It used to be that the gap
between the generations was one just of language. One imagines that soon after
language evolved, children’s talk began to deviate from the way their parents
spoke, leaving parents perplexed. And children, by the same token, must, on
occasion, have failed to comprehend what their parents were going on about. We
accept that. But now, though, it seems that a resentful distrust smoulders
between the generations, encouraged more by chatter than anything else.
What came
first? Did we know we had a generation issue prior to being told by some pundit
that we had one, or did the revelation come about as a result of our being
groomed to see how things stand?
Commentators
have identified the Baby Boomer generation, comprised of those born in the
years immediately following WW II as the signal generation of recent decades. These
Boomers, were the offspring of those who had lived during the Great Depression that
had had to scrimp and save, and who then had to go to fight and die in the
war. The Boomers were lucky. They were
in the right place at the right time, reaching maturity just when the economies
of the western world were beginning to deliver. Boomers found the ways and
means to make it, and they did, manoeuvring themselves into an assured mastery
of the universe. Outsiders could only stand and gape.
Now that Boomers
are entering their seventh decades, they do not easily relinquish territory. Instead,
they reinvent themselves as ‘Zoomers’, who remain every bit as acquisitive as in
their initial incarnation.
But the
children of the Boomer/Zoomer generation are not without their own ambition, reinforced
by that 21st century characteristic, “attitude”. Even the way they
are designated, all sharp angles, speaks for itself: ‘Generation X,’ ‘Generation
Y’, ‘Generation Z’. All bunched together, they are a formidable force demanding
attention. However, they do have a soft centre consisting of the ‘Squeezed
generation’ located in an in-between territory whose borders are defined by
now-dependent parents and still-juvenile children. Where were this generation
previously? They have always been there in plain sight, carrying on quietly
with Grandpa and Grandma, Dad, and Junior, all living comfortably together in
the same space where everyone’s needs were met. Modern life has disrupted this
cosy arrangement, dispersing the generations into multiple households the care for
which now defaults to the Squeezed Ones.
This rebalancing
of the burden of care is becoming the norm in countries where life expectancy is
surging upwards, men living into their late 70’s and women into their 80’s.
Some of us should be grateful, I suppose, but the Squeezed Ones are certainly
not the pleased ones.
It is good
though that the social state does carry some of the burden, using tax on the
wages of the working young, in the so-called pay-as-you-go arrangement by which
some maintenance is provided the elderly. I was surprised to learn about this
arrangement recently because I had always thought that the little bits we pay
as social security insurance went into a pool that the government invests for
us for our retirement. That is not exactly the case.
In the end, bills
have to be paid, wherever we are in the cycle. What is clear is that our little
children are the most vulnerable. They have nothing, except their boundless
potential. Therefore, our duty is clear. Protect and nurture them, so that in
adulthood, they would be capable of looking after themselves. And us too.
Tell
Fren Tru
