Category Archives: seniors/aging

We Should Have the Right to Die

March 5, 2013

Everybody’s going to die eventually. A fact that many try to ignore. The grim reaper is a specter many dread but there are those who look forward to the end of this life and are ready to face whatever may be offered on the other side.

When that time does comes there are some of us who do not want any obstructions in preventing it. Sorry to start one of my posts with this morbid sentiment but it seems that the recent death of 87 year-old Lorraine Bayless at the Glenwood Gardens Retirement Home in Bakersfield, California has raised an issue here that involves a person’s “right to die”.

Most of the focus from the media on this story has centered on a care-taker’s decision not to administer CPR to the dying Ms. Bayless. An act that on the surface seems cruel and heartless for someone to do to one who is under their care. But allowing people to die under certain conditions is not that callous when you take some important facts into consideration, quality of life being the most paramount. Take for example this account by Iona Heath, GP and president of the Royal College of General Practitioners in the Great Britain, of a patient with similarities to that of Lorraine Bayless.

Some years ago, an elderly patient on my list was admitted to the hospital after she collapsed. She was in her late eighties, a widow and very frail. She was admitted to a coronary care unit and received the highest possible standard of care including fibrinolytic treatment delivered according to the latest evidence-based guidelines. She made a good recovery and was discharged home, apparently well, a week later.

I went to see her and found her to be very grateful for the kindness she had been shown but profoundly shocked by a course of treatment that she perceived to be completely inappropriate. She explained to me that not only her husband but almost all her generation of friends and acquaintances were already dead, that her physical frailty prevented her doing almost all the things that she had previously enjoyed and that she had no desire to live much longer.

No one had asked her about any of this or attempted to discover whether the effective and therefore recommended treatment for her condition was appropriate in her particular case. She died three weeks later while asleep in bed. SOURCE

I don’t know what Ms. Bayless’ situation was like. Most people who are commenting on this likely don’t either. But according to the accounts I have read thus far, she was not only aware that her caretakers had instructions not to make heroics efforts to save her life should she fall seriously ill, but it has also been reported that she had signed a DNR order (do not resuscitate) in the event of her impending demise. This to me signifies that she was prepared and intent on meeting the so-called angel of death on her own terms.

Furthermore, it’s not clear if a daughter of hers, who is herself a nurse, was Ms. Baless’ Medical Power of Attorney, but if she was she expressed her views that exonerated the facility where her mother died conveying that she “was satisfied with her mother’s care.” This appears to indicate that Glenwood Gardens had honored her mother’s wishes to not implement heroic measures should her condition warrant them.

We seldom can choose when, where and how we die but we can and should be allowed to choose death as an option when we feel there no longer exists a life that we find rewarding, especially as our health deteriorates to the point where pain accompanies us each waking moment of each day we draw breath.

Those of us who rejoice in life and make take offense that someone failed to help Ms. Bayless hang on to what we treasure do so without fully understanding that death itself should not be feared. A life without purpose is not something people want or choose. When age and physical condition inhibit and even prevent a meaningful and healthy life then the choice to accept the end when it comes without reservations or artificial means to sustain it should be a choice that we all honor.

Mourn not for me since I have lost my breath

My pain was such that it made me wish for death.

- script on a tombstone near the Welsh border

Other articles of mine on this topic:

Active Euthanasia – Dying With Dignity

Death With Dignity – Our “Inalienable” Righ to Die as We See Fit

Moral Qualms With Right To Die Legislation

Posted by lbwoodgate in seniors/aging Tags: Bakersfield California, Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Death, death with dignity, end of life care, Glenwood Gardens Retirement home, Lorraine Bayless, Right to die

22 comments

Do Unto Them What They Want To Do Unto You

January 2, 2013

Let’s Apply The chained-CPI concept of Raising Revenue to How We Pay Our Government Officials

Those least able are being asked to make a greater sacrifice than others who are able

Some of you who have been keeping up with budget talks, especially the so-called “fiscal cliff” arguments, may be aware of one of the measures being discussed to reduce the deficit. It’s called the chained-CPI method of figuring cost of living raises (COLA) for, among other things, people who receive benefits from social safety net programs

Sophie Quinton’s article in the National Journal sums up nicely what the chained CPI is.

Here’s how the new metric would save money: Social Security, federal pensions, and military and veterans’ benefits are indexed to rise each year with inflation; so are tax brackets, exemptions, deductions, and credits. But experts say the consumer price index the government currently uses overstates how rising prices affect household spending.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has come up with a more accurate measure, which accounts for consumers’ tendency to switch to cheaper categories of products when prices rise. Rather than looking at a fixed set of goods—as the standard formula does—the new measure looks at how the set of goods changes, and then “chains” two consecutive months of consumption data together.

