Tom Murphy, January 26, 2009
If the American dream has been about a three-bedroom, two-bath house with a
two-car garage, that's about to change. The 78 million boomers who bought into
suburbia as the perfect place to raise the kids are getting ready to move
downtown now that John and Jane have families of their own. A new survey says boomers
want homes that have technological advantages and low-maintenance
features. They also want transportation, which they'll need to get around as
they cut back on trips in the old family minivan. You can expect to see some new
trends, like cohousing, pop up as the generation that changes everything it
touches redefines the way we age in America. All this could have a depressing
effect on the value of those homes in suburbia if demand falls, and that could
hurt the net worth of the boomers heading into their retirement years. A
butterfly flaps its wings in the suburbs and the poverty index rises?
In the final month of Obama's first year, it's time to start taking score of how it
measured up with the goals of the generation that wanted to change the world.
America's global reputation was at an all-time low when he took office. Now it's
headed up and he won the Nobel Peace Prize. The economy was on life
support at the end of the Bush era; now it appears to be recovering nicely. The
focus was on Iraq a year ago, but not it's on Afghanistan, with an end-date in
sight. Health costs were soaring; they still are, but Congress has undertaken a sweeping
health reform program. There's a lot more like this, but you get the
point. If you think things are bad now, you have a short memory of how they got
that way.
The craziest holiday visit I ever made came in 1974, when I drove cross
country with a couple of college buddies in 47 hours. DO NOT TRY THAT! I had a
nice visit with my brother and his wife, but I nearly died, several times.
Instead, try to ease the stress and maximize the good feelings as you get
together with parents and children this year. Visits represent a good chance to
see how everyone is doing, particularly as the economy squeezes budgets for
food, housing and clothes. Think about that when planning gifts. And what
about your folks? Are they eating right? Are there any subtle
symptoms showing up regarding their sight, balance or acuity? Are
they having any problems driving? Is the budget in good shape - you'd be
the last one they'd tell. The holidays are meant to bring us together so that we
can focus on the truly important parts of life. So don't try to race through
them.
Since the 1960s, the boomer generation has made progress on a number of
fronts, including women's rights, civil rights and the environment. But no
subject has been as stubborn or frustrating as gun control. The tragedy
in Fort Hood - the largest US military installation - wasn't perpetrated
by drug-fueled criminals or foreigners. It was conducted by a mentally disturbed
Army doctor who was able to easily purchase the semiautomatic pistol from which
he fired more than 100 rounds. He also had a back-up pistol, but didn't need it.
How many times must this tragic situation play out before handguns like that are
banned from the market. The Constitution gives American's the right to bear arms
in a militia, not to gun down each other with weapons designed only for that
purpose. This was not a hunting weapon. It was not sport. It was murder, plain
and simple, and by allowing the easy access to handguns, we allowed it to
happen.
They're familiar and horrifying headlines, perhaps about to get more
familiar: "Man loses job, kills co-workers." "Man loses job and
girlfriend, kills girlfriend." "Man loses job and wife, kills
family." Often the men end up killing themselves as well. Or they're killed
by police fire in a "Suicide by Cop." What's also horrifying is that calls
to suicide crisis lines are rising, and economic distress is a big
factor. So the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is
throwing an additional $1 million at crisis centers. That's good. But if more
value had been placed on preventive mental health services - services stripped
or scaled to a few crisis intervention chats in most plans - perhaps we'd have a
population more able to weather such emotional trauma. So, the obfuscation and
grandstanding being used to derail health care reform is to me - horrifying. Some
now doubt anything will get passed this year. How many suicides, and
their collateral damage, will it take before we truly believe an overhaul of our
health system is a life-and-death matter.
