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Last weekend Berkshire Hathaway held its annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. 40,000 pilgrims (shareholders) traveled there in homage to the God-king of investing, Warren Buffet. In a NY Times article discussing the goings-on at this “Woodstock for Capitalists,” I read that only 19% of 18-to-29-year-olds consider themselves capitalists and only 42% supported capitalism. Turns out this didn’t surprise the event’s host. “You should be questioning it at that age,” Mr. Buffet said in an interview. “We have a system that has built abundance,” and yet he acknowledged that “it left too many people behind.” His answer for the next generation: “The conclusion shouldn’t be to kill the golden goose.” Instead, we “need to make more eggs” and “distribute them better.”
I’ll leave that for you to ponder. I was struck by the astonishing generational shift of assumptions. This would account for Bernie Sanders’ popularity with the millennials. And no doubt in recent months you’ve read how they are leading the charge away from religious identity. More than 35% now claim no religious affiliation—and the number is surely on the rise.
So they’re not capitalists and increasingly they’re not Christian (wonder if there’s a correlation here of some sort). Just a couple of markers for the remarkable cultural shifts that are taking place. And this is bigger than simply describing it as a millennial shift. Need proof? Look no further than the presidential campaign.
The earth under our feet is rumbling. We all feel it. As Bob Dylan presciently sang, “Times, they are a-changin.” He was 23 when the song was released in 1964. President Kennedy was assassinated a month later. Vietnam, civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, 9/11, Iraq and now The Donald were just ahead. Of course I should make note that as far as my generation is concerned, the hippies gave way to the yuppies who gave way to “the masters of the universe” and our current political moment.
So they’re not capitalists and increasingly they’re not Christian (wonder if there’s a correlation here of some sort). Just a couple of markers for the remarkable cultural shifts that are taking place. And this is bigger than simply describing it as a millennial shift. Need proof? Look no further than the presidential campaign.
The earth under our feet is rumbling. We all feel it. As Bob Dylan presciently sang, “Times, they are a-changin.” He was 23 when the song was released in 1964. President Kennedy was assassinated a month later. Vietnam, civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, 9/11, Iraq and now The Donald were just ahead. Of course I should make note that as far as my generation is concerned, the hippies gave way to the yuppies who gave way to “the masters of the universe” and our current political moment.
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin’
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.
If you’re clever, you’ll note some biblical allusions in these lyrics, which seems fitting, given that regardless of the changes we humans experience, there is yet an order of magnitude larger still. Thank God for that…
Faithfully,
The Reverend Dr. Stephen Bauman
Rev. Dr. Stephen P. Bauman is the Senior Minister at Christ Church.