For Trudeau, 2016 must seem like a lifetime ago (cue German accent): "I couldn't image anybody who could represent more the world which will come out of this fourth industrial revolution. It will be a young world, it will be a digital world. Now who could represent such a world better than you prime minister.".That was Klaus Schwab, the founder of the Forum of Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum.."We are very glad that at the beginning of this meeting you are talking to us, to represent also a new open Canada... Now with you Prime Minister, we can make sure that in the future we strengthen the cooperation even more.".That was in Davos 2016, and Trudeau was a keynote speaker.."We are very proud of now, the young generation, like Prime Minister Trudeau...".Chrystia Freeland, who sits on the board of trustees for the WEF, must have been proud, too..This week, footage was circulating on social media of Sanna Marin, the PM of Finland, partying at her home with friends. She's dancing "and thrusting", and allegedly some of the other partiers are snorting cocaine. Marin is 36. She denies--as in "not to my knowledge"--taking any drugs..It's a new world order out there, and it is young. Just ask Lisa Laflamme, who at the old age of 58 got the boot from CTV's anchor position, to be replaced by Omar Sachedina, 39. Laflamme's predecessor, Lloyd Robinson, left at 77..So, where has all the grey hair gone?."Uncle Sam Wants You" is ancient history; now its a former comedy actor in t-shirt and fatigues and his retinue of Ukrainian models with their AR-15s and sultry eyes staring down the camera, calling the truly stylish to action. Today's most powerful leaders pose on Vogue. Take, for example, the most recent "Zelensky, Fragrance For Men", as dubbed by one YouTuber..The present global rift with threats of looming war is generational. One side is woke; the other's not. It's kids rebelling against their tyrannical parents because they won't let them reject their ancestors, embrace the Green goddess, smoke up, and experiment with every possible sexual and identity form possible. Its the sixties toked up on tech..Let's look at the ages of these young and restless:.Ukraine's Zelensky: 44.New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern: 42.Holland's Mark Rutte: 55.Canada's Trudeau: 50, and Jagmeet Singh is 44.France's Emmanuel Macron: 44.And to replace Boris Johnson will either be Liz Truss at 47, or Rishi Sunak at 42..The average age here is 46. Born in 1976. The Trudeau Senior years along with Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Clinton and Bush. As teens they watched the "end" of the Cold War. The rise of the EU (1993). Social media..(Footnote: I have left out Biden at 79, as the above are all "acting" presidents. Notably, Ocasio-Cortez is 32, Pete Buttigieg is 40, and Kamala Harris is 57).On the other hand, we have the BRICS block:.Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro: 64.Russia's Vladimir Putin: 69.India's Droupadi Murmu: 64.China's Xi Jinping: 69.South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa: 69.And a few others who are not completely towing the West's topsy-turveydom, either on COVID-19, Ukraine, gender obliteration, oil and green energy...:.Mexico's Andres Obrador: 68.Japan's Fumio Kishida: 65.Saudi Arabia's Salman Al Saud: 86.The average age here is 70. These grandparents were born in 1952. Think Harry Truman, Dwight D Eisenhower, Kennedy. The world still recovering from World War Two. The Cold War. The height of Communism V1..So, twenty-four year difference in average age between the NATO-new-world-activist side and the rest. What does it mean? Do these countries just want younger leaders? Do the old guys not look good on TV? Is there something about woke culture that promotes the young over the old?.I don't know if its a WEF--"the future is young"--conspiracy or not, but younger people do embrace change faster, and there's a reason Hitler and Mao focused on the youth:.They're moldable..That said, being over 50 puts you in a near no-man's land in this group. New haircut or not, Trudeau has just stepped into a quagmire where his empty idealism is hard up against reality..Picture a scale with a bucket on either side. One bucket is old berries; the other is young or new berries. Its the Berry Bucket theory. Old berries have been with an organization for a long time. They have gone through many leaders. They're cautious about change because they've seen it all before (cue Putin and his warnings about woke culture and Bolshevism). Over the years they have developed loyalties and a sense of what is their turf (like your potato-salad-making blue-rinse church ladies in every church across the country). They're probably sticklers for process. Come at them with a bold new plan to save the organization, and they're likely to respond with a patronizing there-there pat on the hand..The new berries on the other side have energy, they value relationships, and they are in the organization because they like the leader or what the org stands for. They have ideas. They love change and expect the org to fit their "career and self-improvement goals". Importantly, though, if the leader messes up, or doesn't just love their ideas, they leave. They head for greener pastures..Ideally you want a balance of both, and you want both sides to be able to talk to each other and see the value in each other. That's how good org's move ahead, over time. That's sustainability, and...wisdom..Would Chretien have answered the question of, "Why so many women in cabinet?" with "Because its 2015", or joked with Mark Critch of This Hour Has 22 Minutes about having a "spliff" in the PMs office? Would Chretien have asked world leaders if they want to see his socks, struck yoga poses for the cameras, dressed up in costumes, or gone surfing in Tofino on the first annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation? Would he have hidden in his cottage, when we needed a leader?.That Trudeau's risqué behaviours have no connection to policy is unlikely. That our PM would have respected tradition, family, religion, history, precedent, or our institutions is also unlikely..You know the one about the son who inherits his father's business and, having not earned it through hard work and some healthy suffering, treats people like dirt and runs that business into the ground?.I think Jane Philpott (age 61) has..It's weird to watch those early speeches, a mere six years ago in Davos. Somehow all of Trudeau's positivity--the hope, the diversity, the inclusivity, the "are we going to live in fear or hope?"--has gone poof. He has blown his wad. Having pandered candy floss for years, he's got nothing of sustenance left. That's why he's gone so quiet..Age matters. Our PM has moved through the saviour complex and builder years, and now he's staring down the legacy years (although many think he's stuck in teenage narcissism). Wise governing in a disorienting time requires a different mindset, one where character supersedes grand plans and platitudes, such as is the regular fare of the Davos world changer crowd. Sometime, the drama teacher/ski instructor has to grow up. Can't be a "lost boy" forever..Whatever the case, if Trudeau had started his political run now, he might have been a better PM.
