Older People

The thing that bugs me today and has bugged me for decades is why we don't value the ideas and opinions of our older people.

Many other cultures do value their older folk. They use them as sounding boards, ask them for advice and they look after them as they age. They love and respect them. They value them.

But here in Australia - we mistreat and discard anyone who is over 60. Why?

Because we don't value experience. Unfortunately few of us are educated enough to know why experience matters. We all have the view that at 20 something we already know everything that matters.

Until the sh*t hits the fan and then we look for someone to blame. Whatever happened to the idea of taking some personal responsibility?

The main consequence of not taking responsibility is that *things* sneak up on us - because we aren't informed enough to know what is going on - like Mr D's expose here. I particularly like the following paragraph.

"Is it any wonder, then, that politicians are reluctant to tell people the truth – the truth, for instance, that electricity prices are going to go up regardless, that our tax system rewards property speculation, that a budget surplus is not an end in itself, that we are in Afghanistan purely because our alliance with the US requires us to be and that we cannot afford the middle class welfare that has built up under successive governments".

Of course most of our "old" folks already knew these things. Did the rest of you?