We heard from a leader of the American Association of Retired Persons, AARP. He said his organization is dedicated to service on its 50th anniversary. It was founded based on the principles of collective service, collective voice, and collective purchasing power, and its motto is “to serve not to be served.” AARP, he said, has 40 million members. More than 50% of senior citizens volunteer, and “they are prepared to do.” Those over 50, he said, accounted for more than half of those who voted in the recent election. Their kids and grandkids need them more than ever, because most people now believe that these generations will be worse off than those who came before, and we “can’t let that happen.”
Given what I know about public policy at the federal, state and local level, I hope he didn’t mean that the group hopes to convince the Chinese, Russians and Arabs to roll all the debts (with interest) onto the great grandkids.