The chained CPI rises a little more slowly than the current measure. So if the chained CPI were used to calculate cost-of-living increases, it would mean smaller increases to Social Security checks each year. If the chained CPI were applied to the tax code, it would move taxpayers into higher tax brackets faster. SOURCE

There are at least ten things wrong with this method as Daniel Marans explains over at FDL news and they all impact the most vulnerable segments of our population, especially the elders on fixed incomes. I know we are all expected to contribute our fair share to lowering the deficit, but as Lambert Strether notes, this is hardly a “fair share” for some of us.

A “sacrifice” where some give up luxuries and others give up necessities is in no way “shared.” A marginal sacrifice for the rich is not commensurate to core sacrifices for the rest of us. But the tropes of official Washington carefully brush this reality away. SOURCE

Let’s not forget either that it was the spending of drunken sailors in the GOP under Bush/Cheney, along with conservative Democrats that started putting us in the fiscal hole. Spending that was aimed at benefitting wealthy corporations rather than those now being asked to saddle this undue burden on their source of income. Now is not the time to hit the poorest amongst us with benefit cuts and especially on the backs of those Social Security beneficiaries whose source of benefits DO NOT contribute to the deficit. Even the conservative’s darling, Ronald Reagan, pointed this out when he was President.

As much as those who continually and falsely shriek that the deficit is the biggest threat to our children’s future, there are ulterior motives behind this bogus pronouncement as Paul Krugman and others have duly noted:

Contrary to the way it’s often portrayed, the looming prospect of spending cuts and tax increases isn’t a fiscal crisis. It is, instead, a political crisis brought on by the G.O.P.’s attempt to take the economy hostage. And just to be clear, the danger for next year is not that the deficit will be too large but that it will be too small, and hence plunge America back into recession. SOURCE

The point of all this being that many of those who live off of our taxes rather handsomely seem too eager to reduce certain benefits that impact the poorest amongst us while leaving other areas alone, like the Defense budget. Why voters keep sending some of these yokels back to Washington is the height of foolishness but that seems to be where we are at these days. Voters appear ready to “throw the bums out” with the exception of their bum.

But most people would be in agreement I think if we started measuring “the bums” income by their performance and adjusting it accordingly. Clearly our representatives would be inclined to perform their duties more fully if the people had a direct means of rating their performance and legislation was in place that allowed the IRS to deduct their wages based on their performance. Likewise, their income would be raised based on how their constituents felt they were benefitting them as a whole.

MAYBE WE NEED TO CHANGE THIS?

Once a year people could vote on-line or by mail, registering their opinions on how effective they felt their representatives were performing. A rating system on a scale of 1-10 could be devised and unless they scored anything better than a 6, their pay would either remain unchanged for scores of 4-6, and lowered incrementally with scores lower than 4. The voters would be given the means to make their selections either on-line or by mail. At the end of each year, when employers are handing out W-2′s, attached would be a form that scored their congressperson’s performance along with a pre-paid postage envelope.

Too many people never make it to the polls on election day because they feel their vote never makes an impact. To a certain degree they are right. But having this direct means of effecting their representative’s wages with very little effort or expense on their part would see many of these people coming out of the wood work to express their views.

There of course would be those political blocs trying to influence their assessments similar to what we already have in the form of non-profit entities that we get regularly inundated with from TV and radio ads, postal mailings, e-mails and social network sources. The concern here is not unlike the one we currently face where the Citizens United court decision that allows unhealthy amounts of money to overwhelm the means by which we get information from.

We may just have to trust that the electorate will make the call that best serves their needs. Where there are those who may not like certain specifics on how their congressperson votes but are ideologically linked to them that prevents them from voting them out of office, they may be more inclined to use this more precise method of conveying their wishes while still supporting them in their elective status.

It’s time to reverse the worry element, where congressional and state legislative leaders need to lose sleep about their source of income being reduced rather than those of us they are supposed to fairly represent. Polls routinely show strong support for social safety net programs, especially regarding Social Security benefits. If this support gets expressed in how the income of our state and national representatives will be determined we just might find that the concept of democracy, that was intended when this union was formed over 225 years ago, will once again have its proper place in how we are governed.

BONUS: Here’s a little quiz that asks, How much do you know about the ‘fiscal cliff’?

Ruth Marcus: Let the Elderly Just Eat (Cheaper) Cake!

