His line, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," was just one of many eloquent calls in that speech for the United States to embark on a new frontier.
Now, six decades later, as Baby Boomers enter retirement age, we must ask themselves... Did we do what we set out to do for this country?
I'm afraid the answer at the point is a resounding no. In fact, our generation is on the verge of being a disappointing failure. Some pundits are even starting to call us "The Worst Generation."
To be certain, we started out quickly. In the 1960s and 1970s, we led the civil rights movement and the battle for women's equality. We blazed the environmental trail and revolutionized music. We stopped a war and ended the military draft. We even got the voting age reduced to 18.
No small accomplishments. That's for sure.
However, something happened after President Richard Nixon resigned and Baby Boomers entered the work force and began raising families.
We turned inward. We became self-centered. We stopped thinking about what was good for society and focused on what was good for us. The zeal we engineered for worthy causes became passion for making money and looking out for ourselves.
We remain strident. Of that, there is no doubt. The righteous approach we had protesting the Vietnam War and fighting for equal rights has manifested itself into the divisive political debate that permeates our nation. No matter what side of the fence you're on, anyone who disagrees with you is someone worth hating.
The 16 years that our two Boomer presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, ruled the executive branch were an incredibly divisive decade and a half. Our country hasn't been this violently split since 1968.
We were at the helm when the worst financial crisis in 80 years hit our nation in 2008. Before that, we were spending money we didn't have and making profits by doing nothing more than shuffling papers between corporations.
We can't even see past the mirror when it comes to Social Security. There are 78 million of us. The oldest of our generation are turning 65 this year. There simply aren't enough younger working people to finance our retirement even if take our full share as soon as we're eligible.
For the sake of the nation, Baby Boomers should agree to smaller Social Security payments and take them at a later age, perhaps 70.
However, I see no evidence that is happening. Boomers have already eagerly starting cashing in when they turned 62. We are on course to crush Social Security as well as the Medicare system.
We are at a precipice, Boomers. If we continue down this path, we drag down the ravine a country we have already seriously steered off the proper course.
In my book, "10,000 Days," I laid out what I believe is a change of attitude and a route Baby Boomers can follow the next 30 years to redeem our generation and sail our ship of state into waters that are navigable for the generations behind us.
Alas, in the two years since that book was self-published, I see no sign of change. No groundswell to return to our activist roots. No hint we are changing our ways.
The hour is late, Baby Boomers, but we still have time. We can heed President Kennedy's call and see what we can do for our country.
