February 26, 2007
I thought by the time we were in our 50s we’d be in charge. Someone has to be in charge. Doesn’t being in charge mean having our way? People doing as we say!
When we were 20 we knew a few things that needed to be done. A war needed ending. The drinking age needed lowering, so soldiers old enough to be shot at could at least buy a drink. Marijuana needed to be legalized. Racial, religious, gender, and you name it discrimination also needed ending. Weren’t we going to clean up politics?
Then we got married, bought houses, and had kids. And now 30 or so years have gone by, and we’re taking care of our parents. That puts us in charge, doesn’t it? So how are we doing? Now that we’re in charge, are things going as we choose?
There’s a new war that won’t end. And kids dying in it still aren’t old enough to buy a drink. The war on marijuana has put over 2 million people in prison, and now drug companies are selling drugs made from marijuana. There may have been some progress on the “all men are created equal” front. After all, today most women don’t have to start doing dishes until after they get home from work, and it seems we’ve advanced from discussing the “Negro” problem to debating shades of “Black”; do Tiger and Obama qualify as “Black”? Whether that counts as progress or not, seeing W as an improvement over Tricky Dicky seems truly debatable. I don’t even want to mention Congress.
The religion thing seems out of control. We have politicians praying over questions of science, and national outrage over seeing a nipple. At the same time social pressures squeeze more and more little girls into the monolithic Barbie mold.
This isn’t just a random rant. I’m asking what we are doing? What are we 50 plussers, who have been busy the last 30 years raising kids and paying mortgages doing? Now that we are empty nesters, and some of us are “retiring”, what are we doing? Are we content little baby boomers ready to slip into rented villas in Tuscany and clip coupons? Maybe it’s just the expectable, repeatable way of things. I’m asking whether the transition from raising kids should be a return to the self-centeredness of childhood, or to a new stage of usefulness beyond our own selfish interests.
What do you think?
Comments
Theresa (anonymous) says...
I'm still paying a mortgage and now, along with the kids, I'm taking care of my in-laws. I can't imagine retirement and that villa in Tuscany might be in somebody else's future but it isn't in mine. I would love to join a political campaign and work for someone I believe in (like Obama) but I don't have time. maybe when I'm my 70s?
February 26, 2007 at 11:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
patmcq (anonymous) says...
Wouldn't it be interesting if each person who marched in a protest in the '60s picked one cause to champion to "march for" as an ongoing retirement project! A social cause, health issue, environmental cause, political initiative, or whatever. We might get it right yet.
February 26, 2007 at 9:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Margo (anonymous) says...
THE cause, my friends, is the environment. It's everything and it's the only thing, really. And we've got to do something now beyond paying our 8 bucks to see Al Gore's movie.
February 27, 2007 at 5:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mm56 (anonymous) says...
Some good food for thought here. I am reminded of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire." As I see it, the world isn't really that much worse than in my parents' generation - war, political strife, skaky economy, promiscuity (relative to the time), etc., characterized their generation, too. Just think of what we ARE doing - liberating women around the globe, fighting and, in many cases, winning the battle against cancer. Charitable donations are at an all-time high. As for Barbie girls, I can only speak for the college-aged girls I know - I have two myself - but they seem a lot more "with it" than I was at that age. Sure they have more accessories than I had, but they are putting education/career before marriage, and they have served their community way more at this age than I had at 20. I guess at the end of the day, all we can do is ask "What have I done today to make a difference?" I predict this posting will generate some good dialogue!
March 7, 2007 at 10:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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