1968: A Year Like No Other

Looking back on it, it’s amazing this country survived the year 1968.
Looking back on it, it’s no surprise the scars from that year still cut across the psyche of many people who lived through it.
Tom Brokaw’s documentary “1968” aired on The History Channel this past weekend. For those who somehow forgot the turbulence of that year, the television special brought back the divisiveness and volatility of those 12 months.
Consider the major events that happened in 1968. In just a single year.
In January, the North Vietnamese launched a major attack against U.S. forces. The Tet Offensive reached the walls of the American Embassy in Saigon.
In March, President Lyndon Johnson stunned the country by announcing he would not seek re-election.
In April, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.
In June, Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy was assassinated as he walked through the kitchen of a Los Angeles hotel, just hours after winning the California primary.
In August, Richard Nixon, who had lost the 1960 presidential election and the 1962 California governor’s race, was nominated as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate. A few weeks later, riots erupted outside the Democratic convention in Chicago as that party nominated Vice President Hubert Humphrey as its candidate.
In November, middle-class voters rebelled against the anti-war movement and what they considered the excesses of America's youth. The so-called “Silent Majority” elected Nixon by less than 1 percent of the vote.
In December, the crew of Apollo 8 made history when they circled the moon and returned home. It was the first time any human had seen the Earth from the moon’s perspective.
The year 1968 was a culmination of years of festering unrest. It exploded as the civil rights movement, the anti-war demonstrations, the women’s rights campaign and the Baby Boomer generation’s desire to be free and different all climaxed.
The revolution could be seen in all aspects of society, not just in politics. On television, the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and Laugh-In were breaking new ground. The musical “Hair” brought drugs and sex to the spotlight of Broadway. At the theaters, “Rosemary’s Baby” and “2001” provoked thought and controversy. Rock music reached a pinnacle as The Beatles “Hey Jude” and Iron Butterfly’s “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida” led a parade of popular tunes. And at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave the Black Power salute while accepting their gold and bronze medals.
The year, however, centered on the Vietnam War. In 1968, 500,000 American soldiers were engaged in that conflict in Southeast Asia. That year, 16,500 U.S. troops would be killed in that foreign land. More than 16,000 soldiers dead. In one year.
The assassinations of King and Kennedy jolted an already reeling nation. Bitterness and anger surfaced in virtually every community.
I was just entering ninth grade that fall. I remember feeling the world was coming to an end. What could possibly happen next? How could we go on?
Fortunately, perhaps for almost everybody, that year was not repeated. Things slowly calmed down. By the time President Nixon resigned in 1974, a lot of the steam had dissipated from the engines that drove the forces of 1968.
A lot of things did come from that year. The military draft eventually ended. Pop culture permanently changed. Social programs such as day-care facilities and recycling centers sprung up. And certainly women and minorities have more rights now than they did then.
But even 40 years later, there are reverberations. There are still lingering feelings over the Vietnam War. The reckless use of drugs is now taking its toll on some Baby Boomers’ health. The shock of seeing political leaders gunned down still echoes in the back of many people’s minds.
I’m not sure our country has completely recovered from 1968. The Baby Boom generation bore the brunt of that violent and chaotic year.
Perhaps it’s time to put that year behind us, so we can look ahead to the years we have left.

"Boomerang" At The Office

Baby Boomers are back.
After years of a youth movement in the employment market, it appears old is “in” as employers rethink their strategy of who to keep on the job and who to let go.
The numbers alone are forcing the issue and it’s the Baby Boom generation that is driving the equation. For starters, more than 40 million Baby Boomers are now past the age of 50. Every day, 8,000 Boomers turn 60.
We’re also an educated and motivated group that is not retiring at the same age our parents did. The Census Bureau estimates 70 percent of men and 58 percent of women between the ages of 55 and 64 are still working.
Part of the reason is money. The average lifespan in the United States has increased by 30 years since 1900. That’s a lot of extra post-career time. In fact, a century ago, the average retirement lasted two years. Now, it’s 20 years.
In addition, Baby Boomers are not the type to sit on the porch and rock away their golden years. A lot of us are learning retirement is overrated. Many Boomers enjoy their jobs and a lot of them get their identity from their work.
Add to this mix the divergent populations between generations.
The number of 55- to 64-year-olds in this country is expected to increase by 11 million by 2025. The number of people ages 25 to 54 will rise by only 5 million.
The math is obvious. There simply aren’t enough younger employees to fill the shoes of retiring older workers. It’s a trend the General Accounting Office says is creating a “skills gap” in the workplace.
Executives have noticed. They can see that if Baby Boomers retired in bulk the next decade, there would be gaping holes in their employee ranks.
So, how are companies enticing us to stick around a little longer? There are several popular alternatives, none of which involve paying older workers significantly more money.
Experts say Baby Boomers are looking for flexibility in their jobs. That can include part-time hours, seasonal work or telecommuting.
Boomers are also looking for something meaningful and perhaps even something different in their jobs. A new aspect to their profession or perhaps a new career altogether.
Now, this isn’t true in all industries. The hi-tech sector still feels youth is king as does the media industry.
Nonetheless, enough companies are eyeing their seasoned employees as their short-term saviors to give our generation a definite advantage in the coming years.
Yes, it appears the ball has bounced back into the Baby Boomers’ court. Company executives, it seems, need to show an interest in their older employees and treat them as if they’re valuable.
So, Baby Boomers look around. Decide what you’d like to do the next 10 to 15 years. Depending on your situation, you might just be in a position to negotiate.
For, the new power color at work might not yellow purple. It could be gray.

