theBoomeroom

Archive for the ‘Culture & Chaos’ Category

The legendary author whose book shocked a world he shunned has died at age 91 in New Hampshire. In a statement, the iconic author’s son said Salinger died of natural causes at his home. He had lived for decades in self-imposed isolation in a small, remote house in Cornish, N.H.

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Catcher in the Rye was the first book I ever read through and through without stopping (except to eat and pee). I identified so strongly with Holden Caulfield that I began to question my place in the universe. I recommend all read this novel (if you haven’t all ready) and read it again if you have read it.

Ladies and gentlemen, they just might. Baby Boomers’ innovation, experience, expertise, and vast network of contacts may be the order of the day when it comes to breathing some life into our faltering national finances. How, you ask? Why, through the wonders of entrepreneurship, of course.
Americans Believe Entrepreneurship is the Answer

A recent poll conducted by the Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship found that 56% of Americans believe that small business, rather than government, will lead us out of financial crisis and into stability. Over 70% of those surveyed believe that the vitality of the economy is dependent on the achievement of entrepreneurs, and 80% believe that the government should devote resources to encouraging entrepreneurship on a national scale. And who better to start a business than the ever-savvy, well-connected Boomers, who already constitute a disproportionately high number of the country’s self-employed workers? They’ve got some time on their hands, a wealth of knowledge, and a career’s worth of networking behind them…and now they’ve got the support of the U.S. Small Business Association, as well.

U.S. SBA Launches Website Dedicated to the 50+ Entrepreneur

This month, the SBA formally demonstrated its support by launching a website dedicated to the 50+ entrepreneur. Here Boomers can find everything they need to get their new venture off the ground: free online training, interactive communication tools, marketing support, advice on how to assess their readiness and get started, and more. It’s all online at http://www.sba.gov/50plusentrepreneur/

“The SBA is working hard to increase opportunities for small businesses of the baby boomer generation at every stage of their business development through better technology tools and effective services through the agency’s district office and resource partners,” says Acting SBA Administrator Sandy K. Baruah in a recent press release. “We believe 50+ entrepreneurs will drive significant new business growth in the coming years.”

Do Boomers have what it takes to turn our shaky economy around? Let’s look at the facts: this is the same generation that constitutes the biggest economic group in our country today. They control more of the wealth, earn more and spend more. They fought for civil rights and women’s rights, championed education and the environment, brought us the personal computer and the IPod, and heralded a resurgence of social activism. They’re educated and informed, and most of all, they’re used to bucking the system and coming up with creative solutions.

Folks, my money’s on the Boomers.

• The Truth About Oprah, Dr. Oz, Acai Berry, MonaVie and Resveratrol

Consumers should be aware that neither Oprah Winfrey nor Dr. Oz are associated with nor do they endorse any açaí berry product, company or online solicitation of such products, including MonaVie juice products. Attorneys for Harpo are pursuing companies that claim such an affiliation.

Neither Oprah nor dr. Oz are associated with nordo they endorse any specific resveratrol product, company or online solicitation of such products.

Any companies that misprepresent their affiliation are making false claims. Harpo attorneys are pusuing companies that claim such affiliation.

The post previously stating these claims has been permanently removed from this blog.

Our profound apologies to our readers, Oprah and Dr. Oz.

It’s great to be a boomer!

We had great music, fun toys, and lots of wonderful memories

(and some not so wonderful) of our younger years.

Kind of makes your hair on the back of your neck stand up!

Here are three keys to creating the kind of community we all need and desire.

1.    Serve
2.    Invest
3.    Honesty

Each time I witness these beautiful over the top acts of generosity and kindness often one or all of these keys are in play. When you serve other people you create the desire in others to serve also. Sometimes the serving is directed back at you and other times the serving is like a “pay it forward” and directed toward others. Either way serving bears fruitfulness.

When you serve other people without the hopes of getting something back for yourself, you set your self up to be extremely blessed.  It truly is far better to give than to receive. When you serve others because you are passionate about helping others feel a part of a community, then and only then will you truly start to feel a part of the community yourself. 

This is very important…
WHEN YOU BEGIN HELPING OTHERS TO FEEL CONNECTED TO SOMETHING GREATER THAN THEMSELVES, YOU WILL FEEL DEEPLY CONNECTED TO THAT MISSION YOURSELF.

When you help others to get and feel connected, you have a personal and vested interest in the community and into the outcome of the people you are intentionally trying to connect. You then deepen your sense of community and feel deeply connected and passionate about seeing it flourish.

