Over-50

Retirement Relocation Interrupted - AZ, TX, SC Had100% Increase in COVID-19 Cases in 1 Month

The moving van probably won't be stopping by many of the high cost or weather-challenged locations. At least not for those choosing or being forced into retirement.

Those designated lower-cost/more-pleasant-weather states such as Arizona, Texas, and South Carolina have had a 100% increase in COVID-19 cases during the past month, reports Daily Mail. The elderly are at higher risk of dying if they become infected. You know that, of course.

In a sense, the options for the Next have become Retirement Relocation Interrupted. Even traveling, never mind a full-scale move, has become a life-and-death gamble. 

The candid admit COVID-19 is not manageable, not yet. That means it's up in the air when relocation for retirees and the semiretired is possible. 

How should the "stranded" cope?

Here are 4 tips:

• Create joy in your current circumstances. You don't have to have a memory of this pandemic as an unhappy time. There are plenty of people around eager to join you in optimism. Find them. Regroup from the doom and gloom crowd. 
• If the high cost of living where you are is eating into your monthly budget and financial reserves, get work. Any type. There are plenty of full-time, part-time, and contract options. They range from stocking shelves in Target to being a security guard in Goodwill. Here, free to click open, is my guide on landing, holding, and moving on to better work, no matter what Download Outwitting ageism. When I was reconfiguring my communications and coaching boutiques to telecommuting I took on three part-time jobs. Those also helped me to learn new technologies "on the company."
• Embrace minimalism. A lawyer who had been forced out of real estate into early retirement made it his business to adopt radical frugality. That has enabled him to pursue interests he put off since law school. They include music. Eventually he could turn that into a profit center.
• Develop new interests. Yes, you can start up a new kind of life at any time, anywhere. Actually, you could develop new credentials for earning income. There can be online certification for expertise in digital marketing or providing counseling to substance abusers. You can also start a an enterprise that's transportable.

COVID-19 may put your relocation on-hold. But it shouldn't do that to your life. These years are not coming back.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Relocations & Retirement - Leaving the Car Behind in The Old Life

Public transportation such as subways is perceived as risky in the time of COVID-19.

New cars are expensive. The 2021 Chevy Trailblazer runs about $19,000. According to Nerd Wallet, the payments and all the rest could set you back more than $700 a month.

Maintaining an aging vehicle is also expensive. In addition, there is the constant dread of what could go wrong. 

Meanwhile, employment uncertainty has not be worse since The Great Depression.

Visions of the Repo Man dance in too many heads.

ProPublica also documented that the majority of the over-50 will be forced out of jobs. And only one-tenth of them will land jobs which involve comparable compensation. The timing might be right to surrender to the reality that the career is over. Instead, the focus can be on picking up work in order to bring in income for semiretirement or retirement. The decision usually means lowering the overall cost of living through relocation. Trade in Long Island Sound on the Gold Coast of Connecticut for the Atlantic Ocean in Mobile, Alabama or Gulfport, Mississippi.

So, The Wall Street Journal reports that what is catching on is what might be called "the alternate mode of transportation." That includes mopeds (electric and gas), bicycles (electric and gas), tricycles (one gear and multiple gear), and electric scooters.

The alternate mode of transportation is solo and personal, indicates WSJ.

I would add that it's cheap. The latter matters more and more. What the current surge in virus cases can do to employment can be horrific. Worse could be the impact if there is a second wave. Sure, policy makers are chatting up Universal Basic Income (UBI). But, essentially that's peanuts.

To wean myself from the pricey habit of four wheels, I donated my 2010 Chevy to Kars4Kids. 

Next I purchased a trike (adult bicycle) for $400. It was one gear and got me about nine miles from my residence and back. The exercise yielded results. Stress became more manageable and my middle-aged stomach bulge receded. 

When I decided I wanted to venture beyond nine miles I purchased a 50 cc (doesn't require a special motorcycle license in Ohio) moped for $800, plus tax and fees.

