Danger and Opportunity

The youngest Baby Boomer (born 1943 - 1960) turns 60 in 2020 and joins the rest of their cohort already in Elder status.  Boomers will preside over a time of extreme danger and historic opportunity.  Old institutions in place after WWII will crumble under the siege of multiply crises and collapsing governments.  NATO, the EU, treaties and trade agreements, the UN, and many financial standards will crumble.

Boomers will be in positions of power and influence to guide the nation, and the world across several painful thresholds (1).  These include:

• Unsustainable entitlements that would destroy the Millennial Generation
• Insufficient investment for decaying infrastructure
• Delayed response to Climate Change until too late for hundreds of millions
• Revolutions and civil wars
• Nuclear proliferation
• Shutdown of coal industry and coal plants
• Unsustainable burning of oil and gas
• Automation of transportation, production and services causing unemployment
• Growth in high-demand, high-wage, high-skill occupations without sufficient applicants

By 2020, America will have 56 million people over the age of 65 representing 16.8% of the total population. This is more than any other country in the world. In 2020, over 75% of the over 65 population will be non-hispanic, white Elders.  The life expectancy at 65, in 2020 for Boomer Elders, is expected to be more than 20 years.

(1) Strauss, William, and Neil Howe. Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069. New York: Morrow, 1991, Page 407.