TW: Great column published election day that I missed amidst the excitement that week. But Brooks addresses what he called a "confluence of pivots" related to politics, economics and generations. As we pivot amongst all of those variables we enter a likely age of scarcity, where our means are outstripped by commitments made over the past decades, promises that almost inherently cannot possibly be kept. I will be posting more on whether folks are ready to actually sacrifice, we have been kicking the can down the road, the can appears now to be larger than our feet.
From Brooks/NYT:
"Nov. 4, 2008, is a historic day because it marks the end of an economic era, a political era and a generational era all at once. Economically, it marks the end of the Long Boom, which began in 1983. Politically, it...marks the end of conservative dominance, which began in 1980. Generationally, it marks the end of baby boomer supremacy, which began in 1968.
When historians look back at the era that is now closing, they will see a time of private achievement and public disappointment...Despite decades of affluence, longstanding issues like health care, education, energy and entitlement debt have not been adequately addressed. The baby boomers, who entered adulthood promising a lifetime of activism, have been a politically undistinguished generation...
In the next few years, the nation’s wealth will either stagnate or shrink. The fiscal squeeze will grow severe. There will be fiercer struggles over scarce resources, starker divisions along factional lines. The challenge for the next president will be to cushion the pain of the current recession while at the same time trying to build a solid fiscal foundation so the country can thrive at some point in the future...
In an age of transition, the children are left to grapple with the burdens of their elders."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/opinion/04brooks.html
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