The Sunday Mail
It is very difficult to write in terms of a “generation”.
Doing so often creates a superficial separation of purpose between age groups as if generation X in a given society is meant to fulfil an unrelated purpose to that of generation Y.
Moreover, there is no clear cut-off as to where one can definitively identify a transition in generation.
This would leave too large a demographic undefined.
If a generation is supposedly 16 to 35, is that an accurate distinction from those that fall within 35 to 40?
For instance, does a 33-year-old fit in generation X, and a 39-year-old doesn’t?
Generational identity can easily become specious, superficially pleasing so as to satisfy our innate yearning to belong as humans.
The social mood in Zimbabwe lately seems to have been gripped by a generational consciousness, particularly within young adults.
Writing from a subjective outlook, I would encourage an understanding of the times we live in rather than seeking identity of what generation we supposedly belong to, let alone trying to create some sort of consensus around that generation.
We should take heed that a lot of people missed history due to a lack of awareness of the times that they lived in.
In most of these cases, these people were looking to identify which generation they belonged to and what single consensus would define their time.
They, in fact, ended up as merely a part of history, rather than creators of the history themselves.
However, my premise is to explain that young adults in Zimbabwe should understand that a “generation” is defined by the needs of its time, not what it prepares to be defined as.
More specifically, we must possess an awareness of the socio-economic trajectory of the country, and ultimately decide whether or not we shall actively affect it, or later claim to have merely experienced it.
Let me warn of the harsh experiences one risks by being passive to our socio-economic reality.
They already show through the fallacy of having produced a generation constructed on expectation.
Consider how many Zimbabweans — a decade or two ago — perceived having a good education and professional qualifications as a guarantee towards a successful life.
It is just now dawning on us as a country that a simple regurgitating education that produced a well-qualified stream of graduates actually didn’t correspond with the socio-economic path of their time.
I am hesitant to say Zimbabweans groomed a generation of defined expectation that was not in sequence with the reality that it lived in.
Education is not a conveyor belt where straight ‘A’s and an esteemed degree make for a mid-management candidate whose job has to be there at graduation.
However, there is a pre-defined demographic of Zimbabweans who were raised on that very notion.
Perhaps then young adults will ask: So, exactly what times do we live in, and what are we not aware of?
There is no single absolute answer to what times we live in, but I can only offer a humble suggestion of what many young adults do not seem to be aware of.
I’d encourage young adults to listen to and follow closely the predominant political rhetoric of our time, and comprehend the socio-economic manifestation it is acting to create.
Of course, one does not have to agree with this rhetoric in as much as one does not have to be satisfied by the physical state in which they woke up this morning, but just like the latter, it is the reality that forms our immediate and without significant digression, the foreseeable near term as well.
We are living through an ongoing process of socio-economic transformation.
It is a process that is actually happening.
Thus, young adults should not so much look into being a generation of expectation as much as they should individually ask themselves whether or not they will affect this ongoing transformation.
Indeed, I am not proffering selfishness, but I am suggesting self-introspection towards realising the moment we are living through as individuals!
Today, what you have is an economy where indigenous young adults have a reduced economic certainty.
That is an inherent risk of transformation.
Thus, we must comprehend that we are an economy where the probability of economic failure is now really high.
However, the effects of success are more consequential to the victor and society at large.
Consider the number of sectors that are open to new innovations and means of business.
Granted, the economy needs structural reforms; many sectors are really open to young adults who understand the socio-economic transformation we are going through.
The unfortunate thing about a slow economy is that it clouds the inevitable need for economic winners and losers.
Many companies that are failing in Zimbabwe are archaic and retain uncompetitive business strategy and models.
This is not so clear due to the overall subdued economy.
However, young adults must keep a clear eye that this is the process of socio-economic transformation.
Many of economic agents are going to fail within numerous ventures, but those who win will be of greater consequence to socio-economic development as they will form a foundation for a future transformed economy.
But to advance accordingly, more young adults should extend their risk appetite and not conform to comfortable expectations of certainty.
Many of us were programmed for certainty, yet, certainty is not in congruence with the time we live in.
Such an economy where most people reduce their risk appetite to a point where probability of success is higher, but the consequences of that success is minimal should at best belong to the future, based on industry founded by young people today.
What I am speaking to is a destiny that was already set for young adults, a destiny that requires new industrialists to create an economic foundation for after it.
These are the times we are living in.
That is the socio-economic trajectory we find ourselves in.
It is a time for new indigenous industrialists.
Skilled professionals and craftsmen should not feel slighted by my generational proposition.
Instead, they, too, must comprehend the need to motivate new risk-taking industrialists who will create an economy to apply specialised skills and craft.
After all, specialists derive their utility from satisfying industrial work processes conceived by these risk-taking industrialists.
Unfortunately, we are yet to see the presence of a large enough representation within young adults who will be these risk-taking industrialists.
I do believe that young adults disaffected by our current economic circumstance can share in the conviction that we need industrialists to form an industrial foundation for all of us.
Wherever these industrialists are, they are being called by the times we live in today!
They will then lead the history of what the current generation will be defined as in future.