Once I mastered two wheels again (in graduate school I had had a Honda 90) I put the trike up for sale on app Nextdoor. Membership on that app is free and so are for-sale notices.

Because alternate transportation is in, the tricycle went in about 15 hours, for $300. I had used it for six months. So the cost for me per month had been about $15. Cheap. In addition, there had been the five bucks I had paid a neighbor to patch a flat. Theft had been covered by my renters insurance which costs about $150. But the deductible is $500. Not very helpful, is that. 

Maintaining the moped is a bit more expensive.

Gas here in Toledo, OH is over two bucks a gallon. I use about eight gallons a week.

Insurance, including for theft, is about $150 annually. The deductible in $250.

The analogue of what Jiffy Lube does for cars runs about  70 bucks every 1,500 miles.

Also, as with cars, road service is necessary. I bought a special policy for motorcycles from AAA. I have already used it twice. Mopeds break down, just like cars. So far the repairs were covered under the warranty.

Yes, there have been theft and vandalism. The first week the mirrors were stolen. Replacing them had cost 20 bucks. In the residential complex I have since moved from, a miscreant cut into the plastic. I covered that with duct tape. Of course, it will negatively impact resale value. Mopeds are not invulnerable to the darkness in mankind. 

The anecdotal evidence is abundant that Main Street is interested in alternate transportation. With both the trike and the moped, daily at least five people stop me to ask about purchase price, maintenance costs, and personal safety. A growing issue with the moped is: gas or electric. I explain the inconvenience of electric if one doesn't reside in a progressive location such as a college town. 

Given how much I like Everything Moped, I am considering relocating to a part of the U.S. where alternate transportation has caught on and where it could be used year-round (that is, no harsh winter). Shipping a moped is expensive. I will likely sell it on Nextdoor and buy a two-wheeler with more power. That could be a 125 cc. 

With telecommuting for my business and a minimalist lifestyle I got it that a car is an unnecessary fixed cost and an emotional burden. Regarding the latter, I had been in sustained angst about how much repairs would run. 

In addition, there is Uber. Those rides cost less than half what traditional taxi service does.

Renting a car, if one price-shops, can be affordable. When I relocate I will do that for about a week while I get all my ducks in a row, as the saying goes. 

Also, alternate transportation is green.

The car is probably not dead. But the need for it is being questioned. Alternate transportation is an option those without children and retirees could find a gift that keeps giving - in cost-savings, fun, and a sense of freedom from the past.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Career Interrupted - Shift Mindset to Earning a Living

Even before COVID-19, ProPublica documented two brutal realities.

One was that if you are 50 or older, the odds were not on your side that you would hold onto that good career job. You would be forced out. That could take the form of being presented with an early-retirement package, being laid off, or getting the ax through a termination with cause. 

And, two, there was only a 10% chance you would earn comparable compensation in your next job.

COVID-19, of course, has darkened that employment situation. 

Currently, 2.4 million between age 55 and 64 are out of work, primarily because of COVID-19. Among those 65 or older, beginning in March when the pandemic took over, the jobless rate surged from 3.7% to 15.6%.

Clearly, there is a phenomenon taking shape on a large scale: Career Interrupted. Losing a job, whatever way that occurs, could mean the end to that career for the aging.

However, that doesn't have to mean the end of being able to earn decent or even abundant income from work per se. AARP documents that twice as many of those 65 or older are working currently than had been in 1985. Their earning power can be good.

The ways they are bringing in income may not be through what had been their long-term career path. 

A replacement that is gaining traction, confirms the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, is entrepreneurship. During their former careers, the aging had developed the skills and confidence to operate their own business. That could be a franchise in which the structure is there. Or it could be an enterprise from scratch.

Also, there is the exploding-in-growth field of contract assignments. Those laid-off over-60 in-house lawyers can register for contract document review work. The compensation will not be peanuts. But it won't match the full-time former salary, plus benefits.

Another option is training, including online, to be certified in a line of work that is new to the professional. That could be an Google AdWord expert or a counselor for substance abusers.