Posted by lbwoodgate in Budget Crisis, Medicare/Medicaid, seniors/aging Tags: balancing budget on backs of elderly and poor, benefit cuts in social programs, chained CPI, congressional performance, Consumer price index, cuts to Medicare/Medicaid, cuts to Social Security, deficit issues, Paul Krugman, safety net cuts, Social Security

9 comments

Waiting and Accepting: Gifts Not Waisted on the Elderly

December 31, 2012

“It is not the young man who should be considered fortunate but the old man who has lived well, because the young man in his prime wanders much by chance, vacillating to his beliefs, while the old man has docked in the harbor, having safeguarded his true happiness” - Epicurus

Fearing old age prevents many of us from enjoying what this experience has to offer

Fearing old age prevents many of us from enjoying what this time in our life has to offer

I was recently turned on to a new book by fellow blogger and cyber-friend Ronni Bennett over at her Time Goes By blog. It’s a book by Daniel Klein entitled “Travels with Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life” Klein is a Harvard college graduate who majored in philosophy but whose career includes scripts for TV comedy and eventually focused on writing both fiction and non-fiction books. His most popular was Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar – Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes which covers the classic categories of philosophy, with concepts explained or illustrated through humor.

author Daniel Klein

In “Travels with Epicurus” Klein looks at old age as a stage in our life that should be appreciated for what it’s worth rather than something to dread. It is after all an inevitable period in our lives we are all destined to face. There is much for each reader to take away from Klein’s observations as he spends time among the inhabitants of the Greek island of Hydra to study the culture’s apparent capacity to accept old age for its benefits, not its perceived curses. Rather than view old age in and of itself as the threshold to death, the elders on this tiny Aegean landscape seem to value this time in their life that offers much more than we can attain wearing blinders during our ambitious and energetic youth.

For me, there were two themes that emerged - waiting and acceptance. Behaviors that are not only foreign to today’s youth in most cultures, but to many of those people as well who are broaching old age or who have already crossed over to the late autumn of their lives.

Old age is not something I fear but I do get anxious at the thought of living long past any state where my quality of life has pretty much vanished. There is always that dread of living too long where we become nothing more than a fixture to be endured by our family, friends or even those strangers in our lives that become our caretakers. It becomes a condition where our life has no real value if our mental and physical faculties depend largely on drugs, mechanisms and the 24-7 care of others.

It is this type of aging I dread the most, something Klein refers to as old, old age. Kept alive by a generally held sense that “only God can take a life” we are thus deprived to die with dignity and by our own choice. He notes that Aristotle once opined that “there is absolutely nothing to look forward to in old, old age”. But the right to die is a topic I have addressed already, here, here and here. This post will deal with the needless fear of growing old in a culture that wants to be “forever young” and in doing so ignores the wisdom and quality of life that allows us to treasure the last years of our life.

The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. – Bertrand Russell

WAITING

One of the appealing aspects I discovered in Klein’s study of the people on the Greek island of Hydra is how they are never in a hurry. In so doing they are able to see things that people in a rush often miss. A leisurely stroll around the neighborhood as opposed to jogging. Watching the play of squirrels in your backyard instead of watching squirrelly people on TV. The joy of an extended conversation with friends or just a reflective moment alone. In our contemporary society we have been geared from birth to hurry, supposedly out of some economic urgency. “Time is money” is an expression that discourages patience and if we are waiting for anything we are losing an opportunity to achieve greater material wealth. Or so our notions of life in the fast lane would have us believe.

But there is much to gain in waiting and it is only when we age that the true value of a slower life can be appreciated. Not the type of waiting a curmudgeon friend of Klein’s anticipates that waits for the diagnosis; that “day or doctor’s visit [that’s] going to deliver the news that our first major geriatric, and possibly fatal, disease has shown up.” But rather a waiting that allows all that life has to offer to imbue us and capture the awe that was once ours as a small child. I still think fondly of those times I had lying face up in my back yard on a starlit night and watching not only the unfathomable cosmos beyond our planet, but the interplay of life between musical crickets and light shows from fireflies.

When we rush we engage in unhealthy practices that obstruct a view of life that has much to offer in the nuances and minor details that surround us and that can enrich our hearts and minds. In this high-tech age we have grown too accustomed to artificial sensations that occur on our cell phones, I-pads, TVs and the big movie screen. All which tantalize our visual and auditory senses. But it is a sight and hearing that are artificially manufactured; synthesized via mechanical means not part of the natural world. A simulation if you will rather than an actualization. Missing are the full range of human senses that include touch, smell and the experience that only comes when real contact with the world occurs.

To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.

