Queen: “It's either the next grand adventure or nothingness, I'm good either way.”
It’s not the destination that’s the problem, it’s the last bit about getting there.
VanMan2300: “I would love to see a survey done on the 50 plus year ago who are homeless to see how many can't support themselves because they are running into ageism.”
WHAT? Do you mean working all your life just to have it annihilated by circumstances that were never within your control, and then not being able to get a job because the 30-yo manager doesn’t want to hire someone who might be a threat his job because they know more than him???
SimonLea: “ I was mostly afraid of what my friends, family, and co-workers would think… I was so weary of being afraid.”
Being controlled by other people’s whims and beliefs can destroy you. There’s only one, single, solitary person that you have to account to: Yourself. And sometimes that realization is kind of late in coming.
Vagabound: “In some European countries, their mental hospitals are minimal… because almost no one is in them… Those people are still living in the communities, where family and friends care for them, with the help of medical professionals who do frequent home visits, and the larger community goes out of their way to integrate the person as a full member…”
A long-time NYC schoolteacher said that our govt bases their decisions on ‘divide & conquer’ (I’m not trying to be political, but when something this serious is caused by politics, the problem/solution/results are tied together). He said that in the U.S., the family is deliberately separated: the kids spend about six hours in school and half that again with homework, both of which divides them from the family. Also, it is economically difficult to have the funds to raise and educate a family w/o both parents working, which also divides the family. And when the grandparents get older, the division is complete when it is expected that they will go into a retirement home or assisted living. Back in the ‘olde dayes’, Mom was at home, she was homeschooling the kids, and the grandparents moved in with them when they couldn’t manage on their own. The family was integrated, rather than divided.
Many of the Asian families still work together: they come to this country, often with not much more than the clothes they’re wearing. They get any kind of job they can, no matter how menial. They rent a house and three families live in it, pooling their resources. Together, they manage to buy or lease a piece of land to grow food crops and sell most of it (eat the rest), and most of them work on that farm; the ones who are too infirm to work watch the young children. When they’re old enough, the children help in the fields. With the proceeds of their labor, they buy a tractor and another piece of land. They work together to GROW. Exactly opposite to that, young Americans either leave home and go out on their own as ASAP, or stay home and play computer games while their parents support them into middle age. Which concept makes the most sense? Which one does our country promote?
What about medical care here vs other countries? Theirs is based on caring for people; ours is based on making money. We pay a fortune for medications that were created here; but you can get the same stuff in Mexico or Canada (and probably other places) for a fraction of the cost.
Steamjam1: “(I can't for the life of me remember what the position is called, but its the fella who useto keep the steam engine boilers warm at night on commuter lines.)”
On trains, they were called ‘firemen’.
“As long as they stay working doing what they are doing, they stay relevant.”
Sometimes. For others, that’s all they know; they’ve never developed hobbies or other interests – their lives have always revolved around Work. W/o it, they are unable to adapt.
Tussah: “…the only security I know of in life is having a close circle of family and friends who will help take care of each other.”
It’s nice when you’ve got it, but many Americans are conditioned to consider being depended upon as a nuisance. I know quite a few older people who haven’t seen their adult children in years; they’re nice people, but their children don’t see the need, don’t want to provide, and simply ignore the fact that their parents are reaching the point where they need help. That need is inconvenient; all they want to provide are brochures for assisted living facilities.
ERLH: “There's no possible way to prepare for every situation.”
Fifty or sixty years ago, many people got a job when they left school and kept it until they retired. They had a pension they could depend upon, because it was banked. They had family who would help, if needed.
There is no way in ‘ell that people in those days could foresee the financial disasters that we’ve been going through. The 401(k) boondoggle was created to supplement pensions, but then they became the pensions and the victims absorbed the losses; the banked pensions became obsolete (the railroads are the only holdouts, and even they are now in danger). Also unpredictable were the seriously unstable stock markets, the export of nine million jobs to slave-labor countries, the periodic economic crises, stagnant wages, the use of Social Security to support drug addicts and as a private piggybank for politicians, rapidly escalating health care costs, rampant job insecurity, etc, etc, etc. There are people now in their 40s who are absolutely CERTAIN that nothing will happen to mar their plans for retirement.
