Becoming A Generative People

Becoming Generative LiDoña Wagner Gelli print 2019

A self-aware aging population in the United States could be one of its greatest resources for dealing with our national crisis in democracy. Four keys to living a long and healthy life - purpose, generativity, relationships, and face to face contact - align with addressing our nation's systemic problems: economic inequality, decline in government investment in public goods such as education and infrastructure, political polarization, and unfair and insecure elections that result in low voter turnout.  

Purpose LiDoña Wagner Gelli print 2019

Purpose: Address Economic Inequality

By devoting time and energy to creating innovative solutions to economic inequality one can have a life of purpose. While economic inequality is at the root of violence and mass incarceration here at home, it is also is a major cause of international migrations that are exacerbated by climate change. Here at home, 1% of the population controls more wealth than all the rest of us. Globally, consumption in the northern hemisphere is 32 times that in the southern hemisphere. While people in North America and Western Europe have turned a blind eye to this imbalance for decades, starved and exploited populations in the south now understand that the global economic system is stacked against them. New national and global economic policies are critical.

Generativity LiDoña Wagner Gelli print collage 2019

Generativity: Invest in Education & Infrastructure

The evolution of Homo sapiens occurred through investing in, caring for, and developing its off spring. Thus, our ancestors developed education that would prepare the next generation for the future and created public goods such as libraries, infrastructure, research in agriculture and health, and civic spaces for dialogue. Today we see this beginning to happen locally where people are taking employment and climate issues seriously. Two women in Utah were able to bring wind power into the state’s electrical grid. (Note: On a daily basis, family cats kill over 200 times more birds than wind farms do.) Solar farms in Georgia are being coupled with regenerative agriculture to bring new jobs and sustainable farming to its outlying areas.  

Relationships LiDoña Wagner Gelli print 2019

Relationships: Overcome Polarization

In Jared Diamond’s Upheaval, Turning Points for Nations in Crisis, he uses a model from crisis therapy to present historical examples of how seven nations addressed crises. Most chilling for me was Chile at the time of the US/Cuban missile crisis. The shift from a democracy into a dictatorship happened largely due to political polarization. In the United States today, we need to develop relationships that transcend age, geography, religion, and political boundaries in order to restore our identity as a democracy with freedom and liberty for all.

Face to Face Contacts LiDoña Wagner Gelli print 2019

Face to Face Contacts: Invigorate Democratic Participation

Youth from Parkland have taken their concern about school safety into the field, making face to face contacts that have opened fresh impetus for gun safety. Whether or not Elizabeth Warren wins the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency, she is doing our country a service by conducting a grassroots campaign that engages people in face to face conversations about what is needed for the future of local communities and the nation as a whole.

How are you engaging in face to face contacts? Do you take public transportation and greet the bus or tram driver? Do you engage in conversation with your grocery checkout person or thank those who deliver your packages and mail? Civility is a learned skill.

Regardless of your age, you can begin living a long life now by declaring a purpose, investing in future generations, developing cross-bias relationships, and being open and responsive to face to face contacts.