New Seniors

Enjoying thoughts of times gone by does focus on what was rather than what is. However, most people don’t live in the past, so an occasional trip back to the “good old days” is a pleasurable diversion. This mental process may also provide a valuable perspective on how to more effectively deal with the problems we all face today.

No, it is not terrorists, countries possessing nuclear weapons or the street thug lurking in the shadows to take your money or possibly your life. The evil is the growing numbers of generally good people – the person next door a family member or a life-long friend – who have lost faith in the American Dream and the desire to be free and achieve.

Over the most recent Memorial Day weekend, several movie networks paid tribute to those who served in the armed forces during WWII. Watching these films made me realize how much they sacrificed in order for us to remain free. Maybe we can take a page from their book and apply it to overcoming the continuing financial crisis facing the country.

The current administration recently announced federal funding to the tune of $500 million for innovative early learning programs for children under the age of 5. Advocates claim this will get children, particularly the poor, prepared for kindergarten and result in them having better opportunities to learn. Opponents believe this is not the government’s job and that the costs will escalate well beyond initial projections.

IBM has come to be synonymous with America businesses acumen for building, refining and expanding at home and globally. The firm has thrived over a span of time that included two world wars and many lesser ones, the great depression and a number of financial bumps in the road, periods of fantastic growth as well as a frightening setback. It has survived and prospered by creating a cultural for success that prevails today.

If you stop for a moment or two and focus on the carefree days of youth when school was finished and there was nothing to do but play all day long, those wonderful sounds of summer may come to mind. I grew up in the city, so my memories may be different than yours; but the following thoughts are meant to take us back to those easier softer times.

A number of major food marketers have re-introduced packages from the “good old days” in an effort to stand out from other products on supermarket shelves. And, it appears as if consumers are responding favorably by loading these items into their shopping carts. Is old-time packaging just a fad or a trend beginning to take hold?

It’s been a long 235 years since a group of early American’s risked their livelihoods, their possessions and their very lives when the Founding Fathers signed The Declaration of Independence. These were our first heroes and we learned about their courage through American History lessons beginning in the elementary grades all the way through high school. They put everything on the line for freedom. Have we become so blasé that freedom no longer has the meaning it once had?

The latest cause the environmentalists are trying to foist on the American public is to ban fireworks displays on July 4th. There was a suit brought to court in San Diego recently seeking to accomplish this, but a judge ordered a reprieve. So the people of that city will be able to enjoy fireworks, at least for this year. Will such efforts succeed in this city and throughout the country next year?

The talk these days is concentrated on Medicare and Social Security and how changes will affect the New Seniors population. We must not forget the other end of the age spectrum: our youngsters. They have no voice in the political debate and no dollars in the game, but what we are doing to them will have long lasting consequences.