- William Blake, from “Auguries of Innocence”

In waiting there is a sense of peace. One that allows us to feel in control rather than pressured to complete a task only to anticipate and begin a new one. This ideal is addressed in what Klein refers to as the “forever young” mode that many people of late middle age and early stages of old age find themselves drawn to. A kind of denial that scorns old age and places excessive value on youth. A disconnect with reality because in the final analysis, youth will escape us all. And if we are unprepared or unwilling to confront this reality then our remaining years are fraught with unnecessary worry, ruining the chances for any contentment that awaits those who will take advantage of what old age offers all of us.

ACCEPTING

In our culture that values accepting nothing less than the very best but too often takes short cuts to gain a quick fix, we often carry this over to a part of our humanity that ignores the reality that not everyone can be the most beautiful, the smartest and the richest. Surface images tend to hold greater value in such cases than what lies below them. There are millions of people who will never grace the front covers of magazines that extol success, beauty and genius. And though many of us often strive to achieve such status, there are many more who live comfortably and happy with what they have been handed.

In accepting a life that is rich with things that money, beauty and privilege overlooks, we are allowed to focus on things we really have no control over. To marvel at such things and consider their value without fear of reprisal or of failing is a great burden lifted from our shoulders. This is not to say that things that matter should not be fought for and worked towards.

There is a crucial need to make sure that rich and powerful people do not rob us of our dignity and our future with policies that only they benefit from and create undue suffering as a result. We should never be accepting of the human “collateral damage” that comes from regional and global conflicts or the ongoing destruction of our ecosystem through man-made usages of fossil fuels.

Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little – Epicurus

Neither should we have to buy into the crass commercialism that we’re sold by a consumer mentality about how our lives will be enhanced in a variety of ways by making purchases of manufactured goods or for-profit self-improvement services. None of this should consume us so as to obscure that part of our life we can find some measure of joy and fulfillment from. In his book, Klein reminds us that high on Epicurus’ list “of the ways we thwart happiness is by binding ourselves to the constraints of the ‘commercial world’”.

Accepting simplicity is not a practice to be ashamed of. Relieving ourselves of a drive that can never be fully satisfied is a reward we earn over time, when after having lived so long we now know better what to accept and what to reject. Accepting the necessity to slow down in all things can actually enrich our lives and brings us closer to that eternal quest that seeks the meaning of life. A meaning that sees life as a gift and not as a means to some other end. Something that relishes what it has in the here and now and eschews the fears of an uncertain tomorrow or regrets of a past that cannot be altered.

Klein depicts this notion of acceptance as he spends time with one of the old men of Hydra he has developed a friendship with, Tasso, as they celebrate an Easter dinner with Tasso’s family. Spending time in late spring, under a lemon tree with these “lively, loving people” drinking ouzo, a Greek spirit, and snacking on mezes, a cultural hor d’oeuvre, the author is reminded of William Blake’s warning “not to attempt to cling to a sublime experience, but to allow it to come and go with grace.”

He who binds himself to a joy

Does the winged life destroy;

But he who kisses the joy as it flies

Lives in Eternity’s sunrise

It appears true then as Epicurus has noted that good fortune lies not with what youth can achieve but what time will give us if we are but patient and accepting of its gifts.

Posted by lbwoodgate in seniors/aging Tags: acceptance in old age, Aristotle, Bertrand Russell, Daniel Klein, Epicurus, learning patience, old age, slowing down, the gifts of old age, William Blake

12 comments

A Life Traveled Thus Far

November 25, 2012

After my friend Jean over at her Snoring Dog blog posted an exceptional post on the subject of “older and not necessarily wiser” I felt an urge, not to disagree, but to offer another perspective that carries I think a modicum of truth for many who have been hanging around for a while, that is when they’re not actually acting out Jean’s image of some elders.

More and more everyday I seem to become aware, reluctantly, of how age is taking its natural course with my body, mentally and physically. Thought retention capabilities have diminished considerably. Points of interests or why I even walked from one location in the house to the other a lot of times have to be forced to the forefront from whatever cerebral cortex crevice they fell in to. They no longer come in measurements of milliseconds like a synaptic transmission but in more piecemeal style as if trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together.

I have at least developed some sympathy for our 15-year old Schnauzer-mix from this since he too doesn’t seem to know where he is most of the time. I’m concerned that he’s on his last leg. He is in the winter of his life while I can at least feel that I am currently lingering in late Autumn, the season of life just before even greater bodily functions take their toll on internal organs and a chassis that have sustained me for over six decades now.

My 15-year old Schnauzer mix has seen better days and perhaps is on his last leg, as we all eventually find ourselves faced with.

As I look about too I see images in nature that reflect how I feel to some degree. Like the trees that are losing their leaves, the thinness of my greying pate becomes more apparent as I comb through it each day.