When you invest in someone, you care about how they feel in the community, you care about what kinds of experiences they are having inside the community and you often will go out of your way to help them in any way you can. You are intentional about creating a positive experience for those you are trying to connect. The community becomes personal to you because you are trying to help others get connected and you want connection to be the result of your investment.

We simply cannot connect them just to ourselves because in ourselves there is not enough time, energy, or resources to meet the needs. Ultimately you want to help others meet other people and then after a little time hope they do the same thing for someone else. That is multiplication at it’s finest and ultimately the goal of community.

Do you have anyone in your life right now you are intentionally working to connect to your community?

Thank-you Lori Boucher,

Jeff

The Boomer Effect

Five years ago, Honda introduced a new SUV the Element. This boxy car had an ad campaign targeting people in their twenties that featured the young generation cruising down to the beach with their own personal “dorm room on wheels” . However Honda’s appeal to youth missed the mark, instead it triggered the interest of a much larger group, the baby boomers. During its first year the Element had an average age of buyers of 42. Several other cars made to target younger generations have been stolen by the baby boomers including the Toyota Matrix, the Pontiac Vibe and the Dodge Neon. But who are the baby boomers? Starting with a long period of decline in birth rates that had been down since the Industrial Revolution, a generation began to grow immediately after World War II. They are the baby boom of about 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 that have molded the world we know today.

Childhood for the baby boomers took place in a changing world. They experienced huge economic growth, job reform with more white collar work becoming available for men and woman, the looming Cold War and even the anticipation of space travel. With total economic growth during the 1950′s and early 1960′s there was a sense of competitiveness and the hope for individualism that grew in the boomer child even when I came down to who had the best toys. Inventions like the Credit Card, Video Recorder, and even the Crayola Crayon began an age of discontentment for the boomer child and a search for the best new thing. Just like their wartime mothers, postwar moms began finding jobs outside the home. With the assumption that kids were living in a safe neighborhood, many were left to fend for themselves. The boomer children became known as “latchkey kids”, because they were the first generation to come home to a locked house with no one home. Television and the media became a surrogate parent and fostered the idea of limitless possibilities within the children.

The boomers were the only generation to be raised under the perceived threat of Armageddon. During the Cold War Era, many families built bomb shelters in their own backyard. Boomer children were taught in school to “duck and cover” when air-raid sirens sounded. Sometimes sirens were tested after school when mothers were not yet home from work which was scary to a boomer child. Across the country all children in public schools knew how to stand clear of the chimney and go to the nearest door frame for safety, during the occasional siren test . The lack of family values and togetherness changed the boomers and throughout childhood taught them to be independent and open minded.

The mind set for the beginning years of the baby boomers is very important to the adults they will become. Children came up with their own ideas of how life should be that had never been acceptable before in western civilization. They were the first kids that had both parents working and came home to an empty house, Mommy didn’t always make dinner every night, and most children were raised thinking it was okay to question authority because they weren’t cared for as well as they needed to be. Growing up even in their first 15 years of life seemed to lack love and support they needed to build character and essentially grow up.

In the early to mid-seventies, as the leading edge of the baby boom generation was coming of age, America was undergoing another huge period of dynamic change. The Vietnam War had been raging for a number of years, the struggles for civil rights and women’s rights were at their peak, and conservative values regarding everything from religion to sex were being questioned like no other time in history. The leading voices in all these debates were young people, baby boomers that were insisting to be heard. The deaths of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the Vietnam War, the landing of Neil Armstrong on the moon, the Watergate scandal and President Nixon’s resignation all left ideas in boomers’ heads. These ideas were to be mad at authority, and challenge everything, the same ideas they had developed throughout childhood with the lack of attention from their parents.

As teens and young adults, many boomer activists pushed for new federal legislation to bring back the dreams of the Bill of Rights and FDR’s ideas. Most important of the American turmoil were the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements. One accomplishment the Boomer generation speaking up can take credit for was their encouragement for increased representation of women and minorities, especially in higher education and the job world. Boomers believed that a boost for new legislation would help equalize access to the American Dream. Among other things, times were turbulent as a result of many civil rights marches, “free love,” rock music, drug experimentation and the Vietnam war.

Now disappointed by authority the boomer generation turned to what they knew, themselves. Some with all of the political drama turned back to their childhood dreams and became “hippies.” They came in groups, many having dropped out of school and hitch hiked across the country listening to music that fed their thoughts of a perfect life. Such music came from performers like Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Pink Floyd.

Basically they changed the world to something we had never seen before and became a generation of  people that raised a generation of entitled people who want to change the world.