Where do ideals fit in?

I was reading an article this morning that reported on results from some focus groups with Millennials. Take that as you will. I am the mother of a so-called Millennial, and a so-called Gen-X, neither of whom like those labels and will tell you so. Me, I'm an out and proud Boomer. What can I say?

I know I'm biased. I happen to have an innate optimism about life in general, and young people in particular. I will never yell at you to get off my lawn. (However, I will strongly suggest you do not tease my dog. He'll likely bite you.) So as I read poll results, political, religious, social, environmental, whatever, I tend to see them through my several biased lenses.

This particular piece was articulating results from political focus groups. That's the biggie right now, isn't it? What in the world is going on in this election cycle? And who are the youngin's going to vote for in the end?

Being a self-proclaimed Boomer of the late-leading-edge variety (1950), I came of age in the 1960s with all its tumult and idealism. I still wonder where all those folks I used to protest with on the U of I quad have gone. (Well, besides hanging out in Unitarian-Universalist circles.) Of course, when you're in the middle of a cataclysm, you think that the entire world is on fire, when actually there were tens of millions of my cohort who were bumbling along, shaking their heads, going to war, wondering what in hell those liberal-hippie-commie-love-children were doing. "GET A JOB!"

To me, it was my entire generation and it was some heady stuff, indeed. We were bringing on the revolution. We were changing everything. Power to the People!

Maybe that's why I'm inclined to be more in sync with the young voters who are massing around Bernie Sanders' political revolution. It may never come to pass, at least not like he and his followers envision, but the idealism and the energy are invigorating. They prod my hope and feed my optimism.

They also shine a light on my cynicism. Yeah, but it's too late for all that. That ship has sailed. We're all in this creaky little lifeboat and about to be washed over and sunk. David and Goliath is a myth, and anyway Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are like leering caricatures of giant Goliath, and the Sanders folk are feebly waving pitchforks against a tidal wave.

The other factor, the one I'm least proud of, is my claim to age and experience. It gives me some comfort, and provides a little cover. But it's an unattractive quality that I'm quick to point out when I see it in the cynical, fatalistic politicos who deny climate change while stuffing their pockets with donations. "What the hell --- I'm going to die soon anyway. I won't be around to see what happens."

That, my friends, is the worst. When I find myself making the logical, pragmatic arguments, am I really just saying, "Meh, I'm queued up for the infinity ride ---- ya'll take over and I'll see you on the other side."  Now that's the position of no personal responsibility. Who is that person?

It comes down to this, as it always has. Do I go with my gut, my values, my hope, my ideals? Or do I go with practicality and down-to-earth reality? Is it really an either/or?

(Back in the dark ages, before Jill moved into the land of light and love, we had an argument about the use of the Peace Rose in my classroom. It was a means of teaching 6-8 year olds to solve their own disputes without the adults getting involved. We used an actual (silk) rose which they passed between them as they worked things out. Jill accused me of always wearing rose-colored glasses, that teaching peace to children was a hopeless effort. You should see the pink lenses she wears these days!)

Boomers, all of us, are shuffling off stage left. We're not done yet, not by a long shot, but that's the direction the line is moving. And, as they should, our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren ---- I can't believe how many of my friends are great-grandparents now! ----- are in place to take over. It's always happened. It always will. It may be hard to give up the reins of power and the rock-solid beliefs and values we formed in a different world 60 or 70 years ago, but that's the way it goes. This is a new place and time.

Gen X. Millennials. Whatever the next ones are called. It's their show now. We better pay attention because they're the ones calling a lot of the shots. In some ways, it makes it easier. I can go cast my vote. I can work for a candidate if I want to. I can volunteer at a non-profit I believe in. I can Morally March. I can still do all of that, and I don't have to get so wound up that I lose sleep or raise my blood pressure.

Maybe I can still hold onto my ideals after all.