What might be a surprise to some seniors is that in states such as Arizona which are aging-friendly it's possible to pick up full-time employment, which includes benefits. The examples range from call centers to sales. There are versions which are totally work-at-home.

Given the volatility of the labor market, it might not just be the aging who have to make the mindset shift from careerism to simply earning a living. I recommend to Gen Z and their parents that's how they assess educational majors, minors, internships, and part-time jobs.

The issue is: What combination will equip members of Gen Z to start and continue to make a good living?

Careers come and careers go. Just ask journalists. In the 2017 book "Disrupted," former reporter Dan Lyons tells his story of extreme hustle, after he was knocked out of the media box. 

Across generations, the scary reality is putting together what can ensure, at least for a while, financial survival. A useful guide is the book "What Color Is Your Parachute?" Each year an updated edition comes out. Public libraries stock multiple copies. And Amazon sells them used as well as new.

The timeframe has mutated into just-in-time for making a buck.

John Walters, who's in the creative niches, advised those in the difficult field of the arts to position and package work as a kind of hitchhiking. Stick out the thumb. The wait might be tedious. But eventually someone stops and says, "Hop in." For a while, yeah, it's okay. A good living is being earned. Walters' book is "Make Trouble." That attitude seems to apply to most lines of work, not just the creative arts. 

In my late 50s, I was an early adopter of blogging. A public relations agency said, "Hop in." I earned outstanding compensation for four year. Then, it was back on the road with my thumb out. Since then, that's been the ritual, over and over again.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

The Future of Work: Pay to Play Could Become Standard (especially for over-50)

On its website, Rooftop Slushie describes itself as platform in which job searchers can anonymously ask questions about careers and seasoned professionals, who have been vetted, answer them.

One of the categories on the website does indicate that the latter can earn money doing this. Well, since career experts and executive coaches bill all the time for such help, the transaction seems benign.

However, Business Insider picks up on the possible undercurrent of lousy ethics. The media outlet portrays the platform as really about "selling" job referrals for $20 to $50 each. Those interested in applying for a job at the tech giants, especially Facebook and Google, present themselves anonymously to those employed at those corporations. The professional vets them, if appropriate makes a referral, and then makes a few bucks on the side.

Business Insider observes that some experts in the job-hunt niche have ethical concerns about this kind of transaction. 

In addition, some might wonder why do employees in major tech corporations, who likely earn better than average compensation, engage in this process? Doesn't that raise a red flag about how much clout they have in their sector? 

On the other hand, there are myriad digital sites oriented toward seeking work that are essentially pay to play.

One is LinkedIn ProFinder. That platform operates like this. Freelancers, including those searching for public relations assignments, sign up for the version of Premium which offers access to ProFinder. The cost is $59.99 a month, with a discount for an annual subscription. Cancellation with full refund is possible for 60 days. Note that it's the freelancer, not those hiring, who ponies up the fee. This is very different from the executive search business. 

After signing up, what LinkedIn assesses as appropriate opportunities appear in the LinkedIn inbox. During that month, the freelancer can provide a proposal for 10. The prospect may or may not respond. Along with the ability to submit proposals the subscriber has other benefits such as contacting 15 LinkedIn members whose profile is behind the Premium wall. 

Another pay-to-play platform is Upwork. It also charges the freelance the fee. For billings under $500, that will be 20% of the revenue. But that goes down to 5% for a lifetime when billings reach $10,000.

The problem with Upwork is that it's a global platform. In bidding for assignments, the U.S. ghostwriter could be competing with a communications expert in India who is willing to accept considerably less. 

Ethics?

For those who are ambitious to land a good job in a brandname corporation and for those who need freelance work to keep a roof over their heads, the issue of ethics may seem irrelevant. To those analyzing that dynamic it could be assessed as exploitation.

