I guess this isn’t so bad. Most dystopian sci-fi I’ve read along this line is killing people off well before 65.
Ouch...that's gonna leave a mark, LOL!
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
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This brings to mind Colorado’s Democratic governor Richard Lamm, who said that senior citizens have a “duty to die.”
A different sci-fi story had a very different outcome. The idea was to interconnect hundreds or thousands of senior citizens to supercomputer moderated virtual group consciousness. The concept was that each persons special capabilities could be shared by many others at the same time, as if they were doing it as well.
Say you were confined to a wheelchair. You could tap into anyone who was still walking on the intranet, and experience, to some extent, what they were experiencing in close to real time. In many ways, they could act as proxies for you as well. Doing things like visiting your grandchildren in another city, so you could see and hear them, while that other person spoke for you.
An example was of an elderly woman in her kitchen, trying to make chocolate chip cookies. But she doesn’t remember how. Someone else, who makes good cc cookies, is invited to walk her through it. The elderly woman still sees her kitchen and makes the cookies, while her invisible friend tells her what to do next.
Over time, while retaining their individuality, people would become more and more part of the group consciousness, chatting within it instead of their own internal dialogue.
The supercomputer, for its part, would retain increasingly more of an individual’s personality and experience, so even after they passed away, what they had contributed would continue to contribute.
Well, given the complete lack of concern about the SocSec and Medicare bubble, even to the point that the current administration is content to HALT THE COLLECTION OF MONEY (suspend the “payroll tax”) for the program, what other solution do they possibly have in mind?
Gallows humor aside, the problem is that this is inevitable and is already starting to happen in Old Europe.
Already, we get weekly stories about Britons in their late fifties and up who are told that they don’t qualify for treatment for their ailments.
The recent revelations about Daschle’s little clause in the stimulus plan is illuminating.
Socialized medicine is the hammer. Impending national bankruptcy is the anvil.
At the very least we ought to encourage old people to resume smoking (or take up the habit if they never started). We'll sell them on the "Alzheimer's prevention" angle. As smokers, they'll not only enjoy a relaxing habit and look cool but they'll also fund children's health care through tobacco taxes. As a further bonus, they'll die sooner saving on Social Security and the additional medical costs associated with extreme longevity. It really is a win-win!
Smoking. Do it for the children.