I dig the cool 21st century linkages, but the cynic inside my head is less than enthused by Haque's polemic. Wholesale political change is the product of coalition building that works across the demographic barriers separating social classes and groups, such as the labor movement of the early 20th century or the great transformation following WWII. Generational politics is little more than a chimera... a marketing demographic masquerading as a political movement.

The late 1960's produced many a manifesto of generational political change, but what came of it? Coca-cola pumped out commercials full of hippies wanting to "teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" while the mature demographic coke was targeting voted for Reagan in droves because their taxes were just too damn high.

While inspiring, Haque's article reads like the script for Rambo IV... Same movie as Rambo II with different supporting characters.

...and marketing guys control the world these days. Busted. The M is for marketing, but how can we bring generations together to bring about wholesale economic change? By selling the idea and getting people motivated. Politics is just the mechanics of making these ideas happen, an inferior and dependent subset of marketing. We all know it's time for the U.S. to build stuff that people will buy, stuff that works, stuff that doesn't make us feel so disposable. How do we inspire productive innovation (not the Band-Aid kind from necessity but the kind that values value over production growth) from these lost generations of cynics? By first making them believe that it's worth their time. I will let Haque defend himself while I attempt to inspire by sharing some dialogue overheard one time between a girl and a boy. The moral of the story is: Get excited about something. Build that motherfucker. Profit.

"Can I come help you build your mud wall?"
"A few months ago you were making fun of me for being drunk and asking you 5 times if you wanted to come over and play in the dirt. Now you want to come help me increase my property value by building something with me that is functional art made from natural resources found lying around? That's kind of hot."
"I WANNA PLAY IN THE DIRT!!! Honestly, what it is, I see that look on your face and how excited you get about it and that's really what turns me on."

Now get to work. You don't have time to be a cynic if you're building something.