#7 - The Battle of Generations with Eyck Freymann

The Constitution rests, in part, on the principles of both liberty and equality. Liberty is the ability to live free from government interference. It is the right to act independently within society. Equality, by contrast, is the right to enjoy the same rights and opportunities as all others, and to be treated equally by the government. These two principles—liberty and equality—are often in tension with each other.

Unlimited liberty often infringes on the rights and opportunities of others. Government imposed equality sometimes hampers the liberty of individuals for the sake of society as a whole. This inherent tension between liberty and equality in our Democracy is part of the American story.

One defining feature of our Democracy is the peaceful transfer of power to the next generation. Though labeled as peaceful, it's far from polite in practice. The sheer size of the Baby Boomer generation and their seeming longevity aided by Social Security and Medicare, is taxing the capacity of the Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z young folks whose incomes are taxed to provide these benefits. However, these are the young people who are also strapped with student debt of $1.52 trillion affecting over 44.2 million young people. And our workplaces are often controlled by older leaders who don’t want to retire, or we are working in a disruptive gig economy that lacks stability, benefits, and a long term plan. We are in the midst of a disruption that is once again exacerbating the tension between liberty and equality.

In this episode of BANA, we'll be discussing what Eyck Freymann and Professor Niall Ferguson label as the Coming Generation War. Published in the Atlantic, this is a fascinating article about the future of the United States.