There was a time when women thought getting married was the safest way to
secure their future. It turned out to be hit or miss. With two earners needed
just to keep a family's head above water, it's now mostly miss. Women have to
get jobs, and yes, two incomes helps. But with men having earlier expiration
dates than women and many more women opting for singledom, their future is still
not secure. In the suburbs, they worry about being able to afford and manage
alone in their homes. In the cities, they hang on to apartments. Rent-controlled
if they're lucky. As some 78
million baby boomers are heading into retirement, the women of this
generation have a unique opportunity to redefine the way elderly people live.
There are many options that don't require the construction of whole new
facilities for cooperative housing. I have a friend in her 50s who needs a
roommate. She's looking for someone older who might need a bit of help, that she
could provide. Women or men who live alone in homes once filled by their
families could take in roommates. Many costs could be shared, including elderly
assistance. Household tasks could be doled out according to ability. But more
importantly, there's the opportunity to create an entirely new kind of family,
giving seniors the sense of dignity, inclusiveness and respect that seems so
lacking in this society of "family values."
Few US presidents have tried to push through the number of major reforms as
Barack Obama. Some will work. Many will need tinkering and time to evolve. But
almost as important as the changes to regulations is the message this president
is sending through his ongoing public dialogue with the American public.
He’s asking us to be better stewards of our country – and ourselves.
He just tripled the size of the AmeriCorps national service program and
asked Americans and their children to find
a way to help their communities – on a weekly basis! And, though
research show prevention
efforts can't save the health care system money, he’s putting the
spotlight on health and eating habits we can do something about right now. Some
will have immediate payoffs for some people. Over time, if enough people adopt
the message, it could have a dramatic impact on health costs and the country’s
general well-being. Conservatives have complained for years about declining
moral values, but done little more than make people feel bad. Finally, we have a
leader who is appealing to the best in us, showing us what family and community
mean – and helping us take responsibility.
In the days after 9/11, there was a lot of talk about how to fight a new type
of enemy. We wondered how to strike back at terror, how to respond to attacks
that came from somewhere in the Arab world. Perhaps out of frustration, we made
terrible mistakes, and now's the time to admit what the Arab world already
knows: that in our eagerness to strike back at a small number of enemies, we
killed many of our friends. Most people - Americans, Arabs or Israelis - don't
want war. By reaching out to the Arab world, President
Obama has taken the first sure-footed steps towards recognizing that. It
can't make up for the damage done by years of misguided American military
intrusions, not can it preclude further military strikes in contested areas like
Afghanistan or Pakistan. But Obama did the best he could: to say we're seeking
peace, to acknowledge our mistakes and to invite open discussions on how to move
forward. Hopefully, we can all join together to strike at common enemies - the
terrorists who we sought to punish in the first place.
If you can't take a vacation, go out to dinner or a show, upgrade your cell
phone or computer, buy those cute new shoes everyone is wearing, what's left to
make you happy? A lot of people are finding out these day as their incomes and
savings shrink. For some it's less
stress in a lower paying but less demanding job. For others, it's comfort
foods and cooking at home. Many who grew up in the boom days after World
War II are discovering that NOT spending money can be exhilirating in its own
way - a goal achieved with each dollar saved. Many Americans were fortunate to
grow up in the comfortable middle class. Money was not necessarily abundant but
enough that it wasn't the backdrop to every consideration. The '60s and '70s
brought a brief respite from a growing trend to keep up with the Joneses. But
the '90s rolled over that like a herd of buffalo. Soon enough, we were hooked on
big box home goods' and electronics' stores. "It's such a deal, I can't
afford NOT to buy it." Roaming the aisles of a department store, I wonder
how many sets of dishes does one household need? So, now we're in a situation in
which 70 percent of our economy depends on us to keep spending. I think we will,
but with more discretion and a sense of its impact: something our grandparents'
generation perfected. Even after my grandparents began earning a more than
healthy income, my grandmother never failed to turn the leftover mashed potatoes
into potato pancakes - that I declined. Maybe today, we'll do without a new set
of dishes so we can continue donating to our favorite charity.
