For my entire life I have been a part of the bubble that drove this world’s growth, a 65-year reign of the post-Second World War generation, the largest cohort in the population.
   Along with my older brother and younger sister, I am from the Baby Boom that, with millions of others, became the largest generation in Canada beginning in 1958, seven years before the last boomer was even born.
   Our generation accounted for 40 per cent of the population from the mid-60s to the early 1970s.
   In addition to being responsible for the post-war housing boom and the infrastructure and urban sprawl that went with it, we have witnessed educational reform(s), ideal confrontation of our culture and counterculture, social movement, the sexual revolution, political instability, economic prosperity and rapid technological progress.
   Everything was all about us.
   Figuratively speaking, all that ended this week as Statistics Canada announced that Millennials have dethroned the population of Baby Boomers as the largest age demographic in this huge nation.
   This country, or the world, now belongs to our children and those who follow: Millennials born in the early 80s to early 2000s, and Generation X before them (1965-1980).
   What kind of world are we leaving behind? That question has been proffered many times before, but is only now sinking in with me.
   Our generation gave rise to consumerism and convenience, habits we have passed on to our children. Under our watch mass production increased; soap operas, science fiction, and automobile-dependence became cultural norms along with TV dinners, fast food, and the automation that began to impact the world economy and eat away at local jobs. Offshore production blossomed, and global trade flourished, in our lifetimes. We, for decades now, fuelled an oil crisis that will continue until we wean ourselves off fossil fuels. Our generation has raped the land of its resources and damaged our environment and atmosphere to the point where it likely will never become healthy again.
   Think of the damage we have done, and are still doing, to our planet.
   We are living longer and leaving behind a health-care system that continues to struggle as we age and die off. Yes, Baby Boomers are dying off, by natural causes or otherwise.
   Last week’s statistical evidence is the proof we didn’t need.

© 2024 j.g. lewis