May 30, 2020

A Modest Proposal

I have just a couple of wee changes to propose.

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I have a constitutional amendment in mind:

Section 1: No person born before 1965 shall be eligible to vote in any federal, state, or municipal election.

Section 2. No person born before 1965 shall be allowed to hold any elective office of the United States or any of the States thereof.

Section 3. That is all.

Sure, I’m joking. Or am I? I don’t really care what else us oldsters do. We should still get our Medicare and our Social Security. We can retire or keep on working. We can take our cruises, or we can sit around watching Fox News and bitching about the kids these days. We can write newspaper columns or compete for Nobel prizes or catch up on Netflix. Whatever. But we no longer get to tell the rest of you what to do.

This is not because I think boomers are responsible for everything bad in the world. We aren’t. But God almighty, I am sick of every last thing turning into yet another replay in our endless battle over the ’60s. Climate change. Pandemics. (Pandemics!) Artificial intelligence. Civil rights. Marijuana. Income inequality. Cold wars. LGBTQ rights. The Oxford comma. Everything. And it won’t end until every last one of us is finally hauled off to the afterlife to continue arguing about it there while Jesus rolls his eyes at us.

Donald Trump is, perhaps, the final, panicked version of this. But it’s not his world anymore. It’s not my world. We boomers will be dead by the time most of these things finally start to irreversibly ruin the country and the planet. It’s time for us to turn things over to the Xers and Millennials and get out of their way.

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The months and years ahead won't be easy. Far from it. But there's no one we'd rather face the big challenges with than you, our committed and passionate readers, and our team of fearless reporters who show up every day.

Thank you!

We didn't know what to expect when we told you we needed to raise $400,000 before our fiscal year closed on June 30, and we're thrilled to report that our incredible community of readers contributed some $415,000 to help us keep charging as hard as we can during this crazy year.

You just sent an incredible message: that quality journalism doesn't have to answer to advertisers, billionaires, or hedge funds; that newsrooms can eke out an existence thanks primarily to the generosity of its readers. That's so powerful. Especially during what's been called a "media extinction event" when those looking to make a profit from the news pull back, the Mother Jones community steps in.

The months and years ahead won't be easy. Far from it. But there's no one we'd rather face the big challenges with than you, our committed and passionate readers, and our team of fearless reporters who show up every day.

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