Fear of the elderly
Ok, so let me preface this by saying I've been sick and unable to do much beside surf the 'net for a few days, in my medicine-induced stupor. I've been reading a lot of random news reports, and looking for job info, and letting MSN do some of my thinking for me. And a large portion of this was spurred by a Mardi Gras conversation with Mitch as we wandered through Walmart; random, I know. However, these little blurbs all colesced into something fairly powerful:
A nearly irrational fear of the elderly.
Why? First of all, they've been doing things like beating up would-be muggers, running marathons, and rescuing children from the deadly maws of crocodiles (but not the British children...). I would probably not be able to do these things myself, so the fact that someone my grandmother's age CAN is a bit frightening.
But the major issue at hand is their voting power. We are talking about Baby Boomers, folks. The same people who brought you protests for Civil Rights and against Vietnam. They're political professionals. They outnumber us, because they were too selfish to have a lot of children (or perhaps knew that they could retain power simply by limiting their reproduction), and they are far more politically active than we are. Gen Y, I'm looking at you. Gen Xers are a bunch of worthless slobs, too drugged out or cynical to care about anything other than flannel, Nirvana style angst rock, and not getting decent jobs. Gen Y is in a position to fight back, but we may have already lost the war. The Baby Boomers have begun to retire, and will continue to do so in record numbers over the next decade. This is, on one hand, an excellent thing for us; unlike Gen X, we will be in the right place at the right time to get some really great jobs, as profs, librarians, brokers, lawyers, etc., as former spots are vacated. Ditto housing, as the empty nesters move to condos on the beach, leaving plenty of prime suburban real estate for us.
However, there is a major problem. Those politically active former hippies will be retired, with nothing to do but follow politics and vote. We are already paying through the nose for Social Security, and those blue-haired voters will continue to give themselves ever-increasing pieces of the pie. What does this mean for us? Well, forget buying that cute little suburban house, to start; we'll all be paying more to the government than we bring home. And a family? Not in this lifetime. How would we afford it when we're already paying to support the elder generation, whose lives have been artificially extended through the uncontrolled use of medical technology and prescription drugs. Basically, no matter how good a job we get, we will not be able to afford these things. And both Gen Y and Gen X are currently too apathetic to do a damn thing about it, allowing the Baby Boomers to do whatever they damn well feel like; our only response is to whine about it a little.
That, my friends, is why I fear the elderly. That, and their incessant use of pastels in clothing.
A nearly irrational fear of the elderly.
Why? First of all, they've been doing things like beating up would-be muggers, running marathons, and rescuing children from the deadly maws of crocodiles (but not the British children...). I would probably not be able to do these things myself, so the fact that someone my grandmother's age CAN is a bit frightening.
But the major issue at hand is their voting power. We are talking about Baby Boomers, folks. The same people who brought you protests for Civil Rights and against Vietnam. They're political professionals. They outnumber us, because they were too selfish to have a lot of children (or perhaps knew that they could retain power simply by limiting their reproduction), and they are far more politically active than we are. Gen Y, I'm looking at you. Gen Xers are a bunch of worthless slobs, too drugged out or cynical to care about anything other than flannel, Nirvana style angst rock, and not getting decent jobs. Gen Y is in a position to fight back, but we may have already lost the war. The Baby Boomers have begun to retire, and will continue to do so in record numbers over the next decade. This is, on one hand, an excellent thing for us; unlike Gen X, we will be in the right place at the right time to get some really great jobs, as profs, librarians, brokers, lawyers, etc., as former spots are vacated. Ditto housing, as the empty nesters move to condos on the beach, leaving plenty of prime suburban real estate for us.
However, there is a major problem. Those politically active former hippies will be retired, with nothing to do but follow politics and vote. We are already paying through the nose for Social Security, and those blue-haired voters will continue to give themselves ever-increasing pieces of the pie. What does this mean for us? Well, forget buying that cute little suburban house, to start; we'll all be paying more to the government than we bring home. And a family? Not in this lifetime. How would we afford it when we're already paying to support the elder generation, whose lives have been artificially extended through the uncontrolled use of medical technology and prescription drugs. Basically, no matter how good a job we get, we will not be able to afford these things. And both Gen Y and Gen X are currently too apathetic to do a damn thing about it, allowing the Baby Boomers to do whatever they damn well feel like; our only response is to whine about it a little.
That, my friends, is why I fear the elderly. That, and their incessant use of pastels in clothing.