Meanwhile, as The New York Times detailed, the second wave of COVID-19 layoffs hit white collar workers hard. Many have been unable to land comparable jobs or even freelance assignments. Their professional lives are in limbo. Given that the worst might not have kicked off in COVID-19, they may be in limbo for years. To them pay to play might not seem reprehensible. 

Actually, pay to play could be the salvation of the over-50. ProPublica research hammered that they are likely to be forced out of those good jobs. Also, if they are hired for another job, the odds are that only one in 10 of them will earn comparable income. 

A useful guide for the hunt for work is "What Color Is Your Parachute?" It points out that those who are hired are not necessarily the best at what they do. Their edge is that they become the best at marketing themselves. Each year a new version is published. Multiple copies are available at the public library. Amazon sells used ones. 

No surprise, more media outlets are chatting up Universal Basic Income (UBI). One way of describing that concept is this: Those opting out of work receive a monthly strings-fee stipend. They can apply those funds to paying the rent and/or financing their art. 

The Future of Work may be less and less work available. Pay to play may become standard, configured to pass ethical and legal muster.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Early Retirement: The New Kind of Startup

Like so many corporations in the COVID-19 era, Ingevity had a drop in demand. 

Part of its resulting cost-cutting measures included an early retirement program.

As Law.com reports, its current general counsel Katherine Pryor Burgeson, 62, hopped aboard that version of the austerity train. She will stay on until there is a smooth transition for her successor Ryan Fisher. 

Early retirement differs from FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) in that it usually doesn't represent a planned goal.

Instead, the employers offer a package. At the time it seems financial, emotional, and professional common sense to accept it.

Essentially, early retirement is becoming a new rite of passage for professionals. Just like the challenge of transitioning from a life of formal education to the work world, it can either be wrenching - or the fun of starting off all over again. 

In the latter, the mindset is entrepreneurial.

One corporate lawyer I coached who had specialized in compliance explored buying a variety of franchises. He had had with law and wanted to do something else. At age 58, he knew he could be working for two more decades.

Finally, he decided on a we-bring-it-to-you tutoring service. In the privacy of their homes the students felt no stigma about needing extra help. The fun part came from having to learn social media to promote the business in his assigned territory. The tutor he himself hired was 25 years old. 

Another lawyer, whose expertise had been real estate, returned to his first love - music. His father, a prominent lawyer, refused to pay for his education if he had majored in music.

Long-term, he intended to establish some kind of online enterprise dealing with music. In the interim, he hustled up copywriting assignments for music whatevers. On the side, he studied Buddhism and adopted a minimalism mindset. Leaving behind the materialism of his former life was an adventure for him. He boasted that his rent, including utilities, was $565 monthly. 

A third lawyer had taken a package from the state. In her mid 50s, she was all set with healthcare coverage. The pension needed to be supplemented, though. Because she assumed the Next would be easy, it proved very difficult. In coaching, we decided that she couldn't and maybe shouldn't exit the law box. She retrained for bankruptcy and does that as a contract lawyer for a small firm. 

Here, free to download, is my guide on how to break free of a comfort zone. I myself learned those fundamentals when I had been a graduate assistant for the Dale Carnegie Systems.

Later I lectured on those basics of transition at the New York State Bar Association.

Aging professionals often get stuck when they stand in their own way. The number-one reason for that is their compulsion to replicate the past, especially their previous compensation. Yet, ProPublica documented that the Next for those over-50 will only match former earnings in 10% of the cases. For the other 90%, it's necessary to embrace financial downshifting. 

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

Parachuting Out of The 3 Regrets

The fallout from COVID-19 threw too many for a loop.

In addition to the loss of lives, the pandemic created unexpected financial emergencies. The results of those will ripple through the economy this summer. The Repo Man will be prowling neighborhoods. Homelessness can become the new normal. 

No surprise, what a survey by Bank Rate found is this: 23% of those adults surveyed regret not having created a reserve fund for just that type of emergency, reports Fox 5. After all, being stranded financially is not supposed to happen to adults. Only youth is allowed to become entwined in that kind of pickle and bounce back to be sheltered by Mom and Dad.

