of faux foreign policy
The holidays are here and we're still at war

Smoggy skies and fixed elections
Injustice strikes from all directions
People with their backs against the floor
Looking for someone to set us free
A king with fists like Mohammad Ali
The holidays are here and we're still at war

A mother knows what is best for you
Even though it's hard to listen
Your father knows he can count on you
Though you couldn't count on him

Christopher Columbus knew
Vasco De Gama and Magellan too
The profits of oppression grow like never before
All hail to the captalist thief
And mourn your lost ones and covet our grief
The holidays are here and we're still at war

Hurricane waters ravage southern towns
And black and brown people are left to drown
While the White House and the emergency management agency ignores
Victims seek shelter in the Astrodome
And the National Guard says "Don't go home"
The holidays are here and we're still at war

Police officers hassle the homeless
Domestic disputes, alcohol and violence
The jailhouse opens wide its door
A corporation cuts a million employees
And the factory is moving overseas
The holidays are here and we're still at war

A mother knows what is best for you
Even though it's hard to listen
Your father knows he can count on you
Though you couldn't count on him

Jesus sheds another tear
Into a sea of two thousand years
Into the eve of a new year once more
Tears of joy, resolutions of sorrow
Toast to health and wealth tomorrow
The holidays are here and we're still at war

Religious wars and domination
World trade and globalization
The prices of petroleum soar
Lonesome churches are packed with sinners
Non-believers and new beginners
The holidays are here and we're still at war

Say a prayer for the less fortunate
Prisoners and soldiers you never have met
Understand what it is they're fighting for
Say a prayer for your enemies
Say a prayer for the victims and their families
The holidays are here and we're still at war

Yes, the holidays are here and we're still at war

Facism - Top Ten Signs

2007-12-30T14:17:00.001-05:00

This is absolutely scary...

"Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." George Santayana

John Bolton Defends War

2007-12-29T01:54:00.000-05:00

Here is an interesting clip of American ambassador John Bolton defending the Iraq war, and some heated exchanges from an Iraqi citizen and Tony Benn of the UK. I think it demonstrates how flimsy the U.S. justifications for the Iraq war really are, and how strong the world opinion is against American unilateralism.

HT: CM

Elections 08 - Home Stretch

2007-12-20T11:27:00.001-05:00

As we enter the home stretch for the 2008 presidential elections, things are very interesting indeed! On the Democrat side, Hillary and Obama are running neck and neck, with Obama having the momentum in the early primaries, but Hillary holding a solid lead in the national polls. On the Republican side things are even more convoluted, with five candidates still in strong contention! Clearly Huckabee has the most momentum, as his Baptist background is holding a strong appeal to party conservatives, however both Romney and McCain have shown recent gains, coming at the expense of the fading Giuliani and Thompson. See the national trends below from RealClearPolitics.com.

I am still holding to my original prediction that Clinton and Romney will win their respective parties nomination, but there has been some interesting developments in the weeks since I first made that call. On the democrat front, Obama has continued to develop momentum and now shows a real potential for overtaking Clinton and gaining the parties nomination. He brings a freshness and depth of character that seem to hold real appeal to the voters in the early primaries. The main concerns seem to center around his perceived lack of toughness, as he tends to shy away from the more vicious style of politics that are so often utilized in the highly polarized U.S. government. He seems to genuinely value discourse and consensus building over power plays and backdoor maneuvering. Many critics feel that this is a liability for him in the trenches, where idealism perishes as quickly as a snow cone in Texas! What do you think? Is Obama's approach to politics naive and a sign of in-experience, or is it a return to the very core of what a healthy political process should be about?

Here is a trend of the Democrat Iowa primary poll results, showing Obama's recent climb (again from RCP)

I am definitely interested in how Obama does in these early primaries. While the national polls still clearly show Clinton leading, things could change quickly if Obama pulls out some convincing wins. My personal opinion is that they are both strong candidates and would fare well in the general election.

On the Republican side, things are as hectic as I have ever seen in the run-up to a presidential primary. Typically by this point in the process the field of candidates is whittled down to only two, or at most three viable candiates. Clearly Fred Thompson has lost significant momentum, and can probably be ruled out of contention. Guliani, while still leading in the national polls, is also rapidly loosing steam and IMHO will not end up in strong contention. I just don't think his character and values line up well with the Republican voting base.

That leaves Huckabee, McCain, and Romney. Each has their handicaps. Huckabee is a relative unknown who has risen to popularity primarily on his Christianity and conservative morals, but questions surrounding his judgement and experience are starting to gather steam. McCain seems too crusty to win a popularity contest, but his unquestionable experience, integrity, and depth of character continue to keep him in the race. Some pundits predict that the top candidates will implode leaving McCain as the best viable candidate. Romney, my pick for winning the Republican primary, would be a shoe-in if it wasn't for his Mormon faith. It remains to be seen how much this will effect the primary, but he continues to look strong in several early primaries and may gain momentum if Huckabee stumbles in the weeks ahead.

