posted on September 15, 2009 14:34
An apology (of sorts) to the children of all baby boomers:
The great baby boom generation—the radicals of the 60’s and 70’s—who were going to change the world and bring peace to mankind have not quite done so. In fact, the baby boom generation (of which I’m part) has changed the world, but not for the better. What have we done? We have compromised your future, we have left you a world that is more perilous, more in debt and far less safe than the one we inherited. Here’s a small sampling of what he have done:
---We have divorced in one out of every two marriages, leaving our children on unstable and uncertain ground.
---We have done little to create “peace” in the world—witness the current conflict in Iraq. In fact, this recent tarnishment of the image of the US around the world is something that might prove difficult to correct.
---We’ve spent enormous amounts of time and money on “self-help”, yet our selves have rarely been helped. Neither have you.
---We have run up tremendous debt, leveraging ourselves and our families. This overleveraging has recently collapsed, resulting in yet another problem:
---Our “retirement” vehicles have collapsed, so now instead of kicking back over the next 20 or so years, we’re going be competing in the marketplace with guess who—YOU!
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
So on behalf of the baby generation, I have this to say: Our bad.
So what are you going to do about it?
At one point, every generation turns over the reigns at some point. Boomers, who are now either approaching or now over 60 are in the process of doing just that. When our time came, we were given a world that was relatively safe and was given to us by the “Greatest Generation”—those proud and courageous men and women who rolled up their sleeves and defended our country in its greatest time of peril. When the US was attacked at Pearl Harbor in 19XX, our men enlisted in the military and our women went to work in the factories, producing arms to help our troops, not only in the Far East, but in Europe, as well. When the terrorists attacked the US in 2001, our President told us to go shopping. And we did—then we hung those silly little flags on our cars and our doors as if to say that we were patriotic.
Phooey. Where was the leadership? There was none. And what has it left us? Peril, doubt, fear and debt. But that was then, and this is now. As you begin to look at the world that you have inherited, how are you going to lead it? As you go into the workplace, how are you going to lead? Both questions have the same set of answers. Here are a few:
1. Begin with a basic premise: everyone wants to feel like they are needed, wanted, and part of something larger than themselves.