I had to chuckle reading Umair Haque's "Generation M Manifesto". It's full of the sort of "no one else has ever had these thoughts" pretensions that most people in their 20s have at one point or another (I had them too). The silliness starts early, when he starts off with "Dear Old People Who Run the World". As if every other group of 20-somethings hasn't had that thought. You can find that sort of thing in historical writings - try reading a few letters from soldiers fighting the civil war, for instance, to get a feel for how they were going to "set things right" once the war was over.

One hundred and forty five years later, born into a much easier world, here's Umair Haque, convinced that he's going to set the world on fire with the kind of "meaning" that no one else has ever even thought of. Right. It might be interesting to check back with young Umair a few years from now, especially if he has children. I strongly suspect that his call for living in "authentic" communities will run head first into a desire not to send his kids to 3rd tier schools in that "authentic" community, and many of the rest of his calls for action will have faded as real life intrudes.

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