Is it all about money?

I hate to think so, but it's starting to seem that way. :(

Had an interesting conversation over dinner Friday night with a couple we enjoy and respect. They have 3 kids from 19 - 25, and what we discussed was the difference in our generations, in terms of how we categorize people demographically, and what it is that we value in others. When we got home we checked our conclusions with Jenny, and she agreed.

It seems that the generation coming up - the one we helped raise - are collectively seeing things differently than we do, and in a good way, mostly. For instance, on the subject of categorizing people, my generation tries hard - sometimes too hard - to be non-judgmental of those who are different that us. Yet we still label and categorize them.

Our parents labeled and categorized, too, but they also had very ingrained prejudices and stereotypes, against which we react very strongly. We try to back away from those, repudiate those, but still put people in the same (or even more complex) groupings that our parents did. We see in color, though we insist it should make no difference.

The next generation - whatever they are called, "Xers", "Gen Y", baby busters, millenials... I can't remember (I'm trying not to use labels anymore... ;) ) - don't see color nearly as much as baby boomers do. And that's real progress. I speculated Friday night that when the boomers are out, and the current 16-26 year olds are in power, that the desired results of the Civil Rights movement will be just the way things are in our culture, unremarkable normalcy. There will be no need for the NAACP then, my dinner companion speculated... and wouldn't that be cool? I hope so. I hope that next generation succeeds in replacing a "movement" with simply "conversation" around what then becomes a normal way of life between people of any race.

And that was another discussion - how the 20ish crowd values "conversation" and "being real" more than "movements" or "causes", which were our big drivers. How, to them, the highest compliment one can pay another is "he really cares about people", not "he's really successful/popular/well-regarded". And, more to the point of this post, how they also value work, money and material accumulation less than we do.

Now, that last may be because of the age difference. When someone who is now 22 becomes 42, and is married (maybe) with 2 school-age children (maybe), will she want "the nicer things in life" for her kids and herself? Will she want a lifestyle like that of her Mom? Or will she be content to be Bohemian, modern, and broke? (and you know who you are... ;) ) I think that baby boomers are definitely accumulators and materialistic - but I'm not sure about the generation coming up. They might be... when they get into their 40's.

So, what's my point? As I look at the various alternatives for employment that are buzzing around me like gnats, I find myself focusing on what they will do to my lifestyle. And it seems so ridiculously shallow that I am revolted by it. Yet - with kids at college age, and retirement in the distance (but looming larger every year), I have bills to pay and saving I need to do.

But, crap! I want to do something meaningful with the rest of my life, something that has a profound impact on the lives of others. I want to give something back to society around me - something more than helping shareholders increase the value of their holdings by helping my company beat Wall Street's earnings estimates this quarter. Arghh!

The problem is - meaningful doesn't pay well. It doesn't pay squat, really. I'd love to work in the non-profit sector, for a charitable foundation, for a religious organization, for an educational facility, teaching or adminstrating, but... I can't afford to! I could stay right here, in town, with people I know and love - and do work I love as well, and find emotionally rewarding, but I'd have to take a 50% cut in pay to do it!

Does everything come down to money? It seems to, but I don't want it to! I want to do what rewards the spirit, but I seem to be making decisions based on what rewards the pocketbook... What is it that the Apostle Paul says? "Oh, wretched man that I am!..." I feel pretty wretched about the whole business. I didn't realize I was so shallow. :(