Like almost everyone else in my generation, I'm worried about the economy in the short term
and about global warming in the long term. I try to learn from the lessons of
history and one thing that occurs to me when I think about unemployment and the
environment together is how the great dust bowl of the 1930s added to the pain
of suffering of the Depression. This got me thinking about what would happen if
in the middle of our current economic pain, the nation suddenly faced a great
natural disaster, like drought or a massive earthquake. Now we hear the swine
flu has killed dozens in Mexico City, and isolated cases are being
reported in places like San Diego and Portland, Ore. What would happen if
we had a flu pandemic on the scale of the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918? The
answer is to horrid to imagine. Fortunately, this is one case where we truly can
think globally and act locally. The very best way to stop transmission of the
flu is to wash your hands with soap and water. Beyond that, stay rested, eat
right and exercise to keep your body strong. If only it was that simple to halt
global warming or fix the economy.
I first noticed it when I was editor in chief at a major business web site:
the younger workers liked to communicate by instant messages, even when they sat
next to each other. I could live with that - chaque a son gout, n'est-ce pas?
Then I noticed that when I asked them to call a source, they'd send an
email instead. And when I asked for the result of that contact, they'd say,
"I haven't heard back from them yet." That was harder to deal
with, because it was affecting the reporting of news to the public - and that
is job no. 1. It's not that I'm some sort of luddite; I love technology,
most of which has been created by my generation. But since that time, which was
a few years ago now, I've heard similar reports from other editors in other
newsrooms. They say their younger workers don't like to go out on stories; they
send emails instead. And they don't like to use the phone to dig up stories;
they prefer to troll for ideas on the Internet. Now I read that law
firms are seeing the same thing, and it's causing friction in those
high-stress work places as young associates tap on laptops during meetings, or
fiddle with Blackberries while the boss is talking. This is bothersome because
it affects the quality of work and because, well, it's rather rude. But it is
also a reflection of something that is inevitable: different generations have
different ways of dealing with things, and they will have to live with the
consequences.
Given the current condition of the world we live in - raging wars, rampant
disease, ubiquitous poverty, blatant corruption, sinking economy - I think it's
fair to say we could use all the wisdom we can find. Clearly, there's a
shortage. I'd like to tell you what my great grandfather had to say about
that... but I can't. He died a long time before I was born, and nobody took the
time to record his thoughts. Nor can I tell you what any of my grandparents
would have said. I have no idea. So when I heard about a
group recording the thoughts and memories of our elders, my first
thought was: Gee, I wish I could understand the circumstances under which my
great-grandfather risked a voyage to America to escape the blight in Ireland.
And I wish I knew why my grandmother turned into a political activist after the
Russians stormed into Poland. These insights might give me a clue about how
their choices worked out for them, and how similar actions might help change the
world today. Imagine if we all had access to the collective wisdom of our
ancestors. Perhaps the problems we face today wouldn't seem so frightening.
Boomers schooled on tales of the Great Depression have a sense of deja vu as
they watch the economy unwind today. We all know people who've lost their jobs
or their homes; more than 14 percent of the US is underemployed or just plain
jobless. Families
and friends are doubling-up in homes. Once-mighty banks and industrial
giants have been humbled in financial markets. Homes in troubled places
like Detroit are selling
by the dozen at a tenth of what they cost two years ago. How does a
Depression work? At the risk of over-simplifying, prices rise to a point where
things are unaffordable. Then demand plummets but most people are so poor by
that point, that they can't afford more than the very basics - if that. It's
cruel and it's hard. But it also raises the value of a few things - like friends
you can depend on, the importance of staying healthy and appreciating the simple
goodness of home-cooked meals. Our generation will get through this, together.
Just like our parents got through the Great Depression.
