What’s the African Perspective?
In 1992 I visited four nations in West Africa: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Benin. One thing that struck me was how spiritual the Africans were and how in tune they were to nature. Although they may embrace Christianity or other religions, they don’t abandon their naturalistic beliefs. Africans were resourceful. They learned to make use of plants and trees in their environment for building homes and curing diseases. George Washington Carver, who was of black African descent, invented many things. And what was his secret? He tapped into the wisdom of God, the maker of all things. According to George Washington Carver http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_washington_carver.html: “I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”
George Washington Carver
American Indian Tribes
The American Indians are another group that embraced and honored the earth. The president of the Sioux Tribe is organizing a meeting of the National Congress of American Indians to discuss BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill and its impact. Perhaps they will come up with an enlightened spiritual way to clean up the oil spill or otherwise deal with the environmental crisis the spill has caused. Based on the American Indian traditions, I’m sure they will incorporate tribal wisdom.
Tribal Wisdom of Elders
In tribal cultures the elders are honored. Even if the elder has passed on, homage is still paid. They recognize the wisdom that comes from going to sleep and getting up many days. As the old saying goes “stuff happens”. So the longer we’ve been here on this earth, the more stuff we’ve walked thru and survived. Hopefully us over 50 senior folk have learned from our mistakes. The British Petroleum’s current wisdom is to use the same techniques that were unsuccessful with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill back in the 70s.
Clean Up Oil Spill
We’re all one tribe, one race – the human race. And there is one earth. So, when it comes to environmental issues, we’re all in this together. Perhaps we need to convene a tribe of seniors from all cultures to weigh in on the oil spill clean up.
In the US, us “over 50″ folks spend $2.3 trillion and
we controls 50% of all discretionary income.
In 2011:
Those of us over age 50 will respresent 25% of the population.
In that same year it is estimated that the US population will be
12.5% Non-Hispanic Black and
14.8% Hispanic origin
Marketing Implications:
If you’re starting a business, you should consider products and services that appeal to the over 50 population.
And if you’re already in business, we’re still a worthwhile target market.
Baby Boomers Go Into Un-Retirement is an interesting blog post about how baby boomers are handling retirement or not. Don’t know if Atlanta is different, but I know a lot of over 55 people who are going the NOT route.
Why?
Telecommunications used to be big in Atlanta. Telecommunications has taken a deep dive. And lots of other major employers in metropolitan Atlanta are faltering. And of course, the problem is not unique to Atlanta.
The three main effects of the recession or the financial downturns:
1) people are prematurely forced into requirement,
2) people are laid off and
3) pension funds and retirement accounts have lost value.
We’re not even going to talk about real estate, which in years past have been a source of funds for the senior citizen group. Our homes were the investments that were supposed to allow us to sustain ourselves after our working days were over. The equity that has been lost in our housing has forced the AARP aged folks to continue working to get the extra or essential spending money.
In an ideal world, many more would choose to retire. Your retirement plans wer probably to retire early. But the economic climate, both national and personal, removes some of the options. So I, as a late stage entrepreneur, am not alone in working long days and in pursuit of the dollar.
So much for retirement plans! Sandra Noble NOBLE FINANCES NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC
I started this blog to explore issues of interest to business people age 50 or over. They could be run of the mill employees or decision makers in large corporations or business owners / entrepreneurs.
Found a kindred blog written by someone who appears to be from both Canada and the United States. She provides a definition of business baby boomers in the post What are Small Business Boomers?
Since I plan to live to age 120 or longer, I don’t personally think of myself as middle aged, let alone a senior citizen. Theoretically baby boomers can include some 40 something people.
But, I’m sticking with the AARP definition, because I think there is a technology and cultural divide that starts around age 50.
Do you know anyone over 50 who likes text messaging?
How many of the over 50s even utilize that tool?
An over 50 friend of mine told me that I could turn off the text messaging capability on my phone. Without delay, I got that done.
So no Twittering for me.
(And if you don’t know what that means, you’re one of us.)
