As I walked out on the front porch this morning, my coffee in hand, I was greeted by sunshine. Even though the temperature was still 27°, it was great to see the sun again as it melted away the snow. I know the saying: March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, and I hope that it is so this year. I’m looking forward to the spring time and the growth of new trees, leaves, flowers and plants. The passing of the seasons got me thinking about the passing of the baton.
My generation of Americans is known as the baby boomer generation. The generation that brought us to life is being called the America’s greatest generation. The men and women who started the 20th century without television, without radio and without freeways, also who also fought in World War II. That generation of Americans is steeped in tradition and hardened by the rough times of economy, drought and war. Those Americans born in the early 1900s watch their world go from horse drawn carriages to the World Wide Web. I believe the ethics they grew up on, made their generation great. There had strong values for family, country and religion. Many of those Americans migrated from the farm and rural areas to cities in search of a way to survive. The ethics of hard work and the keeping of their word was very strong. Respect was always a goal and making the world a better place for their children, drove those men and women. The ideal of family meant a father that worked and a mother who stayed home and raise the children. Even though many of those Americans and their relatives before them had little to no formal education, they instilled in my generation the necessity of going to school and getting educated. Their generation participated in World War II, the last war the United States of American can say that won. While the men marched off to war the women work in the factories and gave up many the luxuries of life so that those resources could be used in the war effort. This is not to say that generation did not have its faults. But I believe that generations build the foundation for the next several generations to come.
My generation, the baby boomers, grow up carrying some of those same ethics. But because of all the hard work of the previous generation, we became spoilt and for some reason did not want grow up to be like our mom and dads. The ideal of being different became very attractive. I think it started with a change in the music. Although jazz existed in the previous generation’s arts, rock ‘n roll music seemed like some kind of a revolutionary act that was embraced by my generation. Those ethics and standards that were a part of the American life in the previous generations started to dissolve and almost evaporate. Because the generation before ours, America’s greatest generation who fought hard and worked hard: my generation started off with a lot of opportunities that our parents could not afford. The ideal of moving away from your home and community became more popular than staying in your community with your family. The first thing that I did was to move out of my community as soon as possible. Because of the growth of television, I was presented with a lot of other places to go to and to live in. The idea was staying in one town for all my life seemed too simple. I wanted more and I wanted it quickly.
Most the men who served during World War II volunteered and signed up for the different services. This idea, for me, comes from the old Minuteman era. When there was trouble for the community, town state or the newly formed country the men were quick to volunteer to save their community, town and newly formed country. When the call came out, the men of the community would answer that call with the full support of their families and wives and children.
That didn’t disappear with my generation, it just wasn’t as accepted. Although I join the Army in my belief that I was supporting my country, many others did not. Some even went to Canada or other countries to avoid serving their country. There was the draft.The draft was not new to the Vietnam War but it had not been used for a while. For many of my generation the men had to be drafted into the service of their country. This is not to say that the Vietnam War was like World War II. But it is to say that if you live in this country and your country calls for your help you should do your best to answer the call. My generation had its hippies, its yuppies, and its narcotic use. The fact that some states now legalize the so-called personal use of marijuana has its roots in my generations desire to get high. Sexual activity that once was limited to the house and was kept private, then it came to be open and almost an orgy like lifestyle. The acceptance of alternate lifestyles became more accepted but still somehow hidden in the closet. The brakes on some of that sexual activity came when the AIDS virus hit. Magazines like Playboy became fashionable to own and could be found in almost any household. Even though many my generation follow their family’s footsteps, a large amount of them decided to be different. Well my generation is now retiring and dying away. The next two generations started their lives in a world that keeps them constantly connected and constantly aware of the problems on any part of this earth.
You are probably wondering why I’m rambling on about this generation stuff. Well I saw an interview on CBS, where the editor of Vice was interviewed. Vice is a company who started off in Canada as some sort of a musical review and now has grown to have worldwide offices and news broadcast just like CBS. Even though vice to me was something that I used arrest somebody for, this news media called Vice is something that I’m interested in. Vice is not interested in directing its publication and broadcast to my generation or America’s greatest generation. I think it’s not even talking to the Y generation. It is directed to the generation of people 25 years and younger. They are the ones that are going to inherit all the good and bad things that the prior generations are given them. It seems to be directed to delivering the news and telling the stories in a way that actually communicates with its young listeners. Many of the terms and the ways to deliver information have changed so much in the last 10 years that a new way to communicate needed to be found. I know the people of my generation are retiring and dying at a fast rate. For example, commercial airlines cannot find enough pilots to fly their planes. Many other disciplines are finding that the rate of retirees and positions are not being filled due to the lack of people to fill them. I am glad to say that my generation, on average, is living longer than any generation before it. I’m sad to say that many in my generation have to keep working to cover the expense of still living. Even the way we buy things has changed from going to a store to getting on the Internet. You do not need a computer to do that. Your iPad or your iPhone can get you on the Internet and you can buy your product or service plus pay for without even leaving your car or your house.
This new generation of Americans must be ready to assume the leadership roles that are becoming vacant mostly due to the age of the person now handling the job. The way that they communicate and the speed they communicate well help them take over this task. So a company like Vice is one of the efforts to get the very young people involved and informed so they can take over the leadership roles in the very near future. In looking around at some of the leaders of companies today I found that many are less than 30 years old. And many of the aspiring politicians are also around 30 years old. The world that they’re growing up in communicates completely different than in my generation. The joke recently of pops actually having a computer or any senior citizen have a computer is not that far from the truth. My granddaughter is not even in first grade yet she can operate a computer and find sites plus send messages (of course my son controls the use of her computer and the messaging).
Many people are wondering if this new generation is going to even be able to afford to buy a home or to go to college. Even the cost of bringing a child into the world has increased faster than just inflation. Such basic questions as: do you have to own a home to be happy, do you even need to go to college and get a degree to get a good job are to be addressed. America will still need blue-collar workers and laborers as well as white-collar workers and professionals. I imagine that the practice of going to see an actual medical doctor in the future will be replaced by nurse practitioners or Internet educated home practitioners.
Even now I do not understand some of the communication modes that are currently in use, I know that most of the world does. And when I say most of the world I mean most the world. If you look out at many of the foreign countries who are experiencing some kind a civil dispute, you will see that most of the people there are young and are carrying some kind of a phone. Instead of holding up candles at a gathering, they are holding up their phones and turning them on so that the light shines brightly towards the object of the gathering.
I want to see companies like Vice succeed and help in giving birth to other companies that would direct their energies towards this new generation. Many people my age do not take to change very well. The statement that: “it worked for me”, is useless in today’s world. The rapid changing of everything in our lives from DNA medical advances to the wristwatch that is more powerful than a whole floor of computers in the 1960s. I do not want to say that my generation is done for and should just pull over to the curb and let the parade passed by. But I do want to say that I’d like to see the person or the generation that I’m going to pass the baton onto will succeed. I want to know that they’re ready for it and they can handle it.
I recently received a video a man in Sacramento California called Frank, a member of America’s greatest generation. I admired the fact that he looked healthy and a lot younger than his years and that his generation gave my generation the platform to do a lot of great things, I felt the pride of America in his presence. I hope that this new generation can be as fortunate as Frank and I.
Here is the baton and I’m passing it on.
Pops
SeanSumner.blog 