Why are so many articles still being spewed out about President Biden's age, trying to get him pushed out of the race on that alone? Now that he's come down with another case of COVID, this newest struggle seems draw more and more public figures who are bleat for his forced exile. Meanwhile, on the other side, the Orange Candidate seems to have the rabid support of his cult like followers no matter how mentally and physically ill he is.
What a bitter irony pill to swallow; that the party who claims to support the people are turning on the President who has spearheaded so many accomplishments that actually support so many Americans. All of which could be yanked away because he's the "wrong" generation person.
America has become a place where there exist so many rigid categories we're all squeezed into, mostly due to consumerist marketing strategies. The biggest one of course is net worth. How much in assets do you have? What home, if any, do you have, followed by what brand of car owns you? You are your stuff. Inner personality does not matter. Without the right stuff, you fall into scum categories from which you are never to emerge. Try it, and scum will be punished. Meanwhile, one man can purchase the executive branch by proxy for $180,000,000. We drool with amazement and unthinking admiration.
The second one is years one was born. Since this American Dream truncated the idea of family to only biological parents and their immediate children, corporations have masterminded consumer strategies to market products geared towards more and more niche customers based on physical age. This really took off in the late 1950s with the advent of rock n' roll. Marketing to teens has since fragmented into even finer categories to teens, tweens, beens, preschoolers, and even toddlers. I'm surprised newborns don't emerge from the womb with a birthmark shaped like a corporate logo.
Now we're flooded with billions of social media posts about Gen Boomer, GenX, Gen Y , Millennials, Gen Z, and now Gen Alpha. The powers that be, especially corporations, are doing their best to keep these artificially constructed generations from understanding each other, let alone combining their strength into making America into a truly strong and 21st century place. The more they can get us all sniping at each other instead of the over class themselves, the better they keep the profits rising.
The reality is that, just because each of us is a certain age, doesn't mean that every single person at that age thinks and behaves exactly the same. There are many human beings under 20 who have a greater understanding and ability to think globally, indeed harbor wisdom, than many who are over half a century older. There are also elderly people who have never risen above the age of 5 when it comes to emotional intelligence.
From the time we start walking, the range in personality traits emerges, in different rates of growth, in individual strengths and weaknesses. None of us will ever strictly fit the societal and market driven "generational" roles mapped out for us. So stop bickering about young people or old people in one fell swoop and open our ears.
This brings me to the conundrum that is President Biden. He was born in what we call the Silent Generation. If your parents experienced the Great Depression of 1929, you might be silent too. He was a young man when the 1960s and 1970s happened, with all the intergenerational drama. Witnessing and keeping track of these events as a young adult not yet in roles of power gave him the insight that change is an ever ongoing process. Trying to hold on rigidly to what was satisfactory in the past brings on authoritarian dictatorships. These dictatorships are the last gasp of atavism, the final stage of trying to force absolute cultural rigidity based on a nostalgic ideal that never happened. Eventually all the force in the world cannot hold against the horrid conditions, and violence erupts with mass murder, including the dictator.
What is left are a generation of young people bearing more physical and psychological wounds than many seasoned soldiers. Because they have nothing to start with, the rebuild is slow and painful. They are the new Silent Generation.
Is there another way to facilitate change? Yes. Soft Power. What the Biden Administration is doing is building a foundation for all the generations, especially the youngest, to use as tools to build the 21st generation of our dreams. That he himself won't live long enough to see it all doesn't matter. He has the wisdom to understand to a remarkable degree, the point of view of Americans of all ages. It's not just his own grandchildren he leaves a legacy for, but the whole world's.
This ability to perceive a world beyond the confines of your individual lifetime used to be a measure of why human evolution was special.
Not anymore. Because he doesn't look good on TV, because he's subject to the same temporary illnesses we all are, young or old, we want to dump him into an express bus to Oblivion.
But what of others in Congress. Shouldn't Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi board the bus too? She had enough wisdom to guide the Democratic Party Causus to Representative Hakeem Jeffries, but she's still in Congress. It's all or nothing, Speaker Emerita. Time to go.
How old are you Senator Chuck Schumer? Should we print you your ticket? For gosh sake, wheel out the other Chuck while you're at, Chuck Grassley. That guy looks like he might have heard the Gettysburg address in person. What is Mitch McConnell still doing leading the Senate Minority? How has he been doing? We don't hear much since he kept freezing up during public speeches. I guess by keeping quiet we'll all forget about him.
Why should only President Biden make the sacrifice? Will anyone else in Congress lead by example?
Meanwhile, the Orange Guy, whose cult sticks to him through thick and thin, like barnacles to a boat, was born right at the start of the baby boom, 1946. He's an early Boomer. He's definitely not okay. 1946: that's the year he wants to drag the country back to.
And folks want to throw away President Biden, a man who at least sees part of a vibrant future.
Which is it going to be?
In any subsequent diaries of mine, I'll feature photos of Americans who bloomed incredibly late in life. Meet Bill Traylor, visionary artist, who didn't put painting to shirt collar paper until his mid 80's. I hope you all can explore his life.