The two other financial regrets are not saving enough for retirement and piling on so much debt. 

The good news is that the situation is reversible.

More income can be brought in. Working two and three jobs used to be what was usual in the 1950s in the immigrant neighborhoods of Jersey City, New Jersey. Also, there was the unique entrepreneurial spirit.

Women sewed First Communion dresses in their fourth-floor walkup.

Men developed brands for fixing cars on the cheap.

And, at age 11, I had my own Wallace Brown Greeting Card franchise.

In addition, I got my first two-wheeler by selling a record number of subscriptions to the Newark Star Ledger. 

Along with increased flow of income in is socking it away in mundane safe kinds of investments. Only about for keeping a person or family afloat for three months should be socked away in the checking account. 

A third point of exit from falling off the cliff financially is the ethos of minimalism. Even families don't need that much. Having lots of things or a trophy zip code address is traded off for having peace of mind.

At the state park in Toledo, Ohio, families pile into boats. Those I speak with tell me that boat is an extended family affair. Everyone pitches in on the expense and the maintenance. That boat also constitutes "vacation." 

Incidentally, retirees usually don't investigate the low cost of living in Midwest locations such as Toledo. A small one-bedroom at Maple Creek Apartments goes for $425 to $475 monthly, plus utilities. In contrast, in Tucson, Arizona, which is assumed to be Retiree Paradise, the small one-bedroom at Vista Montana runs between $675 and $750, plus utilities. 

The Toledo world-class museum is free.

The public library system provides free tutorials for learning and free meetings of groups such as the Humanist Society.

Public transportation is ok. That means it's possible to go carless. Nerd Wallet documents that owning a car can set back a budget about $700 a month. Imagine investing that $700 in a mutual fund of municipal ponds. 

Reflection: Money is a reality that has to be managed. There need be no fear of running out of money. Wise management ensures the money is always there. 

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.

It's Becoming Okay Again Not to Be Wealthy

Once golden, publishing empire Conde Nast has become a symbol of what are now labeled Un-American values - or of values which should be Un-American.

In this case, it's the ethos of exclusion.

To consider oneself a member of the Conde Nast "tribe" you had to enjoy elite tastes. Yes, you read Bon Appetit. You looked to Anna Wintour for guidance on fashion. You were probably even invited to the Vanity Fair Academy Awards party.

Slowly and currently very very rapidly the culture of inclusion is replacing that sense of specialness. The New York Times asks if Conde Nast can survive the new order.

However, it isn't only in the values sandbox that Conde Nast struggles. Like so many with a print legacy it can't get its footing in a digital world. In 2017, it lost $120 million and financially things haven't gotten much better since. Folio calls it "Paradise Publishing Lost."

Meanwhile, Wintour personally keeps taking it on the chin for not being a kind human being. During another era of upheaval - the Industrial Age - novelist Charles Dickens declared it was only the Milk of Human Kindness which could get society through all that. It seems America is taking that to heart. Even help-wanted ads are specifying that only nice people apply. 

It's unlikely that Conde Nast and its leadership such as Wintour can retrofit themselves, at least not fast enough, to be relevant in the new order.

Influence has shifted to social networks such as LinkedIn Updates, Twitter, and Instagram. And those, instead of being controlled by publishers and editors as at Conde Nast, are totally open.

Some of us who were on the front lines of the early 1970s counterculture see myriad parallels between 2020 and then. Society broke open.

The Boston Women's Health Book Collective let us know that we females were all beautiful. Its manifesto had been the publication "Our Bodies, Ourselves." Finally, women could love themselves in the body they were born with.  

In the emerging culture of inclusion we can love ourselves even if we're not wealthy. In some circles minimalism is catching on. That contentment with what one has is replacing the hunger for more. 

Be a Post COVID-19 winner. Exactly the right positioning and packaging for your messaging. Complimentary consultation for what you need for strategy, research, ghostwriting, and editing janegenova374@gmail.com.

