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DailyKos foofaraw or not. Today attacks on the age of Democratic leadership. [1]

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Date: 2022-07-10

First you do the hard work, later you eat strawberries

Foofaraw:

a great deal of fuss or attention given to a minor matter, a distraction from what really matters.

Today I start a new series of diaries. Each of these diaries will feature a way over the top quote from here on DailyKos. I will not be revealing the DailyKos member who posted the comment I am quoting from nor the diary in which it first appeared. In this instance, as we will find is often the case, I was once this big a fool, harbored these sorts of thoughts, and have felt bad about it for decades.

Here is the quote:

Ageism nothing. You're holding us back and it's time to quietly get out of the way. Haven't you stolen enough from the younger generations yet? Why do you insist on holding on to power at all costs?

This quote arose in the context of the age of the Democratic Party’s Leadership.



I want to make my biases clear. I am 65 and making an unsuccessful 3rd attempt to retire. My daughters and granddaughters now run the farm and ranch operation and the tech firm I started. I am having no problem letting go of my role in these companies. My roles as a doctor, a scientist, and a university lecturer have been taken over by highly competent people more than 35 years my junior. Youth must be served.

It is giving up my political life and community leadership that I am struggling with. Having a real role to play in improving your community and your nation is addictive. I have built organizations that no longer need me. That was always my goal in every organization I founded or in which I served. Make yourself surplus to requirements.

But walking away just seems wrong. I struggle on, trying to force myself out the door. Well, except for the five year contract I just signed to study and suggest improvements that can make the Canadian Military and RCMP better workplaces. The goal is to make these organizations safe and fulfilling places for all the the current groups that are underrepresented in their membership. These groups include but are not limited to women, immigrants, Indigenous People, Black People, members of the LGBQT community, and the otherwise enabled.



I don’t feel I have stolen anything from younger generations by the way. I have been been a radical environmentalist for 53 years, started working to stop global warming in 1979, helped found the Green Party of Canada in 1983, spent the following 15 years serving as CEO, CFO or Campaign Manager on numerous Provincial campaigns (NDP) and Federal Green Party campaigns, started organic and regenerative farming 33 years ago, founded my first alternative energy cooperative 20 years ago, and the last five years have been working away trying to reduce my personal carbon footprint and reducing it from 12 tons to 8 and I am determined to get to 4.

I do on the other hand think my generation (Baby Boomers) are passing on a world facing serious challenges that we, my generation, could and should have already started facing and overcoming. These include battling global warming, building better and healthier public institutions and reinforcing democracy, making public education at all levels free and first class, reducing and then ending student debt, ensuring affordable housing and safe communities, ensuring clean air and water, and on and on.

Why then do I think this quote is foofaraw? Why do I think any discussion here of generational wars is foofaraw. These skirmishes between generations help distract members of this community from what truly matters, electing more and better Democrats.

They are also minor matters. Fifty years ago the same argument was going on. I know because I was one of the people declaring we couldn’t trust anyone over thirty. I now know age wasn’t a useful metric for deciding who to trust anymore than it is a useful metric for deciding who to vote for now.

Think of it this way, would you vote for the Republican candidate in November just because they are younger than the Democrat? If not then all the attacks on Democratic leadership for their age is simply distracting us from what really matters. It is pure foofaraw.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/10/2109524/-DailyKos-foofaraw-or-not-Today-attacks-on-the-age-of-Democratic-leadership

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