oh, yes, I have a Prius, but I walk to work

I found a really good website today, stuffwhitepeoplelike.com, basically a very wry social commentary on modern yuppies, of which I confess I am one. I'm a college graduate working in a corporation, and I live in in the middle in a major city. Call a spade a spade.

The blog cheerfully discusses its namesake, with entries like "Dinner Parties," "Toyota Prius," "Study Abroad," "Apple Products," and "Minority Friends." It's funny and especially biting to me because I find myself saying things like "when I was in Singapore..." or "why no, I don't watch TV." I love websites like these because they are amazing mirrors.

Basically the underlying drive according to the website, is that we are seeking self-assuredness, to feel good about ourselves, to justify the state of affairs to ourselves. Perhaps the boomers and early Xers saw the world as it is and rationalized it by saying, I need to worry about me first. I can't do anything about the Balkans or Poverty because I have a job to do and a family to feed.

The new generations, just as bad or worse, see the world as it is, and say, look, I'm Helping. We drive Priuses, we occasionally talk to the Poor. We buy our Starbucks 'fair trade' chai teas in 40% post-consumer recycled content cups. We'll circulate emails about Darfur to friends, and continue to do nothing.

The desire for "authentic" food, items, and experiences is perhaps based on a fear of living an "inauthentic" life, if such a thing exists or is a complete fabrication. Maybe that's the thing- we're part of a generation that is Experience based. "Don't trust anyone who's never backpacked in Europe"may be the new mantra.