The thinning branches of a my front yard Post Oak in autumn

And though standing and walking upright once I work out the kinks in my joints after rising each morning, this piece of firewood, set to be consumed in my chimenea later, reflects a posture that I can identify with. It will undergo the process I have chosen after I breathe my last – cremation.

Like the curve in this piece of firewood our bodies become susceptible to such deformities as we age.

I do enjoy the fall season and even though it has come late this year, the changing colors of the broad-leaf trees stimulate the visual senses with their transformations. The maple leaves are especially colorful and are turning a bright red, which compares to my rough, ruddy red complexion that has become more enhanced with time.

The red hues of autumn

But there still remains a part of me that is perhaps more alive now than at any other time in my near 64 years. My sense of who I am and what role I play in the big scheme of things seems more acute and there’s a wisdom that generates a fire in my soul unlike any time in my youth.

Like the flames in my chimenea there also exists a fire in my aging soul regarding life’s lessons

I worry less about the small stuff that takes up too much room in younger people’s lives, based on what gets posted on the social media they are wired to. I’m more at peace at the prospect of what will transpire for me upon death, convinced as I am now that if there is an after life, it will be nothing like the fantasies that religious fundamentalists have contrived over the ages. I’m more inclined to value Steven Covey’s view that “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey,” though I must confess, it is the corporeal life that I am most familiar with.

If I could live it all over I would do some things different but that is only possible if we know how our lives will turn out in the first place. So why waste time wishing for the impossible. I’ve survived this long in good part from my wits and avoidances as well as luck and birthright. I’ve made some sacrifices but probably fewer of them than I have acted on self-interests. Not necessarily a bad thing but surely as a reflex rather than as an adherence to an ideological mindset.

Perhaps I have been the most fulfilled when I have come out of hard times and suffering to learn that what I thought would be my undoing only broadened my vision for my life, giving me greater control of the externals that are forced on all of us like raising kids, holding down a job you’re not especially fond of or avoiding conflicts and conforming to norms that you had no part in forming.

It all seems so topsy-turvy to me how time will diminish the physical aspects of our humanity while enhancing characteristics and giving us mental tools that would have come in handy at the beginning of life’s journey rather than at the end. So here’s hoping that it’s not all a cruel joke by the gods and that there is a continuance of our journey that transcends the limitations of this world.

Posted by lbwoodgate in seniors/aging Tags: Afterlife, age and wisdom, going beyond this life, inner strength, journey of life, learning from life's experiences, the aging process, the end of the journey, the value of aging

9 comments

On Pain – Listen Up Kiddos

September 12, 2012

Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” A reflection of one enduring the ongoing pain that develops from aging?

In a rare moment the other morning I experienced something which I seldom do anymore at age 63. For but a few moments I was out of physical pain and I felt fully rested. I’m not sure exactly what all came together in this brief reprieve from aches and soreness, but something let the endorphin dogs out. I’ve not felt anything like this for years, even decades.

Through the miracle of pharmaceuticals, a prescription sleeping pill allowed me to sleep soundly for nearly 8 hours the night before. Yet by mid-morning, having done nothing more physically exhaustive than my usual early morning 30-minute walk, I felt so sleepy that I could hardly keep my eyes open. So I went in, laid down in bed and rested for about an hour.

As I started to rouse from that nap I became aware of how fully energized and remarkably pain-free I was feeling. It was as if some fairy-godmother who has been listening from afar about my physical complaints all these years finally decided to grant me a single wish and allowed me to experience something I haven’t since I was a healthy teenager.

I endure pain to some degree 24-7. Nothing incapacitating but none-the-less aggravating and discomforting. There’s the constant ringing in my ears from tinnitus. An annoyance that is most pronounced in the quite hours when your body wants to rest or sleep. Joint pain is becoming more pronounced in the ankles, wrist and shoulders and deteriorating discs in the spinal column in my lower back and at the nape of my neck is perhaps the most agonizing.

And then there’s the headaches. Since I turned 40 I have become familiar with what migraine headaches are all about. True, debilitative migraines have been few and far a part thank God, but their pestering, milder side kicks remain on an almost daily basis. I hate to sound like a company spokesman but the only sure non-prescription pain reliever that battles this pain for me has been Excedrin.

A product recall back in January of this year pulled Excedrin from the shelves of stores with no notice of what was at issue or when the pain relief product would return. Initially I panicked, but fortunately my local CVS pharmacy stocked a generic substitute. I have since learned that Novartis, the global corporation that owns manufacturing rights issued a massive recall of Excedrin, No-Doz, Bufferin, and other products. It appears that there were complaints of chipped and broken pills and quality control issues at the packaging line resulting in mixed tablets. The good news for people like me is that the problem has been resolved and the stores should be stocking my pain relief antidote by October of this year.

