Millenials are often viewed as foolish and spoiled for their desire to improve society with their overly ambitious plans and in return, expectations of unearned rewards are sentiments shared by the traditional stewards of society. A by-gone world where tradition and conventional rules were religiously followed, now seems to be a fleeting memory. While technology has certainly been one key factor responsible for the change, the desire to make our lives better is something shared by a diverse class of society.
Although it is true that young people are no longer willing to stay with the same employer (as their parents once did), they want to leave a part of themselves, an imprint that, they did once exist on this world. For this reason, many technology start-ups are founded by young people. This is the case for the news blog, Policymic that I contribute to. It is a part of the d.i.y (do it yourself) culture. As such, they are willing to take risks to the extent that their passions spill into many facets of their life. It is about creating a meaningful life, rather than just living in it. Rather than abiding by the old rules where it is not open to change– postmodernism issues such as feminism, environment and community then became key issues involving the young and old, men and women and creates a socially diverse movement.
As nations become more prosperous, these issues emerge as critically important to which conservatives and liberals disagree. Revolutions and counter movements become the norm to which these ideas are expressed. With the ease with which events are shared on social media, we become closer despite the physical boundaries that separate us.
One aspect that citizens of emerging nations are grappling is the speed with which rapid technological change has managed to introduce external influences. Looking towards China, during the past thirty years in which its young people were protesting for freedom and democracy while its nation was experiencing major economic changes, if social media was as prevalent back then as it is now, I’m not sure that China would still have remained the world’s second largest economy.
Despite all this, people are willing to risk their life to protest against injustices and in the process, refuse to be victimized. Such is the case during the various Occupy movements and especially in India with the mass protest of gang-rapes. In Greece, since the austerity measures have been implemented, protests have taken place to demonstrate against the political establishment who are seen as responsible for bringing the country to an economic halt.
The conventional rules that once dictated how a society functions have been re-created to include the voice of the people. Even if the desired result is not achieved, by rising up and risking to alter the system, they’ve already made their mark on history.
Alina W Tsui 