海角大神

Our latest Monitor Breakfast with a newsmaker focused on Taiwan and the heightened security tensions with China. The island鈥檚 representative to the United States talked of defensive preparations and a Ukraine effect on attitudes.

In Moscow, it can be easy to ignore the devastating but faraway war in Ukraine. But that changes quickly when drones and聽anti-aircraft missiles start exploding in the skies overhead one morning.

Can 鈥� should 鈥� creativity be manufactured? What provides the spark of inspiration? Those questions might seem philosophical for a picket line, but screenwriters say they are existential in a time of artificial intelligence.

Locals on the U.S.-Mexico border have long known Friendship Park as a space of unity. But times have changed, and the park, which links San Diego County and Tijuana, is under construction 鈥� and protest.聽

Food unites. It鈥檚 universal. But in Jordan, springtime production of the key ingredient that gives a UNESCO-recognized, ancient national dish its distinctive flavor requires an extra, all-hands-on-deck level of cooperation.

Scores of studies have cited concerns over COVID-19鈥檚 impact on young people鈥檚 mental health and academic development. Yet in their own voice, those graduating from American colleges and universities across this spring tell a different story. It is one of resilience, tempered optimism, and enterprising creativity.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a Gen Z mentality of: OK, throw it our way and we鈥檒l make it work,鈥� Ben Telerski, who received a degree from Georgetown University last week, told CNBC.

This year鈥檚 graduating class is a unique marker of an emerging generation. Some members are among the first to be born after 9/11. They arrived on campus before 鈥渟ocial distancing鈥� and 鈥淶oom dating,鈥� yet within six months became pioneers of remote learning. Their values have been molded by constant change and crisis. Almost nothing about them is predictable. Perhaps because of this, their concerns and aspirations are already changing workplace norms.

The unemployment rate for young workers is the lowest in 70 years, according to the Economic Policy Institute, yet nearly 40% of Generation Z workers already in or entering the workforce cultivate a side hustle. That partly reflects the cost of living: Most young people worry they won鈥檛 make enough in one job to make ends meet. But that鈥檚 not the only reason. Many prioritize values-based factors over salary 鈥� like diversity in the workplace, mental health benefits, and flexibility to develop creative projects they see as important to their quality of life and future well-being.

鈥淲ork is a source of identity for many,鈥� Meredith Meyer Grelli, a business professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told the BBC. Gen Z workers resist that. 鈥淧assion projects,鈥� she said, 鈥渟erve as a way for young people to find value.鈥�

That desire for creativity and spontaneity, according to a recent Wunderman Thompson Intelligence survey of young workers in the United States, Britain, and China, is driving many to give up a technology that was perhaps the single most defining influence of their early lives. It found that 67% of Gen Z members believe technology 鈥� the tool that has made their generation the most globally connected in human history 鈥� makes them feel more detached.

鈥淲hen I think of joy, wonder, magic, I think the physical world still has an advantage over the digital world,鈥� Momo Estrella, head of design at Ikea China Digital Hub, told the study鈥檚 authors. 鈥淭he digital work suffers a lot from distractions.鈥�

Gen Z is recharting other social pathways, too. A survey by the Walton Family Foundation last October, for example, found that while Gen Z students showed declining interest in careers in government, more than 70% participate in volunteer and other local civic activity. 鈥淭hey feel the people and communities who are closest to the problems can drive more equitable civic engagement and impact,鈥� the study found.

An emerging generation is starting to reveal itself. Through an emphasis on inclusivity, collaboration, and independence, it is turning disruption into durable purpose.