Though the Excedrin has served my headache pain needs, it has a big drawback to it that effects my ability to sleep. The ingredients of Excedrin are aspirin, acetamenophin and caffeine. Yes, caffeine. The chemical we all pursue in the early morning to give us a lift. Fortunately (if such a thing can be seen as good fortune) my headaches occur in the morning rather than at night before I go to bed. Unfortunately, the headaches can begin too early, like 1am or 2am, and thus I am up the rest of the night time after taking this pain killer. Sadly too, frequent use of aspirin is believed to contribute to tinnitus. The need to relieve one ailment is a likely causal factor in creating two others.

Here’s my dilemma today. Since forced into retirement back in October 2009, I no longer fall asleep easily from working all day. In the past my mind was always running a marathon but my exhausted body was often able to overcome bothering thoughts that might keep me awake. Today that’s not true. Other than my morning walk I am seldom doing physical things, spending much of my time instead reading or writing material for my blog.

With physical exhaustion no longer a factor, I have a multitude of thoughts that are constantly competing for my attention that simply won’t allow me to doze off and remain asleep for the required 6-8 hours specialists say we need to re-energize our bodies and minds. I have to drug myself every other night with a prescription-strength sleeping pill to avoid the mental distractions along with the multiple pains I mentioned above in order to get at least one full night of restorative sleep. Those other nights will have me awake until midnight or later only to finally doze off soundly about 3 or 4am. I discipline myself to not take a sleeping pill every night to prevent a possible addiction to them.

The affect all of this has on an aging body with some atrophied muscles and excessive weight leaves one longing for those days when we thought we would live forever. Kids today, as they did in my time and every other generation before, never think of losing their good health because, well, for the most part, it is something they have plenty of. Pain is short-lived because the younger body heals itself quicker when accidents occur. As we age though, bones, muscles and connective tissue deteriorate, allowing pain to become a by-product of this degeneration. Pain pills offer only temporary relief and can lead to addiction if a dependency develops as our pain threshold increases.

I have resolved that pain is something I am going to have to endure until I die. I’ll continue to stay as physically active as I can but I have succumbed to the adage that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks so starting any substantial exercise regime is unappealing. I paid the price years ago for thinking I was invincible and avoided taking better care of my body.

Too much booze, some illicit drugs when I was younger, partying too late, eating and drinking junk food and spending too much time in front of the boob tube have taken their toll on me. So fair warning for those young enough who may be reading this and thinking you have plenty of time to change from this type of lifestyle. Your body is capable of repairing itself to normal levels only so long. Once you go past the point of no return – usually by your late twenties – you will fight an up hill battle for the rest of your life to stave off the pain that comes with age. And if you expect there to be some miracle treatment or pill to overcome the inevitable, be prepared to have the best (and most costly) insurance in the world or a healthy savings account to offset the expense that such treatments or pills will cost. But I have learned that such hopes are mere wishful thinking; one which keeps pharmaceutical companies and health organizations in constant pursuit of fulfilling the perennial human desire to live healthier, longer lives.

I think too that there will be few people who want to live beyond 80, 90 or 100 because life’s gifts and surprises have pretty much been revealed by then and everything after that is redundant. I think Solomon, the alleged wisest man of his time got it right centuries ago when, late in his life, he noted that “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Nope, for me it’s “let’s get past this one” and see if indeed there is something on the other side of human existence. I am not an overly religious person but I do like to believe that death is only a transitional stage to an ongoing life of some form. It would be nice though that if at the next level, we find ourselves absent of much if not all of the pain that comes from living too long.

Posted by lbwoodgate in seniors/aging Tags: Analgesic, Aspirin, Caffeine, cures for pain, Excedrin, Headache, Pain, pain and aging, pain and physical exercise, pain relief

15 comments

Not-So-Near Perfect

May 17, 2012

What would make this the perfect man?

According to a recent poll of women by Austin Reed, a British-based luxury tailor for men’s clothes, there are 30 characteristics they rated that would make the perfect man. Here’s how they were listed.

