As America recovers from the "Great Recession," the Baby Boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964) may have been hit the hardest, as the workplace climate no longer holds the financial security of previous decades.

"They feel lost. They see hedge-funders and investment bankers as having hijacked the American Dream from the middle class," says Peter Weddle, founder and former CEO of Job Bank USA, Inc., one of the largest electronic employment services companies in the United States, and author of A Multitude of Hope: A novel about rediscovering the American Dream.

"Boomers – and all working Americans, for that matter – feel as if all of the opportunity has been sucked out of the land of opportunity, and they don't know how or even if they can succeed in this changed world."

Weddle argues that America can still be the leader of the global economy, thanks to the diverse talent of the country's workforce. He however notes that this crucial talent is being wasted, thanks to the U.S. market's emphasis on investment, making workers into disposable cogs rather than a transformative force.

So what is the solution to this devaluation of the American worker? The answer, Weddle argues, is "economic disobedience."
"If every American stands up and demands their right to be employed as a person of talent – and if they then elevate that talent and bring it to work with them – they can reclaim the American Dream," says Weddle.

And it is the Baby Boomers leading the charge, as Weddle points out. The number of 50- to 64-year-olds enrolled in college jumped 17 percent from 2007 to 2009, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

"These are the people who see this time as a moment of liberation – a chance to reinvigorate their talent so they can perform at their peak on-the-job," Weddle says. "And that self-reliance and individual determination is how our country will recapture its mojo."
A national human resources expert, Weddle says Baby Boomers wanting to revamp their viability do not necessarily have to go back to school to reinvent themselves. Weddle suggest that mature workers need to identify their talent – their innate capacity for excellence – and take a proactive approach to integrating it into their career.

"It may be a gift for getting things organized, for resolving conflicts, for explaining complex topics in simple terms," he says. "Every single one of us has a talent and when we apply it at work, our job satisfaction – and our pay – goes up.
"Instead of work being a four-letter word, it becomes something to get excited about and to feel good about. We rekindle our self-confidence, self-respect and determination and we produce an economic revolution that restores democratic capitalism."