Look out, kids

If you’re an aging baby boomer, you might be reading these words in a doctor’s waiting room. People my age are often found there, skimming through whatever reading material is at hand in vain attempts to kill boredom and divert dread.

That was what I was doing when I came across a bit of information in Today’s Senior, a free pulp magazine laden with advertising featuring smiling geriatrics who just bought a catheter or took out a reverse mortgage.

I skimmed a page devoted to extolling the wealth us baby boomers have to spend, and learned that us old Deadheads, Vietnam vets, or anti-war protesters control a stash that represents 75 percent of all personal wealth.

Most people my age are far from wealthy—the majority of us barely scraping by on Social Security checks that average $1,342 a month. When the incomes of a mere handful of the richest Americans are factored in, however, it can look like old people have a pretty sweet ride. They don’t. And politicians, mostly Republicans, work ceaselessly to make it worse, looking to cut and/or privatize Social Security and other vital programs and services.

Still, if I were young now, the generational disparity in wealth would piss me off. In fact, though I am far from young, it pisses me off, anyway.

Old people aren’t the enemy. However, far too many of us fall prey to political manipulations that persuade us to vote against our best interests. And too many young people are too disengaged to look out for their own futures. Hell, about a third of millennials support Trump and Republicans, the very people most likely to blight their futures.

So, kiddos, you’d be well-advised to pay attention. Because, if you don’t, you’ll be out of luck and out of money when you wake up superannuated. A few old oligarchs will still have most everything, but you’re statistically unlikely to be among them.

And trust me, that day will arrive sooner than you can possibly imagine.