#5 Boomers and Legacy? Do Generations Think Differently?

HANG ON BOOMERS! Michael Adams says we’re ‘self-centered spendthrifts, nostalgic tree-huggers, indulgent parents, aging hippies…. and sell-outs!’

YOWZA! Join Robb Lucy as he asks Michael (with trepidation) how we Boomers, and the generations before and after us, are approaching our legacies. Does each generation look at legacy differently?

Michael Adams is the president of the Environics group of research and communications consulting companies and the author of six books, including: STAYING ALIVE: how baby boomers will work play and find meaning in the second half of their adult lives. Michael is a noted commentator on social values and social change in North America, and a popular public speaker, offering topical, entertaining talks elaborating the data presented in his books.

Our parents (the ‘Elders’) gave to charities out of a sense of duty and self-sacrifice – nobles oblige. Their kids – the Boomers – don’t give out of ‘duty’. We want results. We want to see how we’ve changed the lives of others.

Adams calls Boomers ‘autonomous rebels’, whereas Millennials are ‘engaged idealists’. For instance, Boomers grew up with religion, then rebelled. The ‘post Boomers’ (Gen X + Y) are more exploratory, and less resentful. Boomers practiced traditional politics. Post Boomers aren’t disengaged, but engaged in new ways.