If you’re looking for telltale signs that a new generation of Americans is in control, all you need to do is look to the workplace for indicators. Granted this may be difficult to do for those of us who’ve ceded the rat race to the rats long ago and retired from corporate America, but it’s worth an intentional look. Why? Because the workplace has become the equivalent of the A1C finger prick. It can give us a quick read-out on societal trends.
It’s no big secret that the basic nature of work has changed, from the way we dress to the way we interact with our coworkers, and even our bosses. But, like every change there are hidden pot holes and even sinkholes on the road to professional achievement — and that’s the first thing that’s changed, the definition of achievement. It’s no longer as transparent and universal as a pay raise or a better office with a secretary like the workplace of the Fifties. Today, it’s a mixed bag of perks to which we oldsters never even gave a second thought (let alone a first). One of them is a new-found power to prod companies to incorporate political beliefs into company policy and support movements like the ‘Green revolution’ or reserve a first-class seat on the ‘equity’ train. Activism wasn’t a part of our career plan. That we left to the unemployed who had more time on their hands.
Today’s corporate activist wants to change the world from inside the belly of the beast and use the beast to attack the status quo. It seems to be working, at least if you watch television and are a student of commercials. The avid commercial connoisseur (if there is such a thing) has seen a major shift from ads showing nuclear White families hawking products in favor of a Pareto Principle view (the 80/20 rule) whereby minority groups have taken their place. We’re constantly being shown scenes that exhibit an overrepresentation of America’s minorities, and that include ‘alternative lifestyle groups’ participation as well — a move which flies in the face of tried-and-true marketing tactics.
