3) Baby boomers get old, but they do not give up

Andrea Mancia is a journalist and he is the vice-director of the newspaper “Liberal”. He invented the blog aggregator Tocqueville.it and now leads the newspaper notapolitica.it.
His main interests are American politics and society. Indeed, he founded in 2004 a personal blog called rightnation.it dealing with American current affairs. We have decided to close with him our journey into the controversial world of baby boom generation.

Mr. Nachreiner lives in Buffalo and he is the first child of the American baby boom. Do you think he has the same vices and virtues of his European peers? In other words, are there any differences between the American baby boomers and those born in the Old Continent?

Differences exist and are quite strong. The biggest one concerns the economic structure and the social protection system adopted in the US and in Europe. The American society, despite all its problems, is more dynamic than the European one. Indeed, it has been able to find, during the years, the right solutions to adapt to the emerging needs of history, without causing much trouble. In the US, people do not see “mobility” and “short-term employment” as a sort of disgrace, but rather as a chance to improve their own social condition and that of their families. For decades, in Europe people have been living above their means. Sooner or later, new generations will have to pay this bill, even because of the immigrant flows which are difficult to control.

In these weeks we have often heard about the so-called baby boomers, because 2011 is the first year in which a part of this generation retires. However, we have the sensation that, despite this situation, these people still hold power in their hands. Do not you think this represents an actual conservative element? A sort of brake on the need to introduce important reforms and changes in many of the Westerners?

In the US the power which is still in the hands of the baby boomer generation is huge. Undoubtedly, this represents a conservative factor. In Europe, the situation is quite similar. But nothing is comparable to the Italian case. Without naming names, in our country, the last person appointed director of a newspaper is 87 year old. At that age, people generally write their memoirs, enjoy gardening, spend time with their grandchildren. They do not deal with the relaunch  of a newspaper. In Italy the generational problem (a concept which, in principle, frightens me) is very serious and apparently unsolvable.

Talking about the post-baby boom society, we only know that new generations will not have the advantages and certainties their parents had. Could you please tell us precisely at least other three elements which will characterise over the next few years European society and in particular new generations?

First of all I would say labour flexibility, a quite predictable but inevitable answer. In many countries in Europe and in the world, the idea of “posto fisso” (stable job) has already become a chimera. Our country will soon have to adapt to this new situation, although in Italy the “posto fisso” is still considered as a “value” in itself. On the other hand, I would not bet on the multiculturalism, even if many analysts find it inevitable. The signals coming from Northern Europe are contrasting. For second and third generation migrants it is more and more difficult to integrate in the social web of the countries they live in. This situations is causing very strong “rejection crises”, even in traditionally tolerant countries (such as the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries). History does not develop in a linear way, but it evolves among trouble, accelerations and brakings. How can we call that: global society or isolated enclaves in war with each other? No one can predict what will happen exactly in the global dynamics of integration among different nationalities and ethnic groups. But we can be sure of one thing:  digital natives face a range of chances and alternatives that previous generations have never had. The spread and development of IT devices are able to guarantee a level of penetration of knowledge that humankind has never experienced before. Those who adapt before and better to this reality will acquire an important competitive advantage against other countries. A gap that will remain unfulfilled for decades.

Could you tell us at least one mistake that baby boomers should have avoided, in order to guarantee a better future for their children?

One of baby boomers’ biggest mistake was that of relying on the Keynesian idea of public expenditure. In this way they have created huge budget deficits which now may destroy any economic development perspective for future generations. It is a mistake committed both by left and right wing Governments and the measures adopted to face the recent financial crisis have even intensified the problem. “Too big to fail” is a common phrase, not a physical law. We might experience that very soon.