I know what you’re thinking, “Really? You saw 80s band New Order at The Greek Theatre rather than see President Obama at Nokia downtown?” Abso-freakin’-lutely!!
Here’s what I had to ask myself: Would anything new come from seeing the Prez? No. Same speech. Same message. Nothing new. If Mitt Romney were in town, I could almost have said the same thing for him, except he almost always says something new. That’s what happens when one changes positions so much. But I digress.
So, I could have seen the Prez Sunday night and awakened the next morning to yet another economic Blue Monday. Or, I could get myself to the Greek and hear New Order perform Blue Monday. You see, the decision was getting easier by the minute. Plus, it’s the GREEK on a warm Southern California night with a band that rarely makes an appearance in Los Angeles. President Obama is here all time and the Nokia has little of the appeal or history of the Greek.
But now to my reality: I’m supremely disappointed in President Obama AND Mitt Romney. Why? Because, with all due respect to both camps, all their advisers, cronies and what-not, they don’t have a clue in today’s world. It’s insanely scary how detached they are from reality. Same old campaigns, tactics and messaging that you could insert into the presidential campaigns of the 70s or 80s.
The world has changed in monumental ways. But both parties have changed little, if at all. They’re like that one uncle who always tells the same story at family gatherings, truly believing it’s new and somehow relevant. Sure, you may say, “The President has used social media to get out his message….” and you would be right. However, he’s using it like he did in 2008, which is equivalent to 100-years ago in social media years.
Which brings me to the underlying reason for my disappointed-ness –both candidates are missing the biggest thing happening in America and an entire generation: Generation Flux (the term coined from a great Fast Company article about 6-months ago). But this generation is NOT of a certain age or time period. It’s unlike any other before it. This is the first generation to combine all ages, shapes, sizes, backgrounds under one beautiful umbrella: entrepreneurship. Generation Flux is the 15-year old kid coding in his bedroom and creating the next fabulous thing. Generation Flux is the 60-year old serial entrepreneur launching his fourth startup. The woman who quits her day job after realizing her dream on Etsy. Sure President Obama and Governor Romney will tell stories of meeting some small business owner in Dayton or a flower-shop owner in Florida in their attempt to seem connected to the small-business community that truly economically supports this country. What they both are missing is this incredibly amazing ‘generation’ that is the future of our country. Sure Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is thee poster boy most associated with this surge in creativity coursing through our country, not to mention the Google boys Larry Page and Sergey Brin. But, peel back the layers and there are innovators, creators and entrepreneurs striving and thriving all over this amazing country of ours. And, yes, they are small-businesses, some micro-small. But, come on guys, just don’t ignore the Fluxers anymore. They have and will continue to change the world and I believe the America I live in will lead the way once again. Now, if only our presidential candidates could actually get out of their own way and have True Faith in Generation Flux. GenFlux is becoming the New Order of business in America and when it does, I think we’d all feel so extraordinary.
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