Here is a trend of the Iowa Republican primary polls from RCP.

Who is your favorite candidate from the two parties?

Human Value

2007-12-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

I have continued to mull some of the responses to the Texas Vigilante shooting in Texas, both on this blog and elsewhere in the blogosphere. I find it quit interesting that many people feel that since these two men from Colombia were here illegally and had criminal backgrounds they deserved to die. It appears that their value as human beings was reduced by both demerits, to the point that being shot in the back with a 12 gauge shotgun as they were fleeing is "justice." It is important to keep in mind that these men were unarmed and committing a burglary, they were not threatening the well-being of anyone. Even the neighbor was clear that he was "not going to let them get away with this," not a concern for his safety as much as a desire to mete out justice.

This sliding scale of human value seems to be everywhere today. For instance, most of us don't blink when we hear that 23 insurgents were killed today, but we likely pause if we hear 6 American soliders were killed by a roadside bomb. In fact, I would wager that no person truly values all human life equally! For instance, a parent is biologically predisposed to value the lives of their children over the lives of strangers. I wonder if the same goes for cultures? Are we programmed to instinctively value people who are similar to us over people who are different?

Of course the social manifestation of such a sliding scale has resulted in some of the worst acts of human history, including slavery and the holocaust. In both cases it seems that the underlying racism was based on perceived differences between the human value of each respective group. As soon as we have objectified a group of people to "insurgents", "japs", "n*ggers", "illegals", etc, we have removed our own moral barriers to acting inhuman to them. It seems this human tendency to objectify the "other" is one we must continually struggle against!

If I am wrong and human value really is dependent on some extrinsic factors, perhaps we should define a worth spectrum? For instance, 1 U.S. soldier = 75 Iraqi "insurgents" in overall human value, or 1 U.S. citizen equals 20 "illegal aliens," or 1 U.S. taxpayer = 5 people on welfare. If we could establish a tidy spectrum of human value, this would greatly aid our Country in making policy decisions, enacting new legislation, allocating budgets, deciding to go to war, etc. We could simply ask, what is the human value of the respective decisions? If we go to war with Albania, we might loose 700 U.S. soldiers, but gain natural resources that would benefit millions of Americans. If this resulted in the deaths of 20,000 albanians, but the U.S. to Albanian worth ratio was 1:25, clearly the decision would be prudent and justified.

Arousing the Wrath of Texas

2007-12-17T08:41:00.000-05:00

My earlier post on the Texas Vigilante has inadvertently attracted the wrath of some Texas patriots. In comments to my original post, their arguments are heated to say the least, including slandering other commenters. Honestly, I don't mind personal attacks on my own material, its a blog for goodness sakes! It has proven to be an interesting insight into the Texan notion of "justice" and their sliding scale of human value, although granted I am sure this sample of Texan's is not representative of all residents of that vast state (for instance, latino's make up 35% of the state's population and I wager would take a different stance).

Read the comment thread of the original post at your own discretion due to the vitriol content.

Crack Cocaine Sentencing

2007-12-14T16:26:00.001-05:00

In a historic decision, the Supreme Court decided this past Monday to give federal judges more latitude in sentencing individuals convicted of possessing or trafficking crack cocaine. For many years there has existed a disparity between the sentencing guidelines for crack and for powdered cocaine. Crack is predominantly found in black communities, while powdered cocaine is predominantly found in white communities. A clearly racist disparity was challenged by several federal judges and eventually found its way to the Supreme Court. This is a great win for civil rights and racial equity!

World Statistics Clock

2007-12-06T12:56:00.000-05:00

This is pretty interesting, albeit depressing!

Poodwaddle.com

Iowa NPR Debates

2007-12-05T09:22:00.000-05:00

NPR hosted an Iowa radio debate last night, the full two hour broadcast can be heard here. For the most part it was fairly uninformative, with candidates breaking little fresh ground in the three areas of discussion: Iran, China, and Immigration. On the issue of China, former Senator Gravel (basically a no-show in the polls), had a great statement about the competitive approach the U.S. takes toward China, a country with rampant extreme poverty.

Clearly, none of [the other candidates] are running for China — president of China — because this amount of demagoguery is shameful.
Here, the Chinese people have a problem. And when we continue this rhetoric of beggar thy neighbor, where our interests always come first, there should be the interests of human beings, the interests of human beings...because when you have a foreign policy that's beggar thy neighbor, we all become beggars. And so when they talk about the currency of China, what about the — what manipulations we do? What about the American companies that dump things abroad?

I thought Mr. Gravel raised a good quote, that perhaps was more powerful in the audio version than in the text (see ~47:00 in the audio to hear his statement). Indeed, it seems so much of American policy is based on protecting American interests alone. Certainly you rarely hear any politician talk about China's interests. Of course, a government is tasked with protecting it's countries interest's abroad, but to what extent should this be balanced with concern for all humankind? By focusing on increasing America's prosperity, at the expense of others, we will cause inevitable long term conflict. So a government that truly sought to provide long term stability and prosperity for its people would seek to help other countries achieve the same, wouldn't you think.

