Ageism

[KateLMead]

Few days in the week go by when the burden created by the aged is not raised when it comes to hospitalisation costs and care in the community...
This morning again the subject of hospital neglect was brought up, and it was again repeated the burden and strain we oldies create on society and services..
I have yet to hear about the strain placed upon all of our services including hospitals, housing, schools etc by the millions of foreigners who have swamped Britain, with 30,000 plus more on their way.
To me this constant drip of making the elderly scapegoats for the state of the country is no more than "Bullying"

[cromwell]

It seems to be a symptom of the times that we live in. There always seems to be a need to blame someone for something; the elderly are now apparently to blame for the pressure on health budgets.
Would this be the same group of people who have been paying into the NHS since it was formed in 1947? Yes it would!

What a con - promise cradle to grave care and when the time comes to pay up, politicians start shuffling their feet and saying "Ah yes.. BUT.."

[KateLMead]

It infuriates me cromwell, what sort of life would this generation have who blame the aged for all the ills the country is facing had they been living under the Jackboot..
The children need to learn history!!! as we know (not encouraged these days) and be shown the video's of the concentration camps and what life would be like under the Jackboot that us oldies with great sacrifice saved them from..

[pederito1]

A mind boggling thought, Kate. I often wonder what things would be like if we had not been able to make all those Spitfires and had the brave men to fly them. I do feel a bit guilty now of being something of a burden to the state, although I did contribute for many years, those payments do not anywhere near cover the pension I have received for 23 years and the recent NHS treatment and pills.

[Kaz]

Nonsense Pederito, you should not feel guilty! You are a lucky man to have lived such a long life, but for every man like yourself there are many many men who die either before they retire or just afterwards. My FIL died aged 66 only semi-retired and my dear dad at 71 worked until his late 60s......

IMO you deserve it and are welcome to it! I would far rather 'give' my dad's share that he never lived to recieve to you, a UK citizen who has contributed, than to the foreigners who are now coming in and flooding us........................

I am sure most of us feel the same...............

[KateLMead]

I agree with Kaz.. I am just amazed that the aged can command so little respect, and to be accused and treated as the main burden on this country, my Uncle was in a Japanese war camp, and other relatives were killed in bombing raids.. my Polish brother in law was in a concentration camp and as Pederito said, every one did their bit under the most frightening circumstances, dreading the sirens going off and being rushed into shelters. coming out of them to see the ruins and deaths caused by bombings and doodle bugs
It is convenient to forget the sacrifices made in this country by those seemingly ungrateful despised elderly , the love and sharing in our communities was second to none, and just how close we came to have this country swamped, not by immigrants but by the Nazi's and the Gestapo, the younger generations will never know any more than the now adults know that History is now considered infra-dig... it should be a must in schools as sadly as we see todays adults and the younger generation have no idea of the sacrifices, the suffering, the deaths, the excuse that Britains ills are the fault of the burden of the very aged generation who fought unto death to keep this country free of the merciless cruelty of the Germans who were far too close for comfort.

[Workingman]

Jonathan Miller, Beyond the Fringe etc. blah, blah, blah, was moaning about ageism on Sunday.

Well, anything that keeps the terminally boring Miller off our TV screens can't be all bad.

[KateLMead]

Jonathan Miller, Beyond the Fringe etc. blah, blah, blah, was moaning about ageism on Sunday.

Well, anything that keeps the terminally boring Miller off our TV screens can't be all bad.

And whatever and however boring Frank, unless enough people raise their voices against "Ageism" not in ones and two's but by the thousands, nothing will change.. AND IT NEEDS TO CHANGE and for this country to look after our own before becoming that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for the millions who are here and on their way.

[Workingman]

My response was TIC Kate. Ageism is as bad as any other form of discrimination, and just as hard to overcome.

Reading adverts for jobs where phrases such as "young, vibrant company" and "modern, forward looking" and so on are used, inevitably means that anyone over thirtysomething is wasting their time applying. Nothing can be done, however, because if a company does not want to employ you it will find ways not to, regardless of what any laws state.

[Aggers]

Some of us oldies might be costing the NHS something, but what about the multitude
of young people who need the sevices of the NHS after their nights of drinking and drugs ?