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Change in Perspective

Photo courtesy of the author


It’s interesting how time changes our views. When I was in college the first time around, it seemed a fine thing to not always get the assigned readings done. Many of the times what seemed like my best grades were due to being freed up from the facts in the readings. Of course now, I wonder if I might have gotten even better grades by having a clearer understanding of the issues that would have allowed me to respond and challenge what was said in a more coherent way. Just like I’d now prefer the President of my country to actually read his daily briefings himself and know what he’s talking about rather than just making stuff up and hoping he’s right.
Recently I heard a podcast with Robert Reich who mentioned that a large number of strangely divergent people were born in 1946 (the Baby Boomers). His rationale for this was that they were the product of their fathers coming back from World War II in 1945. What I found most interesting about this is that both Bill Clinton and Donald Trump were born in 1946.
I’m a Generation X person, strangely without Baby Boomer parents. I was the unplanned mid-life child of parents born well before the U.S. even entered the war; so again, it’s interesting the perspective change.
When I was a child, I had Jimmy Carter as president, and then got stuck with what I viewed as old guys (Reagan and Bush I) during my formative years. This caused me to be thoroughly excited in college to vote for Bill Clinton, who was 46 at the time he took office.
In 2018, being President at 46 is a vastly different thing than being born in 1946, as has become obvious now with Trump. I long for those days of having a physically fit commander in chief, even if I’m currently not. I also may not have all the answers and need to make guesses about things like trade tariffs, but would really like my President to be informed, or at least listen to credible advisors rather than his children or TV commentators.
Change can be hard indeed.

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