Isn't It Time You Gave the Geezers a Push Back?

I don't like it, not one bit.  If you read enough decent newspapers and journals over enough time you may catch an unwelcome awareness of changes underway across our world.  You may come to the conclusion that we're living in highly perilous times.

Our environment is in peril.  Democracy is in peril, battered by the dual scourges of neoliberalism and the rise of illiberal democracy.  Human, social and political rights are in peril, especially the shredded remnants of privacy.  Our economies are in peril, the world teetering on the cusp of another massive global collapse. Equality - of wealth, income and opportunity - is succumbing to the onslaught of inequality.  Global security is in peril, beset by the spread of insurgency and terrorism, utterly intractable "new war," nuclear proliferation and major regional arms races, and the rise of Cold War II.   Every node of peril grows even as it builds on every other node.

Put another way, the forces of stability and peace seem to be trending rather negatively with no sign of reversal on the horizon.  There's no leader, no political movement that seems remotely up to the task.  In other words, you're screwed and you're on your own.

People of my vintage hope we're sufficiently on in years that we'll miss the grande finale.  We like to imagine there's a 15 to 20-year safety corridor to see us through.  I'm not as assured of that as I once was.

I tell my children that they have to look after themselves.  Don't count on my generation to do the right thing.  We've had plenty of opportunities already and the record speaks for itself.  We do the right thing when it's right for us and, for us, that means right today not necessarily right for the medium or long haul.

Younger generations have to take inventory, figure out what they need of us today and demand it.  Our political institutions have to rein in the geezer bias. This country has to work for everyone, not just old farts because they're more likely to vote. Until we have righted that keel, younger Canadians have to realize there's an inter-generational conflict in play just beneath the surface and they're on the losing end of it.