The phrase “OK boomer,” which is a derogatory salvo aimed at my generation, is probably a well-deserved one. The contempt for baby boomers by millennials and other young groups is understandable when taken in context of the world we are bequeathing them as their inheritance. Along with the developing apocalypse we experience as climate change, we can add mass murder, political instability, cultural wars, neverending proxy warfare (terrorism), and the nebulous and satirical term (ala Stephen Colbert) truthiness. What in the world does truth mean nowadays?
When Greta Thunberg shakes her finger at me and bellows “How dare you,” I quake and shudder that this little girl and others of her generation have every right to come after us for the flaming mud pie we are handing over. The term “usufruct” is an archaic concept that refers to turning over a property short of destruction or waste. In other words, handing it down in good or better shape than you found it. Imagine!
Horst Holstein, Salt Lake City