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Thrillionaires

Thrillionaires. I like that term. It was used in a TV/news/mag-style something-or-other show about a handful of billionaires fueling aerospace industry developments with their own cash. In motel magnate Robert Bigelow's case, it's several hundred million buckaroonies. Good for him. Good for everyone.

Why? Well, this is how I see it. First, it's private investment in an area typically supported by gubment. Second, it puts big-thick-gubment on alert - Yo. Stop fooling around and acting like morons. Private industry is going to kick your lazy *ss. Third, it's really only right.

Right. Hmmm. That's a funny word to use. My reasons: First, it's mostly Boomers with Big Vision doing such work. Bigelow is 63 and a first wave Boomer. Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic is 57. Big, huge, vision is often a comfortable realm for Boomers.  And second, well, the elder generations have made a killing in the business, stocks and real estate: most of it at the ruthless expense of their juniors and future generations. So, imo, it's "right" that they invest their own money back into "the future." Maybe they'll double their money; maybe they'll make ten times what they invested; maybe they'll lose it all. That's for time to tell.

For now, I say, "Go for it, Mr. Thrillionaires. Dream big. Spend big. Invest back into the society that made you rich ... and I'm not talking about foundations and philanthropy. I'm talking RISK and investment. Whether you're successful or not, your big dreams are doing some good for us all."

Boomers, Prophets and Generational Markers

I'm reviewing the four extant generations, one at a time. Here's some insight on Boomers, now and throughout history. Text from The Fourth Turning, by intellectual powerhouses William Strauss and Neil Howe. My lightly edited version is here:

We remember Prophets (today's Boomers) best for their coming-of-age passion (the excited pitch of Jonathan Edwards, William Lloyd Garrison, William Jennings Bryan) and for their principled elder stewardship (the sober pitch of Samuel Langdon at Bunker Hill, President Lincoln at Gettysburg, or FDR with his “fireside chats”). Prophets are today's Boomers, born 1943-1960, and a generation also known as "idealist generation."  Increasingly indulged as children, they become increasingly protective as parents. Their principal endowments are in the domain of vision, values, and religion.

Their best-known leaders include: John Winthrop and William Berkeley; Samuel Adams and Benjamin Franklin; James Polk and Abraham Lincoln; and Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt. These have been principled moralists, summoners of human sacrifice, wagers of righteous wars. Early in life, none saw combat in uniform; late in life, most came to be revered more for their inspiring words than for their grand deeds.

A lifecycle outline:

• In childhood, they are nurtured with increasing indulgence by optimistic adults in a secure environment.
• As self-absorbed young adults, they challenge the moral failure of elder-built institutions, sparking a society-wide spiritual awakening.
• As judgmental midlifers, they preach a downbeat, values-fixated ethic of moral conviction.
• As visionary elders, they push to resolve ever-deepening moral choices, setting the stage for the secular goals of the young.

The "L" word

Trend alert:
Expect to see the "L" word popping up all over the place.

What, you don't know what it is? It's L-E-G-A-C-Y, and the Boomer generation (born 1943-1960) is attracted to it like a moth to a flame.

I just received my local community foundation's annual report and found -- no surprises here -- a page announcing "Howard Legacy Society Launched." Notice any L words there?

University of Maryland has started the Legacy Leadership Institute, which, in short, takes public and charitable dollars, creates an institution, trains boomers (specifically) in "meaningful lifelong learning and civic engagement opportunities" and then sends them out to the world as trained volunteers ... with many of them hoping, actually, to get some paid work as well.

It's cool and all. I mean, there is some value in this, of course. And each generation's take on  problems and solutions is all part of the big soup of humanity. But I'm talking about the L word, and just found this particular expression of it so patently Boomer as being worthy of note.

Rock on, Boom Generation. Your energizing idealism need not die as you age. Just watch out for that Puritanical, moral superiority, hypocrisy thing that tends to mark your generations' style in its elderhood -- um, I mean its "active adult" years. You can be sure that my generation (13ers) will hold our Cavalier irreverence close at hand, regardless of the scowling insults sent in our direction.