The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

Generational Patterns
Since the beginning of recorded time, certain writers and thinkers have
intuited a pattern to human history. It was perhaps the great
fourteenth-century Islamic scholar Ibn Khaldun who first formulated
this idea into the theory that history seems to move in four acts,
corresponding to four generations.
The first generation is that of the revolutionaries who make a
radical break with the past, establishing new values but also creating
some chaos in the struggle to do so. Often in this generation there are
some great leaders or prophets who influence the direction of the
revolution and leave their stamp on it. Then along comes a second
generation that craves some order. They are still feeling the heat of the
revolution itself, having lived through it at a very early age, but they
want to stabilize the world, establish some conventions and dogma.
Those of the third generation—having little direct connection to the
founders of the revolution—feel less passionate about it. They are
pragmatists. They want to solve problems and make life as comfortable
as possible. They are not so interested in ideas but rather in building
things. In the process, they tend to drain out the spirit of the original
revolution. Material concerns predominate, and people can become
quite individualistic.
Along comes the fourth generation, which feels that society has lost
its vitality, but they are not sure what should replace it. They begin to
question the values they have inherited, some becoming quite cynical.
Nobody knows what to believe in anymore. A crisis of sorts emerges.
Then comes the revolutionary generation, which, unified around some
new belief, finally tears down the old order, and the cycle continues.

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This revolution can be extreme and violent, or it can be less intense,
with simply the emergence of new and different values.
Although this pattern certainly has variations and is not a science,
we tend to see a lot of the overall sequencing in history. Most notable
of all is the emergence of the fourth generation and the crisis in values
that comes with it. This period is often the most painful to live through
—we humans feel a deep need to believe in something, and when we
begin to doubt and question the old order and sense a vacuum in our
values, we can go a little mad. We tend to latch onto the latest belief
systems peddled by the charlatans and demagogues who thrive in such
periods. We look for scapegoats for all the problems that now arise and
the spreading dissatisfaction. Without a unifying belief to anchor and
calm us, we become tribal, relying on some small affinity group to give
us a feeling of belonging.
Often, in a crisis period, we will notice the forming of a subgroup
among those who feel particularly anxious and resentful at the
breakdown of order. They are often people who felt somewhat
privileged in the past, and the chaos and coming change threatens
what they have taken for granted. They want to hold on to the past,
return to some golden age they can vaguely remember, and prevent
any coming revolution. They are doomed, because the cycle cannot be
stopped, and the past cannot be magically brought back to life. But as
this crisis period fades and begins to merge into the revolutionary
period, we often detect rising levels of excitement, as those who are
young and particularly hungry for something new can sense the
changes coming that they have set up in their own way.
It seems that we are living through such a crisis period, with a
generation that is experiencing it in its key phase in life. Although we
cannot see how close we might be to the end of this period, such times
never last too long, because the human spirit will not tolerate them.
Some unifying belief system is in gestation, and some new values are
being generated that we cannot yet see.
At the core of this pattern is a continual back-and-forth rhythm that
comes from emerging generations reacting against the imbalances and
mistakes of the previous generation. If we go back four generations in
our own time we can clearly see this. We start with the silent
generation. As children experiencing the Great Depression and as
adults coming of age during World War II and the postwar period, they

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became rather cautious and conservative, valuing stability, material
comforts, and fitting tightly into the group. The next generation, the
baby boomers, found the conformity of their parents rather stifling.
Emerging in the 1960s, and not haunted by the harsh financial realities
of their parents, this generation valued personal expression, having
adventures, and being idealistic.
This was followed by Generation X, which was marked by the chaos
of the 1960s and the ensuing social and political scandals. Coming of
age in the 1980s and 1990s, it was pragmatic and confrontational,
valuing individualism and self-reliance. This generation reacted
against the hypocrisies and impracticalities in their parents’ idealism.
This was followed by the millennial generation. Traumatized by
terrorism and a financial crisis, they reacted against the individualism
of the last generation, craving security and teamwork, with a noted
dislike of conflict and confrontation.
We can deduce two important lessons from this: First, our values
will often depend upon where we fall in this pattern and how our
generation reacts against the particular imbalances of the previous
generation. We would simply not be the same person we are now, with
the same attitude and ideals, if we had emerged during the 1920s or
the 1950s instead of later periods. We are not aware of this critical
influence because it is too close to us to observe. Certainly we bring our
own individual spirit into play in this drama, and to the degree that we
can cultivate our uniqueness, we will gain power and the ability to
direct the zeitgeist. But it is critical that we recognize first the
dominant role that our generation plays in our formation, and where
this generation falls in the pattern.
Second, we notice that generations seem capable only of reacting
and moving in an opposing direction to the previous generation.
Perhaps this is because a generational perspective is formed in youth,
when we are more insecure and prone to thinking in black-and-white
terms. A middle way, a balanced form of choosing what might be good
or bad in the values and trends of the previous generation, seems
contrary to our collective nature.
On the other hand, this back-and-forth pattern has a salutary effect.
If one generation simply carried forward the tendencies of the previous
one, we would probably have destroyed ourselves long ago. Imagine
generations that succeeded the wildness of the 1920s or the 1960s by

