The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

part of a larger pattern in history, going back thousands of years, in
which particular reactions and shifts in values recur rather regularly,
all of which suggests something about human nature that transcends
us as individuals, that has programmed us to repeat these patterns for
some reason.
Many of us intuit the truth about generations—how they tend to
have a kind of personality and how the younger generation initiates so
many changes. Some of us are in denial about the phenomenon
because we like to imagine that we as individuals shape what we think

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and believe, or that other forces such as class, gender, and race play a
greater role. Certainly the study of generations can be imprecise; it is a
subtle and elusive subject. And other factors play a role as well. But
looking in depth at the phenomenon reveals that in fact it is more of an
influence than we generally imagine, and is in many ways the great
generator of so much that happens in history.
And understanding this generational phenomenon can yield several
other benefits: We can see what forces shaped our parents’ mind-set,
and then ours in turn, as we have tried to go in a different direction.
We can make better sense of the underlying changes going on in all
areas of society and begin to surmise where the world is headed, to
anticipate future trends, and to understand the role we can play in
shaping events. This can not only bring us great social power but can
also have a therapeutic, calming effect on us as we view events in the
world with some distance and equanimity, elevated above the chaotic
changes of the moment.
We shall call this knowledge generational awareness. To attain it,
first we must understand the actual profound effect that our
generation has on how we view the world, and second we must
understand the larger generational patterns that shape history and
recognize where our time period fits into the overall scheme.