All In The Family

Thanksgiving today is a time to focus on family, food and football. It wasn’t always that way.
Originally, Thanksgiving was a harvest festival, a time to give thanks for that year’s bounty of crops.
The Pilgrims gathered in Plymouth, Massachusetts, for their first Thanksgiving in 1621. A year earlier, a cold, dreadful winter had killed half the members of their colony. That following fall, however, the colonists had a robust corn harvest and they celebrated with a three-day festival in which they cooked ducks, geese and turkeys.
The tradition of Thanksgiving spread throughout the states over the next century and a half. In 1789, President George Washington declared Nov. 26 to be Thanksgiving Day. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln designated the final Thursday in November as “a day of thanksgiving and praise.” Finally, in 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt set Thanksgiving Day as the fourth Thursday in November. His reason? To give the nation’s merchants one extra week of holiday shopping season.
Over the decades, Thanksgiving has evolved into not only a day to give thanks but one to celebrate family. Relatives gather on this day. The smell of roast turkey wafts from the kitchen. The football gets tossed in the back yard. It’s a healthy, heartwarming tradition.
On Thanksgiving Day 2007, this might also be a good time to assess the status of family in the United States. I’m afraid the picture isn’t necessarily a rosy one.
The web site, “divorcemagazine.com,” has produced some poignant statistics compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau and other government agencies. It does report the divorce rate in the United States dropped to 3.6 per 1,000 people in 2005, the lowest since 1970. However, that low rate appears to be a consequence of fewer people getting married.
The on-line magazine reports 59 percent of the U.S. population is married, down from 62 percent in 1990 and 72 percent in 1970. Only 52 percent of marriages make it to their 15th anniversary. The magazine also reports 10 percent of the population is now divorced, up from 8 percent in 1990 and 6 percent in 1980.
Perhaps more startling, only 63 percent of children in the United States now grow up with both biological parents. That’s the lowest rate in the Western world. What happens to the kids who aren’t raised under the traditional household? The magazine reports that fatherless homes account for 85 percent of kids with behavioral problems, 71 percent of high school dropouts and 85 percent of youths who are behind bars.
Obviously, this is no small problem. It is a plague that is infecting virtually every segment of our society.
However, the situation is not irreversible. Baby Boomers can certainly help alter this course, if they are willing to step up. We’ve done a lot of good things in our lifetime, but unfortunately marriage isn’t one of them. Our generation’s divorce rate is around 33 percent, twice our parents’ generation. We are a prime reason almost half the marriages in our country end up in divorce.
It’s time to make amends. Strengthening the family circle can be our generation’s shining achievements.
There are many ways to accomplish this. First, for those still raising families, put time and effort into this responsibility. Help your children with their homework. Attend their after-school or weekend events. Make sure the family has dinner together. All sitting at the same table at the same time, with the television turned off. Ask them how their day went. What they learned.
Nothing should be higher on your priority list than your spouse and your children. Give them attention, give them love, give them roots, then give them wings. Children who are raised properly make better citizens, pure and simple.
Once you’ve sent your offspring into the world, your job is not done. Even when your children get married and have children of their own, you are still their parents. They still need your guidance, probably as much as young adults as they did when they were teen-agers.
If at all possible, live close to your children as well as other relatives. Re-create extended families, like in the colonial days. Establish a loving, supportive village for your sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and grandchildren.
There’s no time to waste on this goal. Let’s use this Thanksgiving to recommit ourselves to the idea of family. Do what you can to bolster the bonds within your circle.
This Thanksgiving and every fourth Thursday of November.