The new paradigm for the dimensions of youth leadership in 2012 has undoubtedly changed. The British Youth Riots of 2011 and the constant youth unemployment in Europe speak to an internal anguish at the possibilities of the future. The opening up of streams of information due to technology, has worked to make things easier but has simplified things and is indicative of a problem facing Anglophonic Youth.
A number of emerging markets in the developing world are being opened, to increase sales of technology like the Apple IPad 3, Windows Phone, Android and Blackberry mobiles, creating an increasingly connected world. Is it truly more connected? The emergence of Facebook seems to indicate a need to connect the world as televisions did for Generation X and radios did for those in the earlier segment of the 20th century, using the timeline to share as we did albums. The problem faced in terms of changes in socialization and labour now threaten the very core of what we imagined to be 'work'. There seems to be a bit of trepidation as to the mechanisms that are needed to ensure that satisfaction can be felt from one's work. Simply pushing paper is difficult and we face a throughput issue. How far and how fast can technology go? Are we going too fast, deviating from that Moore's Law curve? How do we maintain the sanctity of academia, restoring it to the prestige with which is was once seen?
It is true that there is a lot of information out there, but good academics know exactly what to highlight as relevant. Development simply isn't enough. As youth my age who are a tad concerned continue to ask, what's next for development. As a child, I was only allowed to watch 2 hrs of television on a Saturday till I was six years old, after which, I had the luxury of cable television. At 11, I was introduced to my first computer, using Windows 3.0 and eventually Windows 95. The computer speed was 16 MHz speeding up to 33 MHz on turbo resulting in a 10 minute wait time. It was only in 1997 that I ever used the internet. The first websites I remember logging onto were PBS and Nickoledeon. Everything was still on paper and email was a social phenomenon. How could one communicate by instant messenger to someone in another country. Still, I may have been introduced earlier than most. Technology jobs have increased, forcing users to select between numerous applications. Filtering is difficult. For instance, I just gave up my Facebook just to see if it mattered that there was diasporic interest or not. It is just a more live world in which egos wishing to be relevant simply have to wait their turn as folk who 'got in' first, still and seemingly will always rule. I find it quizzical that my education minister is called The-waites. What are the rules one uses to get one to come out to major events when it can be seen on Google StreetMap or Bing StreetMap?
Where has all the mystery gone? What magnanimous thing is required to garner the attention of many to some even of perceived relevance? What about the fun of the process and not of the result? It is clear that the new paradigms of youth are connection and understanding. The old find it difficult to explain antiquity, the youth try not to understand. The dinner table has lost it's relevance despite prestigious attempts by stations like Nickelodeon to stand it. Work hard was the paradigm and buy a house. Now many are struggling with housing payments with entities like Wells Fargo for repayment. The dream deferred as Lorraine Hansberry posits seems to be the new paradigm. Development or fun, which is it? Peace seems unsettling, noise seems relaxing. How do we really quantify a job well done, that is, without the 'unending' pain of not knowing if did your best. Retro seems to be the new paradigm as well. Chuck the inline skates and revert to four wheelers, these kids are doing it. We may need to follow the deputy Prime Minister and C-Legg. Part and parcel is that unification of say a 'Cosby Show' or some other national icon has made selling points across the world that much more difficult.
It used to be cool to be a billionaire and still is to some. Recent attention, however has pointed to natural disasters such as the Haitian earthquake, the Indonesian tsunami, the Japanese tsunami and nuclear fallout, the BP Oil Spill, numerous aeroplane crashes and bus crashes that have filled the news. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the fact that these events occurred but these seem to be our blockbuster events. I find myself asking 'What's God gonna do next' rather than trying to find excitement from a show. Centralization of power is seen as bad, but at the core, the human need to be united by a single force is still existent. That is why Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale should still be relevant, even under a system of open education. People have to be really special to run for office or have some electrifying talent. It just seems to be harder and harder to contribute with a sense of meaning, but was it really ever like that? Paint a picture like VP in 2009 and hope that the your vision is seen. Let's get about the business of understanding that the world is mixed. American has had integration for centuries, albeit a somewhat tumultous one. Mainland Britain faces the same issue. In 1940's I read that there were only 11,000 blacks in Britain, but now there are over two million, evenly split between African continent origin and Caribbean. More children are mixed (how do these deal with their sense of identity?). From a diasporic point of view, I see as interesting examples a Usain Bolt interface with Richard Branson (albeit a corny one), Levi Roots and his Reggae Reggae Sauce, Dianne Abbott running for leadership of the Labour Party and getting me to take her seriously (now is Shadow Public Health Minister), Oona King bravely attempting to becoming Mayor of London, an attempt at Meeting the Adebanjos, Samuel Benta in 'The Cut' in what I term a mistreated character, Ricky Norwood in EastEnders and Tosin Cole, who has appeared pretty much everywhere, . The interesting moment of hearing someone of Indian descent sing 'One Man' by Gaza Slim seemed to some up a generation who culture will undoubtely be mixed.
With file-sharing possibilities abound and data-services rolling back data allowances (in what I think is a good move), I can understand that the intricacies of policy with respect to future generations is interestingly complex. Yes, I hate to say it, computers are everywhere (even on islands). I wonder where Gilligan is? How do we linearize when we need to? How do we attract attention? How do we provide jobs? How do interesting things happen without damage to one's person or property? Will we ever be amazed again and do we need to be? Bringing classic back, yes, that old black and white so that we imagine in colour, is that the way? I would love to find rhetoric for my rhetoric.
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