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the boomers were raised to be spoiled. why should they care?
Where do you people get this crap from anyway? That Greatest Generation was the one that hurled all those racial epithets at Jackie Robinson and stood four-square behind Jim Crow. Boomers called them on that. That Greatest Generation was the one behind sexism and the Glass Ceiling. Boomers called them on that. That Greatest Generation was the one that thought we should launch an unjust war in Asia. Boomers called them on that too. Today we also have leaders who conduct an unjust war in Asia, and what do you clowns do? Sit around and whine about taxes? Download more songs to your iPod? Let's face the facts: You all have some considerable distance yet to cover before you'll be catching up to the Boomers, so maybe you should get off your fat, lazy butts and get to work...
I think it safe to say that older people care no less about the younger generation than the younger generation cares about older folks.
Nursing homes where we can drop our grand parents off after convining them to sign over their house? Then we promise to visit on christmas or uhmm sometime that year anyway.
I worked in a nursing home. Most depressing experience in my life.
I think it safe to say that older people care no less about the younger generation than the younger generation cares about older folks. Nursing homes where we can drop our grand parents off after convining them to sign over their house? Then we promise to visit on christmas or uhmm sometime that year anyway. I worked in a nursing home. Most depressing experience in my life.
Well, at least those kids can't be accused of still living with their parents.
But having been through seven years of in-home elder care (physically strong, but mentally gone in this case), that's no picnic either. It's an incredibly draining undertaking, both physically and emotionally. It's unreasonable to expect people to do it, year after year after year.
But to a larger point, what's all this criticism of family? Eighteen and throw them out like an old refrigerator? That's a little like not going back to the office after lunch, isn't it? What the heck are families for if not to help each other out? Kids have needs...when they're two and when they're twenty-two, and maybe beyond that. Families are supposed to be the first line of support in meeting those needs. I don't see much accountability or personal responsibility being lived up to by parents who can't wait for the whistle to blow so they can at last punch out on the time-clock of parenthood...
Well, at least those kids can't be accused of still living with their parents.
But having been through seven years of in-home elder care (physically strong, but mentally gone in this case), that's no picnic either. It's an incredibly draining undertaking, both physically and emotionally. It's unreasonable to expect people to do it, year after year after year.
But to a larger point, what's all this criticism of family? Eighteen and throw them out like an old refrigerator? That's a little like not going back to the office after lunch, isn't it? What the heck are families for if not to help each other out? Kids have needs...when they're two and when they're twenty-two, and maybe beyond that. Families are supposed to be the first line of support in meeting those needs. I don't see much accountability or personal responsibility being lived up to by parents who can't wait for the whistle to blow so they can at last punch out on the time-clock of parenthood...
I'm not sure if I understood your post correctly, as you seem to advocate family structure and elder care but feel it is unreasonable to expect people to do it? I may just be confused as my coffee is rather weak today.
I took care of my elder mother unto her death recently and I know from first hand experience it is a challenge to say the very least. However, I also felt a deep seated obligation to do it and in the course of doing so became grateful I was the one in my family who got to spend the last years in her company. This practice we have of dumping our elderly to the care of others and allowing day care and video games substitute for child rearing is completely foreign to me. It seems in this country that the only members of society who count are those between the ages of 18-65, I just find this sad.
Personally, if it looked like I was headed toward a future of senescence and an inability to take care of my own needs, I'd just duct tape a room shut and start up an indoor BBQ. Life is meant to be lived, not suffered through.
I'm not sure if I understood your post correctly, as you seem to advocate family structure and elder care but feel it is unreasonable to expect people to do it? I may just be confused as my coffee is rather weak today.
Sorry...incomplete paragraph on my part, though I will certainly disparage weak coffee as well. At the time, I still had in mind the nursing home reference from the post I was replying to, and was meaning that long-haul caregivers come desperately to need a break, and that as good a nursing home as one can find is not at all some sort of inhumane thing to patronize for a time under those circumstances.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TnHilltopper
I took care of my elder mother unto her death recently and I know from first hand experience it is a challenge to say the very least. However, I also felt a deep seated obligation to do it and in the course of doing so became grateful I was the one in my family who got to spend the last years in her company.
A tip o' the hat. I did the same in tandem with my sister last year. This is difficult work indeed, but as in your case, there was not the slightest thought of or desire for doing anything else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TnHilltopper
This practice we have of dumping our elderly to the care of others and allowing day care and video games substitute for child rearing is completely foreign to me.