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continuing with this spirit, and going further with it; or a generation
that succeeded the 1950s by remaining equally conservative and
conformist. We would suffocate ourselves with too much self-
expression or stagnation. The pattern may lead to imbalances, but it
also ensures that we revitalize ourselves.
Sometimes the changes that are generated in a revolutionary period
are rather trivial and do not last past the cycle. But sometimes, from a
strong crisis, a revolution forges something new that lasts for centuries
and represents progress toward values that are more rational and
empathetic. In seeing this historical pattern, we must recognize what
seems to be an overall human spirit that transcends any particular
time and that keeps us evolving. If for any reason the cycle stopped, we
would be doomed.
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Your task as a student of human nature is threefold: First and
foremost, you must alter your attitude toward your own generation.
We like to imagine that we are autonomous and that our values and
ideas come from within, not without, but this is in fact not the case.
Your goal is to understand as deeply as possible how profoundly the
spirit of your generation, and the times that you live in, have
influenced how you perceive the world.
We are usually hypersensitive when it comes to our own generation.
The perspective was formed in our childhood, when we were most
vulnerable, and our emotional bond to our peers was established early
on. We often hear an older or younger generation criticizing us, and we
naturally become defensive. When it comes to the flaws or imbalances
in our generation, our tendency is to see them as virtues. For instance,
if we grew up in a generation that was more fearful and cautious, we
might shy away from major responsibilities, such as owning a house or
a car. We will interpret this as a desire for freedom or a desire to help
the environment, unwilling to confront the fears that are really
underneath it all.
We cannot understand our generation in the same way that we
understand a scientific fact, such as the characteristics of an organism.
It is something alive within us, and our understanding of it is tainted
by our own emotions and biases. What you must do is to try to attack

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the problem free from judgments and moralizing, and to become as
objective as humanly possible. The personality of your generation is
neither positive nor negative; it is simply an outgrowth of the organic
process described above.
Consider yourself a kind of archaeologist digging into your own past
and that of your generation, looking for artifacts, for observations that
you can piece together to form a picture of the underlying spirit. When
you examine your memories, try to do so with some distance, even
when you recall the emotions you felt at the time. Catch yourself in the
inevitable process of making judgments of good and bad about your
generation or the next one, and let go of them. You can develop such a
skill through practice. Forging such an attitude will play a key role in
your development. With some distance and awareness, you can
become much more than a follower of or a rebel against your
generation; you can mold your own relationship to the zeitgeist and
become a formidable trendsetter.
Your second task is to create a kind of personality profile of your
generation, so that you can understand its spirit in the present and
exploit it. Keep in mind that there are always nuances and exceptions.
What you are looking for is common traits that signal an overall spirit.
You can begin this by looking at the decisive events that occurred in
the years before you entered the work world and that played a large
role in shaping this personality. If this period comprises more or less
twenty-two years, there is often more than just one decisive event for
that period. For instance, for those who came of age during the 1930s,
there was the Depression and then the advent of World War II. For the
baby boomers, there was the Vietnam War, and later Watergate and
the political scandals of the early 1970s.
Generation X were children during the sexual revolution and
adolescents in the era of latchkey kids. For millennials there was 9/11
and then the financial meltdown of 2008. Depending on where you
fall, both will influence you, but one more than the other, as it occurs
closer to those formative years between ten and eighteen, when you
were gaining awareness of the wider world and developing core values.
Some times, such as the 1950s, can be periods of relative stability
bordering on stagnation. This will have a powerful effect as well,
considering the restlessness of the human mind, particularly among
the young, who will come to yearn for adventure and to stir things up.

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You must also factor into this equation any major technological
advances or inventions that alter how people interact.
Try to map out the ramifications of these decisive events. Pay