No Longer the Elephant in the Room: Professional Decline

" … full-scale professional … decline can feel, to some, as threatening as death itself." - Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic, June 4, 2020.

Careers are lasting longer. That could because human beings are living longer and maintain good health. Therefore, they can remain productive in the workforce well into their late 60s, 70s, and beyond. Also, the increase in the years of a professional life can be the result of simply needing the money. This is not your father's retirement. The cost of living, with a few exceptions, has become high throughout the U.S.

Along that extended career journey there are those who blossom in new ways or fit into unexpected roles. 

Among the late bloomers has been Clint Eastwood. Now 90 years old, his later productions such as "Miracle Dollar Baby" and "Unforgiven" have been authentic art. 

At law firm Paul, Weiss, chairperson Brad Karp has added on a global leadership position in philanthropy and social justice. His initiatives range from the Paul, Weiss Coronavirus Relief Center to creating a consortium to eliminate racial bias. Simultaneously, he manages about 1,000 lawyers at the firm.

University of Chicago research professor David Galenson documented that phenomenon of the late bloomer or game-changer in his book "Old Masters and Young Geniuses."

More often, though, is the awareness of not being the player one used to be - or the fear that could soon occur. Among the poignant memes in "Boston Legal" had been Denny Crane's observing that he could no longer sustain his once-brilliant performance as a lawyer. Instead there would be only the occasional flashes of genius. 

Professional decline, points out Brooks, can take many forms. Those range from others receiving the attention and rewards you had to not being able to keep up with what used to be the expected daily workload.

The usual response to that unraveling is denial, embedded in a thick emotional wrapper of fear. Brooks hammers that only worsens how decline impacts a professional life.

As in so many spiritual programs - be they Buddhism or the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous - Brooks' advice is acceptance. Yes, embrace that reality and go on from there.

That "there" could be a shift to semiretirement, rebranding, delegating more and taking on the role of manager, reducing the number or intensity of assignments, and/or forcing yourself to learn new skills. In addition, there is the option of retiring. That's what Johnny Carson did when at the top of his game. 

Among those who are pulling that off well has been Betty White. She created new space for herself as The Aging Woman. Bill Gates shifted from the fast-moving tech sector to funder and thought leader for making the world a better place. 

Among the professionals who might be stumbling is investment guru Warren Buffett. Although not all have given up on him, enough have. It makes you wonder why he hadn't left center stage when his act was still engaging. 

Also, in the legal sector, you got to ask if iconic David Boise, founder of Boies Schiller and Flexner, should consider rebranding. In 2020, there has been at Boies Schiller the "Partner Diaspora."

With the numbers of aging who are still doing paid work growing, the issue of decline is no longer the elephant in the room. It's palpable. Every day you size up your colleagues and yourself asking: Do they and I still got it?

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Yeah, Find a Hobby - The Beginning of the End of Work

In a very bad last week one development cast the most darkness.

That was Microsoft's announcement that its News unit (MSN.com) was replacing about 50 human editors with robots. The giant tech company had opted for Artificial Intelligence (AI), not human intelligence, to make judgment calls about what news should be selected for viewing. 

Now we know: Knowledge kinds of work, not only production tasks, could be and would be automated. Yes, the Microsoft move signaled the beginning of the end of work for the majority of humans. 

Sooner than later the entire role of the human being will have to be reviewed. Not that our central identity had always been work-centric. Back in the Garden of Paradise Adam and Eve enjoyed a lifestyle without work. Then they screwed up. They were sentenced to work.

For policy leaders around the world, Universal Basic Income (UBI) is gaining acceptance.

After COVID-19 derailed the economy of Spain, there is some version of UBI for 2.3 million of its residents.

Meanwhile the weekend of social unrest following George Floyd's death will have even conservative leadership in America thinking about UBI.

Expect high-brow media such as PBS to feature segments on the peril of so much youth around the world having no work prospects. Already, I have been ghostwriting white papers on that tinder box. 

