Posted on 09/09/2014 7:39:59 AM PDT by wagglebee
How often have we heard our elderly brothers and sisters say they don’t want to be “a burden.” Who made them think such a thing? We did!
A great column in the Daily Mail by Stephen Glover indicts the UK culture for its blatant ageism–a condemnation that applies equally to the USA. From, “Why Today’s Elderly are Old Age Pariahs:”
It can scarcely be disputed that people in their 70s, 80s and 90s are increasingly made to feel they are part of a burdensome minority which is more or less surplus to requirement. What is particularly disturbing is that the kind of prejudice expressed recently by Jeremy Paxman — who said Britain has too many elderly people, and that there should be a Dignitas [the Swiss suicide] clinic ‘on every street corner’ — is now widely shared, particularly by the agencies of the State.
It’s an interesting reflection that if Paxo had said he hated Africans, the disabled or even the young, there would have been an uproar. But the elderly are easy game, and he can be rude about them with impunity. He may have been joking, but it was in poor taste to say the least — particularly given that only a few weeks earlier the House of Lords had debated Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill, which raises the prospect of overbearing relatives putting pressure on the elderly to do away with themselves for fear of being a burden.
President Obama said the elderly should often take pain pills instead of receiving curative care.
Meanwhile, the death pushers at Compassion and Choices promote suicide by self-starvation for the elderly–and are treated as a respectable patients rights group by the media and medical intelligentsia.
Glover is absolutely right: We are bigoted against the old. Shame on us!
LifeNews.com Note: Wesley J. Smith, J.D., is a special consultant to the Center for Bioethics and Culture and a bioethics attorney who blogs at Human Exeptionalism.
Unfortunately, the left is fully aware of this.
Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.
FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
If you think society hates the elderly now, just wait until it becomes even more 'diverse' and more broke.
Aging as opposed to dying gets very expensive for many who clearly don't have that type of $$$ it takes to live comfortably, so they end up in nursing hell-hole homes paid for by Federal medicaid, which of course price controls the payments.
Unfortunately I have seen relatives get old and disabled and fear that they will live too long and end up in one of them.
The elderly are not a burden. They are a source of wisdom that is too often left untapped.
I’ve seen this bigoted attitude toward the “old” right here on this site.
“The elderly are not a burden. They are a source of wisdom that is too often left untapped.”
There once was a communist writing for the New York Times who decided that with the advent of the “Age of Aquarius”, wisdom thenceforth would be found in the under 30 crowd.
Ever since “Woodstock Nation” as described by said scribe, came into existence we have been told the young are the true font of wisdom.
How, you ask was “Woodstock Nation” formed? By the addled mind of a Neu Yuk Sh*ty media person, of course.
Addendum to post 8:
Thanks to media and the Pooblik Skrewl Collective, the prevailing view regarding wisdom is:
“Wisdom - We don’t need no steeenkin’ wisdom!”
And so it came to pass.
Now, what’s left of the Woodstock Generation are today’s elderly and don’t you DARE touch their social security!
As a matter of fact, I saw it here yesterday.
I just shake my head most of the time.
Actually, as being “One of The Old Ones”,
there are millions of smart mouth idiots under 30, that i wish did not come from the American gene pool!
We may be thinking of the same thread.
Being older means that one made more than a few wise decisions in life.
Even on this thread.
I shake my head too but anymore it’s not voluntary. It’s a sign of getting older but the wiseazz in me hasn’t faded a bit nor has what little wisdom I’ve been able to accumulate. And, that wisdom, what little it may be, certainly surpasses anything I’ve seen from the Ghetto, from the teaching staff at many local high schools, and from many public servants and policy makers.
Society has changed so much in just the last ten years. We’re fortunate to have some of our elders, who remember and have learned from the past, still with us.
Stuff it hoofer.
Having paid into it for over 50 years they’ve earned it. Many defended this Country in Vietnam. I will have been paying in for 54 years this November and plan on retiring in 4 more years when my wife hit’s 62. We’ve paid for it and we’re going to get it back.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.