In some cases, there is just no choice at the top end (hence the wisdom of l/t care insurance), but absent the medical need, I'd agree that home care, tough as it can be, is still the best deal going. Child care on the other hand can be a plus. In each case, one or the other of us was home for the first year, and then we split shifts, my wife going in early and me late. That seemed to work well for everyone, and as the kids got a little older of course they very much looked forward to going. Pre-school was a snap for them by the time that came along. So my experience there was that once you were sure you had a good provider, day care was a plus. The socialization, the different environment, the different people...and I don't think either of them ever felt they were being farmed out or shelved or warehoused or whatever. For the most part, I think that's just a stereotype.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TnHilltopper
It seems in this country that the only members of society who count are those between the ages of 18-65, I just find this sad.
Well, I think that those under 18 have value, first as likely influencers of outgo from parental wallets, and then as near-term potential customers to be won over. But after 65 or so, people tend not to be big spenders anymore, as once you retire, a simpler lifestyle often seems more attractive for various reasons. And if you aren't going to spend any money, who the heck are you in this society anyway. I do think that sort of attitude is a great shame, as is the youth-worship culture that inclines many people I think away from appreciating the resources that older people are. That's one reason why keeping a family, if not in the same house, at least in the same vicinity seems to me to be a good idea...
The question of the OP broke my heart. I would hope tht he would see it, but possibly not, so I'm here to say it. Yes, absolutely, the older generation cares about the welfare of the younger generation. That's why about 70-74% of the registered voters between 55 and 75 voted in the last two elections--and not just about Social Security issues. I am not 65, but I am a baby boomer in the above age group. I will vote and be active to enhance the lives of young people as long as they will allow me and/or I am physically able to do so.
Our greatest concerns: America is imploding from within with the illegal immigrants, sending jobs overseas, the agendas by both Dems and Pubs that, to me, has VERY little to do with the welfare of America and everything to do with getting/keeping them in power, the shooting of our children at high schools, the dumbing down of the American male by giving rambunctious male children Ritalin--are they really all ADHD????--or is it more important to keep them in line, how difficult life is for our teenagers, many young men growing up without a good male role model, affordable housing, and our young people going into debt on too big of a house; stem cell research to see if a cure can be found for current and upcoming diseases without violating human life, how to deal with the increasing rate of exceptional ed children.
Age does not give someone a pass to participating in the future of America. What concerns me is people who choose not to vote. I was glad to learn that in the 2004 election, the 18-29 year old turnout was up 9 points to 49 percent.
Where do you people get this crap from anyway? That Greatest Generation was the one that hurled all those racial epithets at Jackie Robinson and stood four-square behind Jim Crow. Boomers called them on that. That Greatest Generation was the one behind sexism and the Glass Ceiling. Boomers called them on that. That Greatest Generation was the one that thought we should launch an unjust war in Asia. Boomers called them on that too. Today we also have leaders who conduct an unjust war in Asia, and what do you clowns do? Sit around and whine about taxes? Download more songs to your iPod? Let's face the facts: You all have some considerable distance yet to cover before you'll be catching up to the Boomers, so maybe you should get off your fat, lazy butts and get to work...
I didn't know the boomers were alive during the "teens". I seem to recall there was a major suffrage movement during WWI.
Seems to me, there are a few other tidbits of missing information.
Boomers take credit for change that happened during their lifetime, even though some of the change was initiated by generations before and after them.
I didn't know the boomers were alive during the "teens". I seem to recall there was a major suffrage movement during WWI.
Yeah, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton promulgated the Declaration of Sentiments in 1848. And if you graduated college with a degree in economics in the 1960's and were a woman, you went straight into the typing pool. If you were a married woman, you weren't allowed to have a credit card in your own name. Somebody then got rid of all that.
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Originally Posted by roseba
Seems to me, there are a few other tidbits of missing information. Boomers take credit for change that happened during their lifetime, even though some of the change was initiated by generations before and after them.
No kidding. The point, which you may not have picked up on, was that the Boomers had to and did take a whole succession of stands against what was the darker side, if you will, of that Greatest Generation that's gotten so much good press of late. You'd think these were all Audie Murphy and Mother Theresa or something. It wasn't that way.
You know what's wrong with the younger generation? They want to blame all their problems on us baby-boomers. Get a grip.
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