Well baby boomers, on Jan. 20, 2017 one baby boomer will leave office and another will enter. In some ways the election has been about baby boomers.
Two baby boomers competed for the highest office, while another was in office.
In some ways working-class boomers helped decide the election.
But as boomers enter 2017 and analyze the political landscape, they will meet their own challenges, not the challenges of a nation. Maybe the election has been a nice distraction for them, but now it is time to get back to reality after what sometimes seemed like a reality TV series during the campaign season.
The questions for baby boomers now are: What will the future bring?
Will the new administration protect Social Security and Medicare? What will the repeal and replace version of Obamacare actually look like? Will the economic plan of the Trump administration be good for the retirement savings of baby boomers? Of course there is a lot more on the plate for the new administration that also concerns baby boomers.
Will terrorism continue to rule our policy thinking?
Will baby boomers be able to get relief from the high cost of student debt that they are trying to pay off for their children? And what about the core issue for them that nobody seems to talk about — caring for the elderly parents of baby boomers.
Readers may know that the crisis for boomers is caring for elderly parents. Is anyone thinking about how they will be able to manage their work life and save for their retirement while caring for the well-being of their elderly parents? While I applaud the advocates of family leave for young parents, I would also like to someday be able to applaud the advocates of family leave for baby boomers and others who have to leave their jobs to care for the elderly parent who is sick, needs help, or maybe is even facing hospice care.
It will not be easy for the new president.
We live in a divided country. The media got that part of the story right. But in reality politics, government, and elections are nothing more than a reflection of society itself.
Somehow we have lost our way and civility has given way to a certain mean-spirted need to be right.
Consensus building seems to be a cute but antique way of the past. Boomers have witnessed many great divides, but have seen what it's like when things work. They like it better when positive action is the norm, and gridlock is reserved for rush hour driving.
Boomers are in a unique position in this country, for they have seen a great deal and have lived a life of reflection, yet they still have many years of exploration ahead. Welcome to the life and times of a generation old enough to remember, and young enough to still dream.
Rick Bava founded and was CEO of the Bava Group, which became the premier communications consulting firm serving the Fortune 500 community. Bava became known for his popular blog columns “Rick Bava on the Baby Boomer Generation.” He is the author of "In Search of the Baby Boomer Generation." For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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