Except for that little bugger called scarcity.... Now I know that scarcity is often overblown by fear mongers. The world currently has all the resources required to feed, cloth, and shelter every human being, with plenty to spare. The problem is that we are not satisfied with only meeting our basic needs, thus we engage in fierce turf wars to divide the world's riches. At what point will we in the United States repent of our gross overuse of the world's resources? At what point will we require our politicians to act in ways that value all human beings, not just the ones that happen to live within our border's?

Anyway, just ranting a bit this morning. As far as the debate goes, I don't think any candidate really separated themselves on the issues. It will be interesting to read the pundit analysis over the rest of the week.

Financial Justification to Buy a Hybrid

2007-12-04T09:38:00.000-05:00

Here is some excellent financial justification to finally make the transition to a hybrid. My family can't yet afford the switch, but we are looking to make the plunge in the next year or two.

What about you? If you are considering buying a hybrid, what is your time-line? If gas prices increased to over $4/gallon, would that hasten your transition?

Texas Vigilante

2007-12-03T12:58:00.000-05:00

The killing of two men in Texas has become a lightening rod for those who oppose Texas's notorious support of citizen's using lethal force for "self-defense." The two latino men were stealing from his neighbor's house and crossed his yard, when the 70 year old man decided to confront them. Some have applauded the man's actions as heroic, claiming that burglars will think twice before stealing in that neighborhood again. Personally, I agree with the 911 dispatcher that no property is worth a human life (the dispatcher was the real hero in my opinion, even though he wasn't able to prevent the man's actions).

It is pretty sad to live in a society that allows this type of action to happen, especially since it appears to be within his legal right (will be decided in the courts). I am sure the older man was upset and not thinking clearly, but he definitely knew that the laws had changed and was prepared to take advantage of them. I personally think he should be charged with 2nd or 3rd degree murder, there was absolutely no reason for those two young men to die.

What do you think, was this justice served or an even worse crime?

Election Prediction

2007-11-29T10:31:00.000-05:00

So I have been predicting for a couple weeks that Clinton and Mitt Romney will be the two presidential candidates in 2008, so I will formally go on record with this prediction. Romney is definitely a mixed bag when it comes to green politics, with some commendable interest in renewable energy, but scepticism when it comes to global warming and carbon emissions.

What do you think about my prediction? If I am right, does that mean the green vote will go to Clinton?

High Expectations at Work

2007-11-22T12:12:00.000-05:00

I found this Utne article to be very telling. Indeed, while I am a Generation X'er, I have found that my work experiences have met with similar frustrations. It is illuminating and a bit humbling to recognize how egotistical my peers and I have approached the workforce. Now 6.5 years into my working career, I can see how the following statement accurately described me only a few years ago.

Nurtured on a steady diet of self-esteem, the swaggeringly confident children of the ’80s and ’90s are flying the nest and starting to land in the workforce. They’re clamoring for quick feedback, meaningful involvement, and pumped-up recognition—and roiling old-school colleagues who dub them impatient, needy, and arrogant. The kids are frustrated too: Entry-level duties are a far cry from the dream jobs they’ve been made to feel are their birthright.

Indeed, entering the work force post-college can be quite a shock. After years of performance driven education, in which you received continuous recognition of your development (grades), you enter an often slower paced work environment, where fitting into the system is often more important than your individual performance. I thought the following comment was spot on:

Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Stanford, says we’re too focused on
results with young people, and it has taught them to value performance instead
of process.

Valuing performance over process is something that I have definitely been guilty of. Indeed, I would say my education experiences trained me in this regard! So it comes as no surprise that many of us have a rough transition to the work environment, often leading to disillusionment or depression. The author notes that depression is now more common for those in their 20s and 30s than it is for older generations.

There is a silver lining to the changes that are afoot. Indeed, it is even exciting to anticipate the coming changes in the workplace as employers adapt to the needs of Gen Y'ers.

While previous generations rebelled against the cubicle-to-coffin mentality
and struggled for workplace flexibility and improved benefits, here’s a
generation that wants to get feedback, have input, and engage in meaningful
work. They want the companies to which they commit to be environmentally,
socially, and personally accountable. “I think young people are putting us
to task because they want managers to do their jobs—to develop people,” says
Martin. “We’ve got to make the distinction between unrealistic expectations
and high expectations that are calling us to be better.”

The sobering reality is that not all employers will step up to the challenge (I suspect mine will not). What this will mean for the long term viability of some companies remains to be seen, but I suspect that most creative and ambitious Gen Y'ers will not stick around at companies that do not embrace a new paradigm. Dynamic companies such as Google will attract the best and brightest of the current generation, the rest will depend on the aging baby boomer generation to keep their competitive edge.