I am now officially sick of old people
I’ve had it with that old creep Mike Castle and the whole generation of old creeps in Leg. Hall.
Old people are getting on my freaking nerves and guess what….the United States leads the world in only one health statistic….Life expectancy after 72.
By Phoebe Fay – June 25, 2008, 6:47PM
Ralph Nader’s latest “white guilt” comments pushed me over the edge. I’m officially sick of old people.
Now, I’m not exactly young (my driver’s license says 42, but I don’t believe it because I have absolutely no answers to life, the universe, and everything). I was born after the Boomers, but early enough that I don’t necessarily really relate to the Gen Xers. I do, however, stand with Generation X on one thing: white guilt is a stupid and absurd concept in presidential politics.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone under 40 even use the phrase white guilt. Mostly, you hear it from Baby Boomers and older, mostly from people who are just too stuck in some old reality to fathom a legitimate reason people might support a black candidate for office.
I’m not going to say that the younger generation is post-racial or has moved beyond identity politics or anything grand and sweeping like that. There’s still work to do, and I don’t expect we’ll reach any promised land beyond identity politics anytime soon. I do think, however, the younger generation is light years ahead of the Baby Boomers on this issue.
And I do hope, ever so fervently, that old farts will shut their mouths occasionally and listen to their children and grand-children on the issue of race. – via TPM cafe
Is it cool yet to blame old people (and their pension funds) for the high price of oil? I mean, they all drive those big gas-guzzling Oldsmobuicks everywhere, when they should be driving those dinky little Smart cars that don’t kill as many people when they plow into a crowd of pedestrians.
Mandatory re-testing(driving) after age 65.
We need to blame policy not people. But the people who make bad policy or stilted policy choices should be asked why they did so and ask them to look at how it is affecting the younger generation. For example, the credit crunch has left at least 73,000 new homeless middle class in the last month in one county in California, over an estimated between 1 and 2 million people this year.
What is interesting about the case in California is that their homelessness is not because of bad decisions or bad loans, of course each person’s story is different, but many of them have been put out of the system becuase they missed a single student loan payment which affected their credit report which was sold to their employer and then traded between employers so that they cannot pay their student loan; becuase of a post Sept. 11th law making credit the “reliable judge of character” so these otherwise bright and decent young folks get to live on the rails with their newly minted MS’, MA’s, MBA’s and PhD’s.
The BBC is planning a special on this situation.
They soberly note that we “may be the only country in the world that behaves this way towards its younger generation” and the laws that enabled that to happen are what needs to be called into question.
We added around 73,000 homeless in one county in California last month as a result of these policies; most of them relatively young and now living in their car at new car parks sometimes with their kids.
The only other place I can think of that is a little like this was Indonesia’s command and control economy under Suharto and Chile under Pinochet, the only difference being we are not openly killing the young through force, just through slow starvation, financial disaster, or home foreclosure. While at the same time we give corporations and others more control over their lives.
If we do not accept this reality or cannot bear to see that as morally acceptable, then I think we have a responsibility to change the mechanics that allowed this to occur- like adding protections for the people and limiting violations of or access to private information. I mean that really is a morally better point of view.
Otherwise, we can anticipate that young people will be angry at their elders for doing this to them. I think that that is a pretty simple equation.
The other law that is troubling is a propsal to have background checks on all adults who work with or have children, with a “future psychological protection” that predicts whether at some point in the future they will become abusers. So say in 2030 someone decides the adult could hit their kid, under the law they could be barred from employment like teaching based on that projection. Not based on past behavior. So that needs to be called into question.
The thing that is interesting about both of these laws is that they favor people from other countries who have no background in America and whose records are in another capital or in foreign local government offices and work directly against our own young people.
Ever see Logan’s Run?
Hi Pandora no I haven’t seen it. I generally like old movies but must have missed that one, care for a synopsis?
Dear Jason
(my driver’s license says 42, but I don’t believe it because I have absolutely no answers to life, the universe, and everything). Wow ! This recognition alone reveals maturity beyond your age. I am VERY old and feel the same way.
Helen Hayes said
“The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy.”
Well, I am way past 70 and I am still in awe of everything.
The only thing that bothers me are those smartasses who know everything without ever reading a book.
Frieda, you have acquired wisdom.
Brian, Logan’s Run is worth the rental. It stars Michael York and is set in the future. At the age of 30 everyone must go to Sanctuary. Umm… sanctuary is the ultimate PR move. Go ahead and rent the movie. Actually it’s pro-old people and wisdom like Frieda’s.
Dang it Frieda. I knew the crazy generalization was going to blow up in my face.
Pandora – I thought it was 25 when they were…uh…’recycled.’ I could be wrong, it was a long time ago, but…but…Farrah….oh…
What the hell am I talking about? I was pre-pubescent then!