Meanwhile, even some hard-charging careerists have had it with worshipping at the altar of work. That - often called The Protestant Ethic - is the real religion of America. But in work more of us no longer trust.

All generations have gotten knocked around, badly. The Class of 2020, ranging from the BA/BS crowd to JDs, is scrambling.

Seasoned professionals are losing those big jobs. Influential media outlet Law.com has a podcast in which Silicon Valley lawyer Cynthia Cole attempts to remove the stigma associated with layoffs. Recently 65,000 jobs went poof in the legal sector. To survive COVID-19 fallout law firms will have to up the pace of automating tasks on the low end like document review and on the high end such as strategic planning for case management.

Then there are the growing number of us over-50. Research by ProPublica hammers us with the reality that there is a more than 50% chance we will be forced out of our jobs and only a 10% chance we will land a comparable one. The self-employed are faring better, for now. If a global economic depression settles in for the long term we entrepreneurs could also experience the end of work.

It's not unthinkable that governments, including that of the U.S., will put out notices asking for volunteers to stop working or looking for work. Instead, they will opt to receive UBI. Humanist organizations will introduce memes about a meaningful life without work. 

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

OK, Boomer Reaches Back to Summer of 1967, Counterculture

No surprise, urban unrest has broken out post the George Floyd death. That has spread from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, reports Daily Mail.

Meanwhile the summer has kicked off unusually warm in certain parts of the U.S.

There is also economic despair. Homelessness will surge when folks can't pony up the June rent.

OK, Boomers recall the Summer of 1967.

Cities went up in flames.

Police headquarters were attacked.

The mindset of the front lines of protestors was: We have nothing to lose.

Fear just wasn't in play for them. 

Interestingly, what followed was the Counterculture, a peace and love movement embedded with socialism. There was even a challenge to the legal notion of private property. Abby Hoffman published a manifesto through "Steal This Book."

Coops sprung up to provide low cost whatever to The People.

There were free clinics, for both physical and mental problems.

Careerism was challenged. Yes, certain ideologies encouraged dropping out.

The second wave of feminism seeped into the culture. 

Many OK, Boomers changed. Some, of course, did not. The ones who didn't were on university campuses, tactical bases for spreading the Counterculture message, in schools of business.

Then a severe economic recession swept over the land. The Counterculture itself became an anachronism.

But there remained a vestige of belief in the ability of The People to change the system.

Ralph Nader effectively implanted the consumer revolution. That shifted the legal system to protection and the regulatory one to punishment. Suing became a tool of The People. Today The People include the plaintiffs in the gender lawsuit "Tolton, et al. v. Jones Day." The one-time cowering masses learned about "rights."

Affirmative Action was institutionalized.

Both The Pill and legal abortion freed sexual mores from Puritanism.

Can that kind of scenario become the game-changer again in America:

Urban violence

A New Mindset

Socialistic institutions

Law for The People

Extreme careerism takes a hit

Hedonism (after so much suffering)?

Meanwhile, the legal sector awaits its 2020 version of the Nader Revolution. Jobless members of the JD Class of 2020, laid off associates, and partners forced into early retirement might decide to have a crack at a New Legal Deal for Everyman and Everywoman.

Amazingly, elite law firm Paul, Weiss has been an early adopter in equipping The People with what they need to navigate COVID-19. The Paul, Weiss chairman Brad Weiss organized a posse of pro-bono lawyers to establish the unique Coronavirus Relief Center.

In April, Paul, Weiss also established the Sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Governance Advisory Practice. That embodies the Triple Bottom Line of the new capitalism. That is, business operating not just in the pursuit of profit, but also on behalf of the people and the planet. 

Paul, Weiss can evolve into a symbol of emerging ethos of self-empowerment. 

And, We OK, Boomers can emotionally, socially, financially, and spiritually time travel back to a more simple and more humane time. We no longer have to be only our work - and only our private property. 

The new order post-COVID-19 being predicted by thought leaders such as Henry Kissinger is really the old order of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.