Move Over Baby Boomers

Trust the next generation to do what we did…

I became an adult in the early 1970’s. My generation experienced the Civil Rights movement, Viet Nam War, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, Woodstock, and the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison before we could legally purchase beer. “May you live in interesting times” has been called a Chinese curse, although no one has been able to assign the phrase to anyone Chinese. Another phrase which is of Chinese origin, “Better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos,” rings true for my generation. We’ve experienced long periods of peace and prosperity with much shorter intervals of chaos. However, like ants building a wall around the entrance to their colony before a storm, it appears that is just what humans are doing now.

One of the ways my generation has attempted to protect their own colonies is by staying in positions of power well after their “Sell Before” dates expired. Diane Feinstein, Mitch McConnell, Joe Biden, Charles Grassley, all in their 80’s, just can’t give up their power to the next generation of leaders. Why not? I understand that power is addictive, even though I avoided positions of power my entire career. The trappings of power limited my ability to be truly free and follow my passions. Even when you obtain some level of power, you discover that there is always someone with more power, ready to order you around.

I remember chatting with the man who owned the car dealership where I worked. His name was Leon Powell and I had tremendous respect for him. He and his brother were orphans in Oklahoma as young children, living in a shipping crate on a river bank next to a sawmill. They went to school during the day, then repaired and lubricated the saws and machinery of the sawmill at night. One night the river rose during heavy rain, and floated their home several miles until it crashed into a bridge abutment and broke apart. They took this as a sign and hopped into an empty railcar going west. Both of them became multi-millionaires in Scottsdale, AZ using the same mechanical skills they acquired at the sawmill. Leon had some questions for me.

“You work at a car dealership, and yet, you don’t seem to like cars,” Leon said.

“No,” I replied.

“Do you like the other salespeople?” He asked.

“Not really, I don’t hang out with them,” I said.

“What about the customers?”

“I don’t hang out with them, either,” I said.

“The other managers?”

“No, sorry.”

“Well, son, what the hell do you like?”

“Commission vouchers, sir,” I replied.

Leon took a minute to process our chit-chat, smiled, and told me to go sell a car, which I did.

I looked at work as a trade. I would trade precious days, weeks, and years of my life for money that would fund true freedom down the road. I was lucky because selling provided the same rewards, sometimes more, than the management positions I begrudgingly accepted along the road. Limited power, which is by far the biggest component of power, held too many restrictions, useless meetings, and visits to the real boss. I had built the wall around my colony to protect my freedom, not preserve what little scraps of power came with it. So, why do political octogenarians fight so hard to keep it?

I believe power is a narcotic—once addicted, it’s terribly hard to cede it, even when you risk exposing the natural frailties of your advanced age on a daily basis. Freezing at the microphone, stumbling on stairs, and losing your train of thought is simply what getting older holds for us all. It sucks, but it’s pretty dang common. Why are these folks so scared to pass the torch?

The generation that preceded we Baby Boomers must have had the same hissy fit before they turned over the reins to a group of long-haired, pot smoking hippies. Yeah, the same hippies who gave us the internet, DNA fingerprinting, free shipping, the artificial heart, the defibrillator, Viagra, and the Segway, they made their mark. It’s time for the Boomers to take up lawn bowling, travel, maybe even write that book you always wanted to.