The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

Strategies for Exploiting the Spirit of the Times
To make the most of the zeitgeist, you must begin with a simple
premise: you are a product of the times as much as anyone; the
generation you were born into has shaped your thoughts and values,
whether you are aware of this or not. And so, if you feel from deep
within some frustration with the way things are in the world or with
the older generation, or if you sense there is something that is missing
in the culture, you can be almost certain that other people of your
generation are feeling the same way. And if you are the one to act on
this feeling, your work will resonate with your generation and help
shape the zeitgeist. With this in mind, you must put into practice some
or all of the following strategies.
Push against the past.
You may feel a deep need to create something
new and more relevant to your generation, but the past will almost
always exercise a strong pull on you, in the form of the values of your
parents that you internalized at a young age. Inevitably you are a bit
fearful and conflicted. And because of this, you might hesitate to go full

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throttle with whatever you do or express, and your defiance of the past
ways of doing things will tend to be rather tepid.
Instead you must force yourself in the opposite direction. Use the
past and its values or ideas as something to push against with great
force, using any anger you might feel to help in this. Make your break
with the past as sharp and clear as possible. Express what is taboo;
shatter the conventions that the older generation adheres to. All of this
will excite and attract the attention of people of your generation, many
of whom will want to follow your lead.
It was by being so audacious and defiant of the older generation
that the Earl of Essex epitomized the new, confident spirit of post-
armada England and became the darling of his generation (see chapter
15 for more on this). Danton gained power by how far he went in
defying the monarchy and fomenting for the republic. In the 1920s, the
African American dancer Josephine Baker came to exemplify the new
spirit of spontaneity among the lost generation by making her
performances as unfettered and shocking as possible. By breaking so
deeply with the past images of previous first ladies and their usual
demure manner, Jacqueline Kennedy became the icon for the new
spirit of the early 1960s. In going further in this direction, you create a
shock of the new and spark desires among others that are waiting to
come out.