Because of my age I fit neatly into the Baby Boomer time frame and am none too proud of it. What in the world ever happened to that promising cast of characters who had the privilege of witnessing first hand the Great Society, were part of the Woodstock generation, helped to end the war in Vietnam, participated in the first Earth Day and the introduction of the Environmental Protection Agency?
As I have commented on many occasions, when did the We generation turn into the Me generation? Of course while White America had the great good fortune to be a part of many ground breaking social innovations and advancements, Black America was trapped in the urban miasma that produced riots, violence, and the cycle of dependency that affirmative action and quota systems only tangentially sought to mitigate. But there was a Kerner Commission that at least introduced the notion of pervasive systemic racism to a large segment of the population and its policy makers.
In my lifetime there were promising strides towards alleviating institutional discrimination and helping Black Americans to a taste of the middle class. De facto discrimination in the North and de jure discrimination in the south, particularly in housing and education, were identified and attempts to alleviate both met with some degree of success. We Baby Boomers were integrally involved in a process that held great promise for a more egalitarian and just society. And as quickly as it sprung upon us it seemed to just disappear as the Reagan Revolution took aim at the very governmental institutions that we thought could solve problems.
Just as we were advancing the notion that government, and more specifically the Federal government, was the the solution to our problems along came a distinct brand of conservatism that promised to “get government off the backs of the people,” premised upon the idea that government indeed was the problem not the solution. Free economic markets and deregulation carried the day and decades of social and economic progress slipped into the black hole of naked individualism and entrepreneurial spirit unencumbered by the helping hand of a benevolent and compassionate public sector. Corporate welfare was an incubator for job creation while social welfare was seen as wasteful spending. Liberals became an endangered species, diversity and tolerance became vices, empathy was no longer viewed as a virtue, and the middle class melted faster than glaciers in a world held hostage to climate change.
In the meantime we have spawned a generation of youth that has roundly rejected the society that greed has rendered, has no confidence in either the leadership or the governmental institutions we have created, finds little regard for participating in what is viewed as a rigged process of decision-making, and openly defies the norms and expectations carefully laid out for them by us, their Baby Boomer parents. Further, their outlook for the future is bleak and dark.
One of the more disturbing consequences of the recent Presidential election is recent polling data showing that millennials and Baby Boomers view the results in diametrically opposite frames of reference. In a newly released poll conducted by NBC/Wall Street Journal while 44 percent view Trump’s performance favorably, a record low for newly inaugurated Presidents at this point in their term, there are stark differences among generations.
For my self-described liberal Baby Boomer friends it might come as a shock that 52 percent of Baby Boomers approve of Trump’s job performance while only 34 percent of millennials approve. On the recently announced travel ban policy 59 percent of millennials believe it is unnecessary while 54 percent of Baby Boomers approve of the ban. On the Affordable Care Act 48 percent of millennials think it is a good idea while only 37 percent of Baby Boomers think so.
This may shock many in my generation but I am not surprised. We have so turned off the younger generation that unfortunately many of them did not even bother to vote in the election. Had they done so the results may have been different. However, what is even more disturbing is that many millennials were so disgusted with the perceived rigging of the Democratic system against their preferred candidate, Bernie Sanders, that they either turned their vote against the Democratic candidate, Clinton, or kept their votes in their pockets by merely not participating.
I have been involved in elections for over four decades and am old enough to appreciate the difficulty with getting young people to vote, but the millennials are old enough to appreciate the value of their participation and/or the consequences of their non-participation. It is absolutely essential that we Baby Boomers still concerned with the future of the country train our efforts on making participation by those who will be most affected in the future by current decisions a critically important and positive decision going forward.
We have disappointed our children on any number of important issues and one of the most lasting acts of love we can show them is to impress upon them how important the franchise of voting is to their and their neighbors’ well-being. It is the very least, and I mean the very least, thing we can do for those we purport to love. That our children feel trapped in a self reinforcing feedback loop that only accelerates hopelessness and desperation is a wilting testament to our failure to leave this world in a better place than we found it. As time runs out on the Baby Boomers the need to act quickly and decisively is crucial, that is if it is not already too late.