It Could Be Happening Again, Youth Changing the World: So, Where Does That Leave Boomers?

Maybe it'll be youth again who re-shapes the world. Not the establishment big money. 

In our lifetimes we Boomers could be bearing witness to another play-out of a counterculture. During the late 1960s and early 1970s in America the movement was influential. It reshaped politics, helped end a war, allowed experimentation with socialism, told females we were all beautiful no matter the body style and had university leaders surrendering some of their power dating back to 1636 with the founding of Harvard. Had there not been the severe mid-1970s recession the impacts might have been more extensive - and sustainable. 

Bloomberg captures the wonderful current unrest among Gen Zers around the world and here at home. 

It's producing results.

There's the toppling of governments ranging from Nepal to Bulgaria and voting for socialism in New York City. 

The Donald Trump phenomenon is peaking. All the President's Men and Women could wind up producing mea culpa memoirs explaining decision-making. So, who could wind up to be the analogue of John Dean from the Nixon administration? Mouthy Susie Wiles?

Mastering AI will probably be a better long-term career bet than investing three years in law school. After all it was an establishment Boomer - chair of elite law firm Paul Weiss Brad Karp - who made it official: Fewer new lawyers would be hired because of AI and much of practicing law will become a commodity. 

Anyway, this is the generation which finally could blow up the blind faith in higher education. For hands-on AI you can get in without the BA/BS. The Sam Altman no-degree career platform could no longer be atypical. 

Gen Z is bringing back the template of multi-generational living. Grandparentes, parents, offspring and perhaps even grandchildren are making it in an inflated economy under one roof. That provides financial security, which is the new form of power. It prevents cowering in fear because of lack of money. The extended-family residential model was the usual before the post-WWII economic boom kicks in and flight into single family homes in the suburbs. We were poor, but in control.

And, old-line commercial messaging, as Bloomberg hammers, is being replaced by social, videogames and anime. The glory days of traditional public relations and marketing are over. Yes, influencer has become a standard job description. Politicos hold your press releases and executives your massaged town-hall meetings.

So, where does that leave us Boomers? Probably mostly left out. 

This is a very different generation. Call it, yes, a generation gap. Oh, my willingness to be "open" initially attracts young people. So does what I have learned in a series of careers. They seek advice. At first. 

Then the thing usually breaks down. Their approach to reform and living a life is not how we Boomers went about it. I wind up, well, apologizing for imposing my values on them. For instance, we were driven by the need to never return home to live. Their pain points are not that. In my 12-step program I have been ineffective with Gen Z newcomers. Interestingly, in a BusinessInsider interview Karp admits to the differences among generations at Paul, Weiss.

On professional anonymous networks Reddit, Fishbowl, Glassdoor and Blind there are few Boomer voices. Oh, you can tell when it's a Boomer talking. The peer-to-peer support - there's deep caring and informed guidance - takes place among youth. That's even for old-line professional services such as management consulting, finance, public relations and, yes, law. 

We Boomers can envy that kind of comprehensive input. Had such technology existed during our counterculture we might have invested fewer years in political action. And more on financial realities. 

Even back then sectors were collapsing and the best and brightest had to go out there, bounce around and put together fresh ways to earn a good living. It wasn't until my 30s that I wound up in the niche for a 40-year-career. A Reddit in my 20s could have wised me up that my education and work experience were leading nowhere. Those of us who weren't grinders usually never caught up in wealth-building. 

We Boomers will probably observe the revolution. Sizing it up. But not allowed on the front lines, at least not for long.

As our beloved late leader John F. Kennedy mandated: The torch needs to be passed to the next generation.

Success is a mental game. Failure comes from being done in by the “committee” in your head.

Together, we reprogram your thinking. Then we change your story.

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