6 feet tall

Toned and athletic

Brown eyes

Short dark hair

Smart dress sense

Beer drinker

Non-smoker

Wears smart jeans, shirt and a V-neck jumper

Gets ready in 17 minutes

Stylish

Wants a family

Earns £48,000 ($77,000) a year

Loves shopping

Eats meat

Clean shaven

Smooth chest

Watches soaps

Enjoys watching football

Drives an Audi

Educated to degree level

Earns more than his other half

Jokes around and has a laugh

Sensitive when his wife/girlfriend is upset

Says ‘I love you’ only when he means it

Admits it when he looks at other women

Has a driver’s license

Can swim

Can ride a bike

Can change a tire

Calls mom regularly

SOURCE

Of the 30 characteristics, I am slightly above average owning 16 of them – IF I am totally honest about #23 – being sensitive when my wife is upset. I could earn extra credit too if I used JUST FOR MEN® religiously to accommodate #4 – short dark hair. ”Dark” being the key word.

Some of these you would expect from a woman’s Adonis perspective, which unsurprisingly makes up the top 5 categories. My qualifications skip past those and begin at #6.

Some are no-brainers too for most men like beer drinker, meat eater, enjoys watching football and most likely items #25 through 29. But the one most men are adept at is #9, getting ready in 17 minutes. In fact for some of us, this is a snail’s pace. Depending on the occasion and location, 17 seconds is all most of us need to get ready. I’m not sure why this is an important factor for women though. It’s not like they’re going to be waiting on us to get ready in time for that dinner party. Seventeen minutes is a fraction of the time they take deciding what they want to wear, initially. I usually don’t shower, shave and dress until my wife is ready to leave the house in the next 15 minutes.

And I’m suspicious about #25 – admitting when we look at other women. This sounds like a trap fellas so use your own judgement here. Know thy female companion and tread lightly.

Let’s face it though. This is not a scientific poll. The Austin Reed site doesn’t even mention the poll on it’s home page. I suspect also that some PR person connected to Austin Reed got this “survey” out into the blogosphere for commercial reasons in lieu of attracting curious on-lookers like me to click on their website. If it is genuine – and there’s no reason to think it’s not – I suspect the target population for this was the 20 to 35 age range. Considering the source, I’m sure they were primarily British too. Hardly a group that would objectively reflect on older men like myself.

It would interesting to see what the women of the baby boom generation consider qualities of the so-called perfect man to be. I’m sure things like hair of any kind (on the scalp of course), a sufficient retirement portfolio and the ability to ambulate without the need of artificial devises would be in that list. But if none like that can be found they might simply settle for someone who doesn’t pass gas in public, remembers anniversaries (if they remember anything at all) and does some house chores without being asked. We’re a generation with simple needs and wants at this age.

Do we have less demanding expectations as we age?

Posted by lbwoodgate in Humor, People, seniors/aging Tags: attractive male characteristics, the perfect man, what attracts women to men, what women want in a man

7 comments

Death With Dignity – Our “Inalienable” Right to Die as We See Fit

April 16, 2012

They tell us that suicide is the greatest piece of cowardice… that suicide is wrong; when it is quite obvious that there is nothing in the world to which every man has a more unassailable title than to his own life and person. – Arthur Schopenhauer

In an attempt to get a dialogue going once again on the issue of euthanasia, the NY Times published a piece recently that brought together the authoritative voices of various advocates and opponents of laws that seek to end the suffering of terminally ill patients by allowing them to choose to die with dignity with what’s become known as physician-assisted suicide(PAS). I have conveyed my sentiments on this issue in two previous posts of mine here and here.

I support the end-of-life right for people who painfully suffer from incurable diseases to die with dignity, through either direct PAS or one that allows that patient to do so on their own with a physician prescribed medication. In the U.S. the states of Oregon and Washington currently have “Death with Dignity” laws that subscribe to the method by which the patient, after careful scrutiny by physicians, family members and the state, are allowed to ingest a physician-prescribed medication to end their life. Montana would have been the third after their Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that physician-assisted suicide is legal, but it’s inception into the law of the land has been held up in the state’s legislature currently through the efforts of religious right-to-life groups like the Montana Family Foundation.

One of the contributors in the NY Times article opposed to such right-to-die legislation made an admirable attempt to defend her views but who I thought fell short. Marilyn Golden is a senior policy analyst at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund(DREDF). From what information I can gather about the DREDF it appears to be a reputable organization that, according to their website’s mission statement, is a strong advocate for people with disabilities so they can “live full and independent lives free of discrimination.”

Ms. Golden’s argument in her essay however highlighted only one incident to support the notion that Oregon’s law is weak, citing the case of Michael P. Freeland who according to one source had a history with mental illness. Though Mr. Freeland received a lethal dose of a barbiturate from a licensed physician, he never actually took the drug but died instead a year later from the lung cancer that pushed him to seek help under Oregon’s Death with Dignity law. Barbara Coombs Lee, the president of the Compassion in Dying Federation in Oregon whose group worked with Mr. Freeland makes a good counterpoint to Ms. Golden’s assertions.

