11-22-2016, 11:21 PM
(11-22-2016, 08:35 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: The Lost might give some indications of tendencies that might cause X elders to be neglected. The Lost as a pattern had much less formal education than later generations. Often having worked in industry as children, they may have been exposed to far more workplace toxins, especially lead and mercury, that could have messed up their minds. Coming of age before antibiotics, those who got STDs were more likely to reach tertiary stages of syphilis and gonorrhea. Stunted very often by bad childhood experiences, they rarely developed the 'sweetness and light that later elderly generations could show.
Add to this, the American High and Awakening Era featured multitudes of Americans moving across state lines at the behest of employers. But could cranky old Grandpa and Grandma make the trip and adjust to the new world? Not likely. The nursing home came into existence as a means of pushing such old people aside. It was then fairly cheap and convenient. Grandpa and Grandma would probably lose their old houses in neighborhoods becoming slums -- but who cared? Maybe they couldn't be trusted with stoves and ranges. (of course I had to lay the law down on my father on the range and stove -- the microwave was safe and acceptable, but the stove and range were off limits if I was not around. I didn't want a house fire). But his house still had some value. My brother and I expect to sell it, and I expect to use half the proceeds on some life-enriching travel and perhaps a newer car before going off to senior housing. That;s not how things were in the 1960s.
this is my opinion: we Boomers are unlikely to be liked as a group. We have given America some of its most exploitative bosses and the worst political leaders in American history. We have yet to come up with a Lincoln or an FDR, and if Donald Trump is our last President, then such might be the albatross around us. We may be the pompous asses that younger generations encourage to submit to euthanasia so that our nursing-home bills don't cost the grandchildren their college educations. The Lost didn't get the means and ended up messed up for that. We Boomers often got coddled all the way, and as a group we have really messed up the world.
Wow... Pbrower, your response is like a breath of fresh air. Not what i am accustomed to from a boomer. It has all the humility one could expect from a grey champion with the wisdom about the Lost to boot. Gen X is far to cynical to expect a grey champion to get elected, but don't think we can't spot one flowering from a mile away amongst the weeds & mark them as a rally point.
Pbrower, you can call me Steve.
I do feel the vacillations between the frenetic energy and exaustion, but i keep holding onto this hope that when Spring comes, Xers will get some sense of satisfaction that we guided the millies and hommies thru the crisis and protected the things we all hold to be most sacred collectively. Abandoned hardly seems like a reward given the importance of the task at hand... Its the 4th turning.