President
Trump is 72. Speaker Pelosi is 78. Minority Leader Schumer is 68.
Why is
this a problem? Because the average age
in the U.S. is 45. (Average is calculated by dividing total years by total
people.) The median age in the U.S. is
39. (Median is the midpoint where there are the same amount of people younger
as older.) And the mode is 28. (That means more people in the U.S. are 28 than
any other age.) People 27, 29 and 26
follow close behind them in numbers.
(Byron, 2017)
So the
question is why do these Seniors think that they have a clue about the issues
Americans face today?
I have
been teaching marketing at NYU for 13 years.
I've taught Gen X students, Millennial students and now Gen Z
students. And while I still have lots of
wisdom to share, I am also aware that this is no longer my world. These days they use products I have never
heard of, sold by people I don't know, based on promises I don't care about.
Sure I
text and obsess over my Instagram. But I
don't know what it's like to worry that I won't be able to find a job because I
will be replaced by a machine. These
people do. According to a new report
from the World Economic Forum, machines will account for over 50% of labor
hours by 2025. That's only six years
from now folks. (Watson, 2018)
And
let's not forget that this generation is driven by the memory of 9/11 and
entering the workforce during a recession.
No wonder they crave security and worry about being able to afford
health care.
It's
also no wonder that they don't want any part of our broken political system
with its old white guys (and the occasional old white woman). This is why the Boomers have to step down.
Last
week President Trump took to the airwaves to try to convince the 63% of
Americans who are opposed to the wall to change their opinion. (Drezner, 2018)
Speaker
Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer followed with a rebuttal. It appears that their ratings were slightly
higher than his - 28% versus 29%. (Friedman,
2019)
But it
does not appear that either side changed any minds. Why would they? They have all been saying the same thing for weeks. Perhaps a new approach would have been
better.
I read
the day after the speech that all the Congress representatives in the districts
that would be directly affected by the wall are against it - both Democrats and
Republicans. Wouldn't it have been more
productive to let some of them speak?
They could have each given us one thought as to why they were opposed to
the wall based on their personal involvement and stake in the outcome of the
decision. And maybe we all could have
learned something. At the very least we
might have moved the dialog ahead instead of being stuck in this endless loop.
There's
a reason why the only politician I follow on Twitter is AOC and it's the reason
why Boomer politicians need to redefine themselves as mentors. It's time for new ideas and fresh
voices. And yes we need to think
seriously about taxing the rich and universal healthcare. Even about making Election Day a national
holiday. But most of all, it's time to
rethink the us versus them mentality. We
all live in America together and that means we all have a stake in and a
responsibility for making it great. It's
time we remember that and step up, or aside, as the case may be.
Byron,
E. (2017, October 10) America's
Retailers Have a New Target Customer: The 26-Year-Old Millennial. wsj.com. Retrieved January 14, 2019, from
Watson,
P. (2018, September 27) Machines Will Do
Half Our Work By 2025. forbes.com.
Retrieved January 14, 2019, from
Drezner,
D. (2018, June 27) What Do Americans Think About The Wall?
Friedman,
W. (2019, January 11) Trump's Net
Approval Is Down, TV Data One Part Of Nuanced Picture. mediapost.com. Retrieved January 15, 2019, from
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/330393/trumps-net-approval-is-down-tv-data-one-part-of.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=mostread&utm_campaign=112446&hashid=sLAHyO7POR-kvmHMPk1YNli2lIQ
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