Don't Wait, Act

So John Mayer's new* song, Waiting on the World to Change is played on the radio all the time, particularly on the station I usually listen to. Anyway, I'm really bugged by this song and this is why. It's a complete cop-out. In the song, Mayer, claims that he and "all of my friends" are "waiting on the world to change".

According to Mayer's official website the song is his attempt to explain his generation's attitudes about politics. "It's meant to shed a little light on inactivity and inaction," he says, "because I don't believe that inaction is disinterest, I think inaction is preservation – nobody wants to get involved in a debate in which the rules and the facts will change so that they'll lose. So we end up with this other option, which is, I guess we'll just have to wait for things to get better."

I think that's a cop-out. If you aren't in the game, you a merely a spectator. If think things will get better if you do nothing - you're wrong. Instead, If you ithink the rules are fixed against you, fight to change them, but don't be a crybaby and wine about how everything is against you. And don't quit the game.

I guess I am particularly irritated about this song because he is claiming to speak for his generation, which is also my generation.** And frankly, I am not waiting on the world to change. I'm changing it every day and so are many others of my generation. Young professionals are the backbone of the nation's workforce - in areas that are pivotal to our economic and social success. They are changing the world, not waiting for it to change. Behind every politician there is a huge staff of 20 and 30 somethings staffing him. The tech sector relies on the skills of the younger generation. The business world thrives off of new and innovative ideas that come from young workers. In schools throughout the country, young teachers are molding our children. Young stay-at-home moms have incredible influence on the kind of people their children will grow up to be.

If Mayer thinks that by just hanging out and "waiting" that something is going to happen - he's wrong. Nothing will change. Thankfully not every 20 and 30 something is as passive, lackadaisical, and apathetic as Mayer.

* It's hard to call it "new" since, as I mentioned, it's played ALL THE TIME, to the point that it's so old.

** I checked, seems that Mayer is four months older than me.