In 2009 and 2010, The History Channel aired a television program called "Life After People". In each episode, the show would imagine a post-apocalyptic scenario in which human life had vanished from Planet Earth, and used historical, real-life examples of ghost towns and abandoned settlements to envision the unpeopled future.
One small town, for instance, might become overrun with abandoned domesticated pets, now developing feral bands.
Another city might be prone to spontaneous combustion as the result of flammable waste gathering on a former industrial site.
In all instances, nature and the elements wreak havoc on old buildings and infrastructure, which all eventually yield to the overwhelming force of detritus and decay.
Does it sound a little familiar?
I'm probably not the only one who remembered Captain America's mention of whales breeching in the post-SNAP Hudson River (Avengers: Endgame) when rumors of dolphins in the Venice canals circulated during COVID. Or drove past empty stadiums, schools, and amusement parks thinking of the opening scene in that same film. Now, as life finds a new "normal", the lawns are cut, more "non-essential" businesses are open, and at least some of the kids are going back to school. People debate wearing masks in public, but there is, once again, a public to be in.
But someone's missing from the crowd.
It's no surprise that the global pandemic has hit the elderly the hardest. The last vestiges of G.I.s and the Silent generation are above 78 years old. Baby Boomers, the loud and proud "Me Generation", are between 77 and 60 years old. For decades, having dominated culture with their sheer numbers and a vocal persona encouraged since youth, the Boomers were considered "the boss". Companies that catered to their every desire as children gave way to government programs serving their political ideals as adults. In 2020 we will watch, for the third time in history, a Boomer re-election race for the job of Commander in Chief.
But what will happen when these leaders are gone? How many will be left in the wake of the current global pandemic, or the next one, or whatever other global crisis or conflict comes next?
Who will be the boss when the boss is dead?
America is at a strange idealogical intersection. Boomers, high on choice and individuality, have still functioned as enough of a group (or collection of groups) to merit mass market attention. Millenials, the children of Boomers and elder X-ers, are another large generation but prefer limited choices and greater conformity. In the middle is Generation X, the smaller, highly individualistic generation that often disengages from political discussions or attempts at mass-marketing, which often results in their being overlooked entirely. Finally, there is the Homelander generation who, being born in 2006, aren't quite old enough to vote yet.
The result of this ungainly soup? The Post-Post-Modern Era, where up is down, left is right, and everything seems broken-- a state brought to light only more so by the grinding halt of the COVID-19 shutdown in Spring 2020. In a time where there are no absolutes (and certainly no morals), to where can one turn for guidance?
In the past, it was an easy answer: the Boomers were the loudest and the oldest in the room. They had definite opinions about everything (even if they disagreed) and everyone knew it: Boomers were the Boss. But as age, disease, and the culmination of the Crisis Turning wrench power away from the hands of the Forever Young, who will tell us what to do-- as a country, as a state, as voters, parents, employees, or consumers? Will it be peers? Experts? Our children?
No one.
Sure, everyone will have an opinion. But the choice is yours. It always has been. And as you step out in faith each day, choosing what to believe, making up your own mind what to do, and accepting the consequences, those decisions will begin to coalesce into a movement, and a standard, and a culture, and a way of life. The beauty of the Generational Saeculum is that the seasons do not last for ever. Change is constant, and soon it will be Spring again. The first step in finding your way out of this winter is to decide what you believe. I know. Do you?