The thoughts expressed here are made about the Baby Boomer generation--massive in number, swelling the population of the U.S. in the upper mid-range on the chart now, and as the years progress, that swelling will move farther and farther along the age marker, past sixty and seventy, and even eighty. At that point the eyes of the then-politicians, working people, voting public will be focused on that "belch" in the graphics of population numbers--and just what sort of thoughts do you think those people will have? Will we Boomers be revered in our golden years, or will we be seen as the proverbial albatross around society's productive neck?
You are shaking your head, wondering where I get such radical ideas, aren't you? C'mon, you said you'd follow my thinking--you have to keep an open mind in order to make the most of this journey in thinking.
It's imperative that we keep our eyes open and our wits about us to the small signposts that signal change is ahead. The change of which I speak is a cultural shift in thinking, not necessarily laws on the books. Ways of thinking of the culture are enough to change attitudes and demeanors, and even destroy lives of people--all without one officer of the law becoming involved, without legislators lifting a pen. We have to watch the little signs and signals that say our society has heard enough about the plight of the older, or the infirm, or the non-productive members of society as a whole. Any of that thinking can so easily be turned into an equation that changes how society treats the Boomers, regardless of the numbers involved.
Consider what has happened in our very recent past--the spin our President put on facts, with just a little creative thinking, was able to turn those facts into a compelling story that began a war. Saddam Hussein did not mastermind the attack at the World Trade Center, nor was a confirmed tie between Hussein and bin Laden established in regard to the attacks. But with a little well-applied psychology, those at the federal level were able to take the rage and fear and anger that lived in the hearts and minds of Americans and turn it toward Saddam. Never mind his tyranny--that has nothing to do with how the President and his federal friends were able to turn a 1+1=2 equation into WTC attacks+American emotions=war with Iraq...and no matter who you voted for at the last two presidential elections, you can surely see some slight of hand in those mathematics.
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