Biden's Bridge

 Joe Biden, born November 20, 1942, is less than seven years older than me. Yet he seems of a different generation. Pondering this a bit more, I realize that Biden is not technically part of the Baby Boomers (1946 – 1965), as am I.

Biden is in the tail end of the Silent Generation, a small cohort within the birth years of 1928 – 1945. Parents of the Silent Generation were in the Greatest Generation (1901 – 1927); these mothers and fathers had lived the Great Depression and the World Wars. Biden exhibits an echo of his parent’s generational attitudes. He was of the time before meritocracy fully took hold of us, leaders were more humble stewards of position and power; perhaps feeling less entitled and less confident.

Our last four presidents, Clinton (born 1946), G.W. Bush (1946), Obama (1961) and Trump (1946) have been Boomers, governing for almost three decades (1993 – 2020). Of late, much of the progress and achievements of these Boomer governments have lost their lustre. More than a touch of hubris has been exposed.  The last of these, Trump, was a gargoyle of Boomer privilege, laying waste to his inheritance and making a mockery of merit.

Biden somehow comes across as “older”, with more grounded experience than I think I have. But this doesn’t really make much sense. Only 8% of living Americans are older than me; Biden’s percentage is 5%, so not a big difference. There must be something else at play. It is also no coincidence that the runner up for the nomination is also a Silent Generation member, Bernie Sanders, born in 1941. Please know that I’m not wishing to give the Silent Generation sainthood; they had their sins: segregation, misogyny – and let us not forget Vietnam. No rose coloured glasses are being worn.

But here is my point. Many studies have found that crowds have a certain uncanny wisdom, and we may be seeing this play out in the current election cycle – I hope so. Perhaps Biden is the bridge connecting the past Silent Generation’s humility and art of compromise with the hopes and dreams of the younger voting cohorts of late Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Generation Z. Maybe this election is about slowly moving us sixty and seventy year olds out of the picture, and out of power. 

I’m hopeful that Biden and Harris put together an idealistic yet grounded group of smart younger people to find fresh solutions to climate, China, race, gender, and income disparity. I’m happy to put the last years of my life into their hands as they create a better future.

But first, let’s defeat Donald Trump on November 3.