Excellent Quotes: The New York Times

For years, those of us in the not-for-profit world have been obsessing about how--as the the Boomers' parents pass away-- the world will see the greatest "intergenerational transfer of wealth" ever. This concept has been variously viewed as a source of charitable concern (will it be handled thoughtfully by a notoriously self-centered generation?), as something to make policies about (how heavily should we tax that transfer?), as a philanthropic issue (shouldn't already well-off Boomers create endowments to give back some of their inheritance?), and as an opportunity to score shamelessly huge windfalls (let's get them rich Boomers to endow the 3rd floor bathroom of the Undergraduate Library!).

However, as the often-fascinating Thomas Friedman just noted, it's too late! The real intergenerational transfer of wealth just happened and none of us saw it coming:

"We are all going to have to pay, because this meltdown comes in the context of what has been 'perhaps the greatest wealth transfer since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917,' says Michael Mandelbaum, author of Democracy’s Good Name. 'It is not a wealth transfer from rich to poor that the Bush administration will be remembered for. It is a wealth transfer from the future to the present.'

Never has one generation spent so much of its children’s wealth in such a short period of time with so little to show for it as in the Bush years. Under George W. Bush, America has foisted onto future generations a huge financial burden to finance our current tax cuts, wars and now bailouts."-- Friedman, Thomas. "Vote for ( )." New York Times. November 1, 2008.

PS - (Woefully, I forgot to use the word "woefully" when I first published this post.) Friedman--who is prohibited by the Times from endorsing a candidate in print--did manage to sneak in a great hint about the ticket he would be voting for: "Please do not vote for the candidate you most want to have a beer with (unless it’s to get stone cold drunk so you don’t have to think about this mess we’re in)." I think Tommy Boy would enjoy listening to Al Green's "Tired of Being Alone"; now playing on iTunes.