If There Could be a Quarter of Life without Crisis

Source: HeadStuff

I’ve always used the term “quarter-life crisis” in a teasing way until I looked it up recently. Thanks to Wikipedia, today I am officially entering “a period of insecurity, doubt and disappointment surrounding your career, relationships and financial situation.”

Never have I ever seen such an accurate description of my life thus far.

In all seriousness, I want to take some time to write this piece for my birthday, not because to whine about this “crisis” but because I want to remember it in a meaningful way even years later. This is also not a cheesy letter to my 50-year-old self (although I’d be very good at that too), but one that helps me, or you, think about what our future may look like and how we might want to shape it.

Ironically, I still wish myself the most cliche things ever in the next quarter of crisis: good health, a good career, a happy family and a financially secured life.

But what would those look like in 2044? Let’s start with what they looked like in 1994. A few headlines that year to set the tone:

• South Africa holds first interracial national election and Nelson Mandela elected President.

When I did the research, 1994 was a cruelly busy year for a number of African nations – not all in a positive light. I wish I could go back in time to see it happen, but I’d like to think that Mandela’s victory in South Africa’s first democratic election was a historical moment that brought hope across the continent. Controversies aside, having the political commitment to campaign and lead a nation after 27 years in prison makes him a worldwide legend.

I very much doubt that many, if any, can replicate that in today’s world. While wars and conflicts rooted in ideological divide are still prevalent, the world seems to have accepted each regime as it is since 1989. Political activism, as a result, also means something different and is much harder to execute. The recent activist movements are only able to make a scene on the surface the status quo, where the U.S. is the world’s largest democracy, while China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria and many others in the Middle East aren’t. Unless something happens in our lifetime that challenges this status quo, which would be traumatic and detrimental to the world, we may as well appreciate this relatively peaceful era while commemorating those who sacrificed blood and tears for it.

• The People’s Republic of China gets its first connection to the Internet.

The motherland! This is probably the most interesting event I found in 1994, like a Pandora’s box moment. Ironically, the firewall is now at the centerstage of China’s internet story today, which makes this event seem so trivial.

That aside, whoever that facilitated it must have been thrilled to witness this milestone. Little had he or she known that this would evolve into China’s now enticing internet scene: WeChat, Taobao, Didi, ofo, Dianping, Tiktok, you name it. The only small problem is the rest of the world doesn’t really know much of them and won’t be able to enjoy the benefits largely due to the political climate.

• Jeff Bezos founds Amazon.

Not sure if this is good or bad news, but Amazon certainly grew much faster than me (in any way possible) in the past 25 years! Years ago Google’s Eric Schmidt was already watching Amazon as the next biggest competition. If we look back now, he was absolutely right. This company now controls an incredibly large amount of financial, labour, data and intellectual resources around the world, and is still expanding into new businesses that are proven to be profitable. The best part is, Bezos even almost messed up the naming of the company:

“The company was originally called Cadabra, like the magic term ‘abracadabra.’ But Jeff Bezos’ lawyer told him that the magic reference was too obscure, and when you say it out loud, ‘cadabra’ could be mistaken for ‘cadaver.’ Eventually, they came up with the name Amazon, a reference to the river in South America. The idea was that their selection of books would be vast and wide, just like the world’s largest river. They did have many other names in mind and still own one of the domains. If you type in Relentless.com in your browser, you will be redirected to Amazon.com.” (Business Insider)

The point here is that the digital world really only came to us not that long ago, although to me and those born after 1994 this could easily be the entire world. The timing of the revolution is shaping each generation in many unexpected ways, including our perceptions, life experiences and relationships with people. How could I start thinking about 2044 without knowing “how life works” then?

• Brazil Wins 1994 World Cup in United States.

Sports was a relatively safe haven in the world of disruption. The World Cup, the Olympics and championship games continue to draw nation states in with the slogan of love, peace and sportsmanship (while they are increasingly just moving political games). While winning the 1994 World Cup may be a milestone for Brazil, hosting the 2016 Olympics was certainly not the smartest PR campaign. Zika, infrastructure delays, safety concerns, poor hospitality and the Russian scandal (well, sorry but not sorry) – all the worst problems that could happen happened.

This is not to put Brazil on the spot, as I have absolutely no right to judge the country without visiting even once. It is just an illustration of how the world sports events – which began as a way to promote exchange and collaboration – are becoming more than what they seem to be without people realizing it. They are publicity, influence and diplomatic tactics. But at the same time, nations are almost too competitive about it to accurately assess their abilities and risk appetite to take on such a massive project. This kind of impatience and desperation is seen to backfire on a lot of developing countries.

So will these games still run in 2044? And who will be running them? Governments, business giants, activists, or robots?

• Lisa Marie Presley marries Michael Jackson.

No comments on this one. The only conclusion is that celebrity gossip (or gossip in general) is a perpetual hobby of humankind that does not change.

* * *

A “good life” in 1994 or even 2019 is not too difficult to picture as we speak in past tense. But even by comparing the world in 1994 and in 2019, I could drown myself in awe and disbelief. Nowadays we talk about how South Africa’s deteriorating performance is overshadowing Mandela’s legacy; how Huawei is facing U.S. trade ban; how Amazon is about take over the world; how Tokyo 2022 may well be the most eco-friendly game ever; and of course, how Kim Kardashian and Kanye West just celebrated their fifth anniversary.

Some changes were well predicted and others not, although I find it harder and harder to form a certain outlook for the future, which I think is how the quarter-life crisis arises for this generation.

But will the mid-life crisis be any better? If I could first make a wild and vague guess of what we will be reading about in 2044 – the “war” of democracy and capitalism intensifies, in the form of trade barriers or violence; technology takes off at drastically different speed in different countries, wiping out disparities of sorts while creating others; American companies may still lead the global development but facing much more diverse problems; and hopefully, the earth is still habitable enough for us to be talking about any of the above.

Doesn’t sound very optimistic. Strange enough, I still look forward to the next quarter of “crisis” when I shift gear to look at what’s happening around me: The Empire State Building lit up yet again in purple for NYU’s class of 2019. A new group of interns will join Bloomberg’s offices across Asia next month. A lot of friends are leading meaningful, impactful work in all corners of the world. My host sister is entering the last few years of high school with clear-than-ever academic and personal goals. Every day at work I’m surrounded by old (sorry, experienced) and young voices that advocate for climate solutions with data, research, critical thinking and business ideas.

Surely most of these people don’t sit around and write cheesy articles like me, but they are and will continue be the ones making the biggest impact in turning our crises into opportunities. There’s a momentum that’s just as prevalent as the crisis, as explained in Mike Bloomberg’s recent speech at the University of Maryland:

“The good news is your time here has prepared you to lead from the front rather than following from behind. You know how important it is to embrace fearless ideas. You know what it’s like to be open and bold and look at things in new ways. And you know that it’s possible to do well and do good.”

As a concluding thought today, I want to say my annual thank you to all my family and friends – for celebrating this day with me once again and for your love, support and patience in enjoying (or pretend to) my long, cheesy writing. The nomadic lifestyle doesn’t help me in forming a strong identity, but I know that you will always be my source of confidence and motivation.

By the way, while there’s still no answer to what “good health, a good career, a happy family and a financially secured life” will look like, I think I might look back in 2044 and laugh about how well I had wished.

Hope you will too.