In de New York Times van gisteren een mooi artikel over jeugdcultuur: the entrepreneurial generation. Ik lees vooral veel negatiefs over de jeugd van vandaag, dus ik kan de insteek van dit artikel wel waarderen. Ze noemen met name de houding en het ondernemerschap van veel jongeren en jonge volwassenen:
The thing that strikes me most about them is how nice they are: polite, pleasant, moderate, earnest, friendly. Rock ’n’ rollers once were snarling rebels or chest-beating egomaniacs. Now the presentation is low-key, self-deprecating, post-ironic, eco-friendly.
[…]
Today’s ideal social form is not the commune or the movement or even the individual creator as such; it’s the small business. Every artistic or moral aspiration — music, food, good works, what have you — is expressed in those terms. Call it Generation Sell. Bands are still bands, but now they’re little businesses, as well: self-produced, self-published, self-managed. When I hear from young people who want to get off the careerist treadmill and do something meaningful, they talk, most often, about opening a restaurant. Nonprofits are still hip, but students don’t dream about joining one, they dream about starting one. In any case, what’s really hip is social entrepreneurship — companies that try to make money responsibly, then give it all away.
Erg interessant artikel, aanrader als je iets met jeugd doet.
Eva Brands ('87) uit Rotterdam.
