The Age of Stupidity and Turbulence: Why We Fail in Our Relationships, Marriages, Education, Careers, and Businesses.


Ours is a generation with no heroes, a generation without great inventions, a generation without revolutionary leaders in government, business or communities. Ours is a generation full of average records, ordinary stories and mediocrity. Ours is a generation with no success stories like those of Mohamed Ali, Martin Luther, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi or Abraham Lincoln.

We are living in the age of stupidity, the age of turbulence. Our generation has no foundation on anything, we do not invest time on anything, we want shortcuts, we call it mwendokasi. Follow this author as he explains why our generation fails so much, why poverty is increasing, why we fail in our relationships, marriages, education, careers, and businesses.



We belong to a generation that's devoid of Patience. Never before in the world has a generation lacked the virtue of patience as this one.

We want it fast. We belong to a generation that detests hard work. Everyone gives up so fast. No one is willing to stick in there when things get tough.

We love the highlights of success, the glamour and fame of success yet hate doing the work that goes in producing that success. We want to get the results without investing any time or effort.

The biggest problem of this generation is not unemployment, it's not war, it's not immorality, it's a total lack of patience. We are used to fast food, fast internet, fast this and that so we are not willing to put in the time to get that which we deserve.

We start a business, run it for 6 months then quit. Never before has there been a generation of quitters like this one. We want great weddings, yet hate the actual work of the marriage. We can't stick in relationships or marriages. The moments things get rocky, we run out.

We join companies and expect to earn the salary of a CEO with no experience at all. We apply for two jobs and give up. We have the shortest attention span. We have big dreams yet the lowest of abilities. We expect to build skyscrapers on foundations of huts. We want the big titles without working for them. We are willing to do so little yet expect so much. We are a generation that suffers from entitlement. We are a generation with an ego so big that we can't stand starting small. We lack the humility to start from the bottom of the pile and slowly grow up the ladder.

Not that ambition is bad, but it should be backed by the virtue of hard work and patience. I visited Prof. Waswa Balunywa at his expansive land around Lake Victoria in Entebbe. He told me one thing; "Ian I did not do this in just a year, I bought the first acre in 1996 and I have been adding an acre or two since then. It takes time."

When I meet Baba Sudhir Ruparelia I realize that this is a picture of a man who has put in the time. Before I was born, he was already working. Yet today, we see his results and think we too can have that without putting in the effort.

We need to get honest with ourselves as a generation. We need to imbibe the virtues of patience and hard work or hustle. We need to put in the time to make our marriages work. We need to put in time to make our relationships work. We want to develop our careers yet can't stay at jobs for over 6 months. We have no balance. We move from one thing to another. We are quitters.

We ought to put in our 10,000 hours to mastery. We ought to work at our crafts. We need to laser focus. We are a generation that prides in mediocrity, a generation that doesn't bother to work long at something in order to master it. We are average at everything we do. We do too little of too much and in the end get nothing.

We want to be leaders yet have not spent a single day learning to be followers. We want to climb to the top without taking the ladders. No wonder our heroes are those who've made it in dubious ways, whose paths to success can't be explained. It is no wonder we continue to fall prey to all sorts of pyramid scams like AIM Global. We want to earn millions without doing anything. We want to get something for nothing. We want the cash without giving out any value. No wonder many lost their money to TelexFree. No wonder every arcade has a betting company.

If you are in your early twenties, this is the moment to put in the time. This is the moment to make that investment, a moment to leverage that patience. The long path is always the sure path. We are a generation that wants to take the easy way out, the short cuts, but they are always messy in the end. Put in the time, learn all you can. Develop yourself, your capabilities. Do that background work, work on building that foundation that lasts. The fact is, it's always come down to two virtues; Patience and Hard work aka Hustle. Train while everyone is sleeping, outlearn your competition, don't be short sighted, think longterm. Time will always vindicate those that trust in its virtues.

Written by Ortega Ian Facebook Page

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