I gave a talk last night at perhaps the most exclusive country club in suburban Connecticut…to about 150 folks who, one way or another, had done terribly well for themselves. I have never lived in the suburbs, but have vaguely accepted the stereotype that country club types are lucky heirs, dull business people and desperate housewives. My error. These people couldn’t have been kinder, more interesting or more interested. They were intense, Type A types. Which is, after all, how you get to join the elite in the first place.

Here’s the mildly interesting point: I have been struck by the fact that, in the Revolution in Aging in general – just as in the American Revolution – the successful and able are so often among the leaders…the ones who get it and go for it first and with the greatest passion…the ones who send dozens of copies of the books to their friends to recruit them and change their lives, too. Interesting. Ours is by no means an upper class movement but it sure includes the upper class. Disproportionately. I’d like to think it is because they are smart and have a clue about what matters and what works. But ultimately I don’t care…they are most welcome. After all, the American Revolution worked out pretty well and it was led almost entirely by the elites of the day. Rich folks generally are not much for change…why should they be? But sometimes they are and, this time, they’ve got it right. UP THE REVOLUTION, YOU PLUTOCRATS! YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT FORTY POUNDS!