Do we deserve -- or even want -- more jobs?

An article discussing the state of employment in the country by Jason Calacanis was forwarded to me by a friend last week. I finally took the time to sit down and read the slightly jarring piece discussing the state of youth in the work force, again that Where Have the Good Men Gone? group, and the attitude towards work. I fit squarely into the age demographic Calacanis discusses and its nearly impossible to not nod to an alarmingly number of the points.

The old theory around inheritance is that the first generation will work their ass off and make the money, the next generation works because of guilt from witnessing their parents and then the third generation ultimately ruins the nest egg. Calacanis highlights this but instead of taking it to privileged estates, turns it on society as a whole and addresses the implications of this shift.

Cam Newton (22 years old; squarely in this generation) threw for 400 yards yesterday and seemingly shut a lot of his critics up, but his quote that he views himself as "an icon and an entertainer" remains frightening to people around the NFL. It's a single quote that summarizes a lot of attitudes towards work. "I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon;" a qualification as if winning both the Heisman Trophy and National Championship was limiting to an extent. That being the top in his profession wasn't fulfilling enough.

In a Grantland article a few weeks back, Hua Hsu wrote, "To be a king nowadays, as Wayne, Jay-Z, and Kanye West have shown, is to comprehend the limitless uses of your image — to circulate beyond the music." Lil Wayne was bored with being the best mixtape freestyler and expanded into autotune and guitars. Jay-Z was bored with his position atop of the rap game and became not a businessman but a business, man. Kanye West was bored in the DJ booth and became a rapper.

These are people challenging themselves to do more than what originally made them great and a relentless pursuit of success is admirable. People at the top of their profession appearing to lose interest in being the best at one thing and instead challenging themselves to expand across a spectrum. Vertical integration vs. horizontal. Obviously different than what Calacanis highlights, but with an undoubted trickle down effect reflecting our generation that reveres Newton, Wayne, Jay and Kayne.

What defines you is something people in a quarter life (don't think that's an actual a term, but appears a more and more common occurence) crisis seem to struggle with disproportionately. Not being pigeon holed by your profession is commendable, but the implications in aggregate may threaten the economy in a deeper and more culturally driven manner than inflation or a jobs bill ever will.