Amidst the firehose of daily insanity coming out of the U.S. these days, this perhaps depresses me the most.

One of the real joys as I have been spending the 2nd half of my Career in Public Service has been hanging with the Gen Y and Gen Z folks (and increasingly Gen A) who were dedicated to making genuine differences in the society and world that they live in. More so than my generation (I’ve always seen myself as an early X), this was a group that seemed to better understand that $$$ isn’t everything, that the Life part of the Work/Life equation was important, and well… That the Work part was too.

Every day that I get to be around them and see their passion for real transformation in Public Service has been an inspiration and a joy. Periodically I have alluded to the fact that I am not exactly a youngster anymore (although in my head, I'm 25) and the reality is I am now at an age where it would not be inconceivable to be thinking about retirement. What has been keeping me in the “game” has been the feeling that my experiences are still of benefit to the greater good, combined with the relentless drive and passion that these younger technologists keeping bringing to the table when we talk about ways to make things better. It's the best high there is to be had.

Most of them probably have no idea that I get more out of working with them than they can possibly be getting from me. And until recently I fervently believed that they were on the cusp of great things.

And suddenly, we are telling most of them that none of that matters…

I truly hope they weather the storm and that they are there to pick up the pieces and rebuild the destruction that is happening in our Country and our World. But for the first time I wonder if I will live to see it:

apnews.com/article/trump-musk-…