“The Toughest, Meanest Leader There Ever Was”
If elders do get themselves organized and come up with1 a good program and start being active, they can play a decisive role in many struggles that are going on.2 I think because of their greater experience, they can bring some clarity in places where people in other movements might tend to get confused.
There’s a problem in that both inside RC and outside, the elders’ movement is dominated by middle-class retirees who are concerned with their standard of living and having good vacations and leisure time. The great mass of elders who are living in intense poverty, which gets deeper and deeper as the years go by, are not thought about well yet.
In my opinion . . . [elders] should be leading everything. . . . Take it on yourself to be the toughest, meanest leader there ever was.
Harvey Jackins
From The Kind, Friendly Universe,
pages 235, 236, and 240
1 “Come up with” means think of, create.
2 “Going on” means happening.