Anna Quindlen to boomers - quit clogging the promotion pipeline
I just don't think this is valid. Medical advancements will keep the boomer generation healthier later in life, and the nature of our work is considerably less demanding than that of many of our parents. There is no physical need for many of us to retire at 62 if we don't so choose. And people leaving college today could well live to be 100 or more. With a work career of 70 or 80 years ahead, what's the rush?Second, the financial climate for our generation is different. While Ms. Quindlen may have the wherewithal to walk away from a well-paying position, many of us don't, especially after the market collapse. Give the inadequacy of the Social Security funding, many of us have a jaundiced view of what to expect from that program.
Third, a progressing society shouldn't squander its intellectual capital. While the times may have passed by some of us, others are still surfing the wave of progress and have a great deal to contribute.
Fourth, I don't share her angst at the dominance that the boomer generation has enjoyed in the public consciousness for the past 50-plus years. The numbers tell the tale, and as our generation travels like a pig through a python through the years the fact that the focus follows us is not unfair; it's natural.
Last, I don't believe that younger people with superior ability will remained trapped behind older workers any more than Lou Gehrig remained trapped behind Wally Pip. Quality will come out, and capitalism is the system that best allows this to happen.
Perhaps her words trouble me because she is slightly younger than I am, and I still have ambitions. I'm still learning new skills, and ironically I sometimes find myself trapped behind people who are younger but have more experience in the areas of my endeavors.
Maybe we baby boomers should take ourselves out of the game, head to the bench, wrap ourselves in warm up jackets and let the kids play. But that's not for me, Anna. At least, not yet.