Age Discrimination Against The Elderly

[lines]

The elderly are probably the most discriminated against group in America. They are ignored, under-appreciated, and locked in nursing homes. The best way to deal with elderly is for ones grandparents to live in the same house as their children and grandchildren... this is what they do in a lot of countries outside the usa.

I recommend that people should visit nursing homes in order to spend time with old people there because a lot of them have no one who visits them.

[whore]

funny, wasn't reagan an old person? did not he have lots of wealtha nd power?

hwo about children? they don't tend to have much power or wealth at all...

or, what about the poor?

all those old people who don't have any power etc., aren't thye all poor? so, maybe the most discriminated against group in society is the poor?underprivalegd? etc/

[Chambered Word]

Sounds like bullshit. Alot of the crazy teabaggers seem to be elderly. America's mostly been ruled by old men.

[piet11111]

Sounds like bullshit. Alot of the crazy teabaggers seem to be elderly. America's mostly been ruled by old men.

well then the USSR did better it was ruled exclusively by old men :lol:

[Tiktaalik]

there's def ageism out there, against old and the youth.

I wouldn't say this or that oppression is better or worse, they're all fucked up and it does no one good to rank them.

[CELMX]

I think there is much more discrimination against the young. We have horrible school systems that treat us like babies, and teachers that are pretty tyrannical. Many people, even leftists, think everyone under 14 is stupid. Wrong.

On the elderly dealio, there are healthcare reforms...for the old people (are they improving on healthcare for poor? no. but, that's typical in this system) Also, old people are being kept alive on incubators, even if they are vegetables, or ready to die. We are focusing more on the dieing people, than the living young!

However, I also see your side of it. Nursing homes are pretty terrible, but I disagree that they are the MOST discrimated group. In America, if you aren't white, wealthy, conservative and powerful, you will be discrimated against.

[Lynx]

The elderly as a group may be more likely to suffer from physical and mental deterioration. People who cannot fend for themselves are discriminated against, if not assaulted.

[Bitter Ashes]

There's no doubt whatsoever that the elderly are discriminated against in a capitalist system. Remember the golden rule, "From each according to abiilty. To each according to need"? Well, both are denied to the eldery.

In the UK it's perfectly legal to fire an employee who is over 65, simply because of thier age. It doesnt matter how able, or willing they are to work. It's also legal to refuse to hire somebody on account of them bieng over 65. Don't forget too that many companies will charge extra to older customers, such as car insurance brokers.

All too often too, younger people (compared to the elderly) will overlook, or ignore, or outright deny the wisdom and knowledge that has been built up through a lifetime. This is not only stupid tactically, but also highly discriminatory thinking. Yes, senility does exist, but it is not universal and you should never assume that just because somebody is long in the tooth, that they must be senile.

While I would admit that it wouldnt fill me with confidence to have somebody with a zimmerframe next to me in a demo, thier other skills are highly valued by me not only in a revolutionary context, but also with pretty much anything that life has to throw at you. Ignore that at your peril.

One thing I must say though is that this is all mainly a middle class problem. The poorer parts of even Western, 1st world, nations it's rare for the poor to live to 65. Wheras Chelsea and Kensington have life expectancies of over 83, while the most deprieved parts of Glasgow only a minority will live past 54 (sources available upon request). Rich workers, or the bourgeois will and usualy do, invest in thier private or corporate pensions, wheras poorer workers struggle along with state pension (which may even be denied if you havent earned enough to make NI contributions). The "good" news, is that if you're that poor, it's unlikely that you'll live long enough to have to face that situation where you're denied work on account of your age, but also given little, or no income from the state that you've spent your lifetime financing. Old poor workers do exist, but there are far more stuck up, reactionary, middle class old-folk around, who've managed to stick thier noses up bourgeois butt, or were bourgeois themselves, in order to keep themselves alive so long anyway.

[AnarchismInZion]

Breaks my heart to see this kind of neglect :(

Elderly people are almost certainly the most dicriminated group in the west.

[counterblast]

This "old" versus "young" debate surrounding ageism, really misses how ageism functions.

The youth and the elderly are systematically excluded by society and manipulated by family for the same reasons -- western society stereotypes them falsely as physically unproductive and intellectually substandard.

Stereotypes that "old people are wise" and that "young people are imaginative/creative", may seem to contradict the latter statement on first look, but looking closer reveals that these blanket statements are as ageist as statements like "Asian folks are good at math" or "Black folks are good at basketball" are racist.

As for the "most politicians are elderly" argument people seem to be posting; two things:
1) Politicians are not representative of elderly people as a whole. They are representative of a mostly white, mostly male, upper class of elderly people who wield social/political power. Most elderly people do not live this way.
2) You can be both oppressor and the oppressed. You can wield power and simultaneously be powerless. For example, the power many women wield as mothers over their children, is not representative of how much power women wield universally.