This used to be a nicer place. My generation used to assume that a promise was a
promise, and a contract offered by a big US company was something you could
count on. If something went wrong, you could count on the courts to set it
right. We used to think that when someone worked hard their whole life for a
company, that the company would follow through on a pledge of a good pension
with health benefits. But things have changed. Now companies
think they can yank health benefits away from retirees who accepted
lower wages for years along with a promise of lifetime health plans. Now some
judges think a company's right to change its mind trumps its contract with
workers if the fine print says their health plans are subject to change. Now
some people think we should cut back the Social Security system after boomers
poured withholding taxes into it for three or four decades. This is ugly, nasty
stuff in a country where one in four seniors is already categorized as poor by
the federal government. It is unthinkable what will happen as the number of
seniors double over the next 20 years. This is not right. This is not nice. And
this has got to change.
A study from England suggests the sexual
liberation of the '60s led to millions of cases of HPV that, in turn,
triggered cancers. But it's a little too easy to leap to the conclusion
that we would have been better off without the free love era. No doubt that STDs
started spreading more quickly after the pill and changes in Western mores led
more people to engage in casual sex. But what, exactly, was the alternative -
clinging to the hypocritical philosophies of the 1950s? Obviously, the majority
of the society rejected those ways, which not only repressed people sexually,
but led to other serious health consequences, like unwanted pregnancies and
unlicensed abortions. The sexual liberation movement was closely tied to women's
lib for a good reason: it gave women control over their bodies in a way the
patriarchal society could not, and in that control, was both power and pleasure.
HPV is dangerous, and thankfully there are now highly effective efforts to
control it. The "safe sex" movement has also helped cut down on AIDS,
HPV and other potentially fatal STDs. So would we be better off without the
sexually liberating themes of the '60s? Feel free to try.
I was recycling some old periodicals - The Economist, Forbes along
with the satire of The
Onion - when I was struck by a 2005 Onion headline: "Bush to
Appoint Someone To Be In Charge of Country." The front-page
"report" detailed Bush's plans to appoint "a bold, resolute ...
strong, compassionate leader" to in a Cabinet-level Secretary of the Nation
post. It names two likely candidates: Baby
Boomer Barrack Obama and John McCain. Three years later, the report came
closer to the truth that most Onion stories as Obama and McCain battled for
"Secretary of the Nation" power. Does Obama's election mean the end
of the boomer era, as a recent AP story said? In truth, Obama personifies
everything boomers have fought for over the past four decades: gender and racial
equality, environmentalism, social justice, an end to the divisions of war and
giving back. The new administration is introducing plans for university-level
students to invest 100 hours of volunteer time in exchange for $4,000 in direct
tax credit. For a financial incentive, a new generation will be introduced to
the volunteerism
and encore service careers boomers have been doing for years. That
doesn't sound like the end of the boomer era to me.
A report
from NationalService.gov has found an possible connection between
volunteering and health: "Those who volunteer have lower mortality rates,
greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than
those who do not volunteer," found the study. Indeed, "comparisons of
the health benefits of volunteering for different age groups have also shown
that older volunteers are the most likely to receive greater benefits from
volunteering...." And, as we all know, a healthier person is a far less
expensive person when it comes to health coverage. To that end, Congress drafted
the GIVE
Act (Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education), which would
mandate coordinated volunteer programs run by each state. The bill still has a
long way to go before becoming law, but it's a step in a healthy direction. As
for the Martin Luther King Day of Service, I'm still mulling over potential
projects and there are lots of choices. Witness this list of organized
volunteer events in the Portland area, where I live through USAService.org's
online events wizard.
Tom Murphy, December 26, 2009
Tom Murphy, November 20, 2009
Tom Murphy, November 11, 2009
Robin Evans, August 15, 2009
Robin Evans, August 6, 2009
Robin Evans, June 26, 2009
Tom Murphy, June 5, 2009
Robin Evans, May 18, 2009
Tom Murphy, April 26, 2009
Tom Murphy, April 22, 2009
Tom Murphy, March 29, 2009
Tom Murphy, March 9, 2009
Tom Murphy, February 21, 2009
Tom Murphy, February 5, 2009
Jennifer Meacham, January 27, 2009
Jennifer Meacham, January 17, 2009
