SURGE OF AGING BABY BOOMERS INTO 21ST CENTURY DIFFERING GENERATIONAL LIFESTYLES AND PERSPECTIVES

摘要

The 75 million Baby Boomer generation differs from the elderly, in the final year of thern1990’s, as well as the younger group—called Xers—below them. Boomers are productsrnof the Civil Rights Movement, the sexual revolution, upheavals in the 1950’s and 1960’s,rnthe “sit-ins” and riots protesting the Vietnam War and other profound social change.rnThey are characterized as the “me” generation. As this all–time—high population agerngroup reaches its seniority, all at once in the early second decade of the 21st century, wernwill experience a definitive societal impact. In contrast, the Xers are still “what’s in it forrnme” generation. They are apathetic, apprehensive, as well as cynical of organizedrnreligion, politics, community, ethics, authority and harbor feelings of mistrust andrnhypocrisy in the body politic while being unsure about their future. In contrast, thernelderly are victims of the depression and World War II. They are patriotic and valuerncountry, God, honor and duty. They are grateful, responsible and consider themselvesrnlucky to encounter current better economic times. Characteristics of these threernsuccessive generations are explored on a psycho–social–economic basis. Their variedrngenerational attitudes, beliefs, ethics and behavior are compared as we anticipate thernmillennium. The entire world is growing older in western nations as well as inrnunderdeveloped ones. All face the same problem of lacking enough younger people tornhelp support the needs of the escalating numbers of the elderly. Immigration of youngrnpeople, leaving elders behind, plus the lowering fertility rates worldwide, will poserneconomic risks and destabilization of societies, with uncared for elderly, as the 21strncentury progresses.