Oh…Farrah…
Smitty, It was Jenny Agutter – NOT Farrah. And the age was 30, not 25! Geez! You young pups!
buzzzz…..Farrah was indeed in the movie, but she wasn’t Michael York’s partner in sexy crime (no, I am not referring to Michael York like that). Farrah ran the so-called “beauty shop.”
It’s the scene where Michael York got the laser burn on his arm. You are right about the age of 30, tho.
Geez! You “old” people! 😀
Here’s the imdb link to Logan’s Run.
Jason . If things don’t blow up into your face once in a while, it means you are not doing anything worthwhile.
Okay, Smitty, I forgot Farrah’s “bit” part, but I was enraptured by Michael York. (Sigh) Wasn’t every young girl!
DV – Pandora just asked you a question.
Seriously, Jason, what a completely inappropriate sentiment. Unfortunately, it seems to be a pretty constant theme of immature arrogance from many Obama supporters: Old = Bad, Young = Good.
For a crew that crows so much about unity, you guys tend to be pretty divisive. I kind of thought unity meant everybody coming together to a middle ground of mutual respect. It kind of seems like you think it means you stand still and everyone else treks over to you so you can spit at them.
Wow…I never saw this as a connection to not support Obama.
P – get the Logan’s Run out for D, she needs your therapy!!!
Well, it is Jason, right? He is first and foremost an Obama supporter…at least that’s what I infer from the Obama shrine that is DL.
I thought this was all an homage to DV/DHB. Oooo, he’s gonna be maaaad!!!!
Yes, when Jason sets his sights on something, he becomes blind to everything else. Well, except Markell and Carney because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Oh, and except for a blogging hiatus, because he’s a blog addict. Oh, and except for building a deck, because he’s easily distracted, by blogging. Otherwise, yes. He can get rather closed-minded.
Dom just likes stirring the pot.
Nader’s comments yesterday are fueling this debate. And, Dom, stop pretending you are part of the older generation… or maybe you should just stop “acting” like it. 😉
And everyone should rent Logan’s Run!
Ooooo….20 seconds of Farrah from the mid-70’s….oooooo…..I remember it like it was the whole movie….oooooohhhh
P – I’m not pretending to be part of the older generation. I don’t need to be part of it to respect them. I know dozens of people in their 60’s and 70’s who are incredibly active and productive members of society.
Liberals (especially uber-liberals like Jason) are supposed to be the hyper-sensitive ones who are PC to a fault, yet this election as brought out some of the nastiest prejudices – mostly from Obama supporters – about women, the less-educated and the elderly, just to name a few. In fact, it seems the only group that’s safe from attack is African Americans. Lucky for them, I guess.
It just doesn’t sit well with me. It flies in the face of everything that liberals are supposed to stand for AND everything that The Prince of Peace and Love has been preaching on the campaign trail. Don’t you see the disconnect?
R Smitty – do you need us to dim the lights and give you a little privacy?
Hey now! Lights on is just fine, thanks.
Wait. What? 😯
The generational divide is real, Dom, and I’m happy with the side I’ve landed on. There is a disconnect. The world has changed and people like Nader and McCain have missed it – just like parents in the 60’s missed it.
This isn’t so much a criticism as it is a fact. Obama may not be “change” as much as he’s recognized “change”. The old guard is just that… old.
I won’t apologize for taking them – not all – to task. The ones that have embraced change – whether it was a black man or a woman – are to be commended.
Dom is the PC police, now. Always calling me out on my less than perfect liberalism.
She loves playing Jiminey Cricket to my Pinochio.
Hold onto your hat Dom….I think vegetarianism is wacko!
Jason, I know your heart is in the right place; I just think that you tend to make sweeping, insulting generalizations of groups like the elderly and even Republicans, but if someone is less than reverent toward one of your pet demographics (say, blacks or teens), your panties end up in a inextricable twist.
I’m very puzzled by Obama supporters. His message is about change. He talks ad nauseum about working together (purple nation). You guys hang on his every word, but it’s almost like you just appreciate that the speeches are well written and the cadence is goosebump-worthy because I don’t see a lot of you guys practicing what he preaches. Instead, I see a lot of bitter sniping at those who disagree with you. That’s just not very Obaman of you.
One of the reasons I don’t support Obama is because I think his view of the way Washington and the world work is almost childishly oversimplified. Meanwhile, the world he describes would be filled with people who are more like me (purple) than his most fervent supporters (midnight blue), people who are willing to see that there are good people, good ideas and good arguments on both sides. Isn’t that kind of ironic?
BTW, I’m kind of torn on vegetarianism. I actually admire vegetarians, but I have no desire whatsoever to give up the occasional ribeye. Yummy.
Thanks Jiminey.
You’re hopeless. Get it? hahaha.