Reminding each other of the early years of our lives is, we think, the key. If our first act was quite fascinating, for too many of our generations the second act has been more focused on consumerism than citizenship; we drifted into an individualism that easily matched the Reagan ethos of taking care of ourselves. But if it worked for us, clearly it won’t work for the planet or society as a whole – younger people realized that, that’s why they picked up the cry, “OK, boomer,” and we started to realize that, too. Older voters began to drift back to Mr. Biden in the last election, but we think that drift must grow into a wave if we are to defuse the challenges we face.
And it can. Many people do not take older Americans seriously as political actors. If you read Twitter in the wake of the Spotify kerfuffle, there were a lot of comments about ‘is-be-artists’ and ‘geezers’. We prefer “experienced Americans,” but if you want to talk about the power of the codger, so be it (and by the way, don’t dis our music – people on music services tend to stream old tunes). Since we started organizing Third Act, it’s been great to see people come out of the cold to help, people like Sam Brown, who helped organize the huge Moratorium Day in Vietnam in 1969, which left millions on the streets. pulled, and now is helping lead the campaign challenging banks on climate change.
“Back then, those huge demonstrations started with just a few people,” he said at our national virtual teach-in last month. “We just have to believe we can do what we need to do — and if we believe it enough, we probably can.”
What really should deter the ill-wishers from business and politics is the prospect of old and young people coming together, because there is real power when we work across generations. Last fall, young activists called for demonstrations outside the fossil-friendly big banks, and invited us to join them. We did, with a certain gallows humor (“Fossils Against Fossil Fuels” read a banner in Boston). And by the end of this week, younger artists joined the Spotify boycott. Soul singer India Arie and podcaster Roxane Gay, both in their forties, had also won their work.
This particular dusting will not be a decisive battle in the fight for a better America and a better planet; in fact there may not be each decisive battles, just a long series of skirmishes to be engaged in by young and old alike. We may be closer to the exit than to the entrance, but we’re in this fight for the long haul.
Bill McKibben, founder of the new progressive group Third Act, also helped found the climate advocacy group 350.org and is the author of the forthcoming book †The flag, the cross and the station wagon: A graying American looks back on his childhood in the suburbs and wonders what the hell happened.” Akaya Windwood is Third Act’s lead advisor and co-author of the forthcoming book “Leading With Joy.”