“None of the physicians who were caring for him judged him incapable of making this very important health care decision, and he proved them right,” Ms. Lee said. “He never did spontaneously, irrationally and out of some depressive pathology take his medications. He never took them at all. I would look at this case and say it shows the system works.” SOURCE

In all fairness to Ms. Golden, she does seem to make a reasonable case against the minimal data collection process of the state as being “flawed”. But I say this without having seen or read any arguments from those who support Oregon’s process.

The other legitimate point made by those who are opposed to legalized euthanasia is that our current state of health care in this country does less to prolong the life of all individuals, especially the poor, giving the appearance that our society is too willing to allow people to end their lives rather than supply them with the resources to live out their lives with quality health care. This of course is not a problem for more wealthy people who can afford all the latest health care technology and pharmaceuticals available in the free markets.

But for people whose incomes are stretched to make ends meet, they may find themselves with an insurance policy that has very high deductibles or have no policy at all because of unaffordable premiums, making out-of-pocket costs for quality health care beyond their reach. There are also those who may be able to afford both high premiums and high deductibles but who have been rejected by insurance companies until the recent passage of the Affordable Health Care Act that prohibits denial of coverage because of a “pre-existing condition”. This too however may disappear if the Supreme Court rules against what opponents have derisively called “Obamacare”.

In their essays, the opponents of Death with Dignity legislation don’t pull out the “God” card that allows them to say, “only God can take a life”. Religion’s role in this battle however is there, just below the surface. The pervasive religious restrictions towards euthanasia imposed by the American Catholic Church as well as many Protestant fundamentalist sects are all too prevalent. One 1998 study found “that the odds of the nonreligious approving physician-assisted suicide are three times greater than the religious … .”

In conjunction with this are attitudes many have towards the health care system in this country. “Americans are more distrustful of their health care system — for good reason”, says Marcia Angell in her argument. Ms. Angell is the former editor in chief of The New England Journal of Medicine

[Americans] are well aware that insurance companies increase their profits by stinting on medical services, and they suspect that the new health care law will also stint on services to rein in Medicare costs. So any practice that might save money raises the specter of rationing. In Europe and Canada, where there is universal, comprehensive and largely nonprofit health care, there is much less worry about abuse of right-to-die laws. SOURCE

Her second point is expanded on by Petra M. de Jong who notes that since 1960, health care in the Netherlands, where Ms. de Jong resides, “has developed enormously. People live longer and a wide range of treatments is possible.”

Euthanasia and assisted suicide can only be legalized in a country with optimum health care, including palliative care. But most of all, with citizens having access to good health care, regardless of their income. SOURCE

Patricia King, adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, agrees with Ms. de Jong about the Dutch as she discusses how social divisions, unlike those we have here in America, have been mediated by “a robust social welfare system, including universal health care”.

… many Americans — particularly the poor, the disabled, the elderly and members of racial and ethnic minorities — worry that if assisted suicide becomes widely available they will be viewed as “throwaway people.” They fear coercion, stigmatization and discrimination, understandably believing that the societal indifference prevalent throughout their lives will also infect their end-of-life care.

Assisted suicide should not be legalized in America before we have addressed our glaring inequalities in health care and other crucial social services in a way that assures marginalized groups that they too will be treated with respect and dignity at the end of their lives. SOURCE

Do legitimate concerns exists where the quality of life for some Americans will be viewed in “cost benefit analysis” terms within a system that allows physician-assisted suicide?

Americans are pretty much divided on the question of PAS. One Gallup poll shows that only slightly more – 48% – find it morally wrong than the 45% who find it acceptable. Underscoring the point about the elderly’s concern with the abuse of this medical treatment, fewer people who were 55 years or older – 43% – found it less acceptable than the age group between 18-34 at 46%. But time tends to change the views of those polled on this subject. Between the years of 2004 and 2009 there were majorities that found PAS acceptable. One poll done by the professionals at Angus Reid in 2010 found that 42% of Americans supported legalizing euthanasia in the United States while 36 per cent opposed the notion.

The Gallup poll mentioned above shows that as a political group, Republicans oppose physician-assisted suicide in larger numbers than Democrats or Independents. Isn’t it ironic that this same group also has larger numbers who vociferously oppose what they view as “socialized medicine” or what Ms. de Jong more civilly refers to as “a robust social welfare system, including universal health care”.

People who are in great pain with terminal illnesses and whose quality of life isn’t much beyond that of the caged factory farm animals that supplement most diets in this country, deserve to die as they see fit and with a measure of dignity. The reluctance by many Americans to get on board with a legitimate, licensed system with strong, consistent oversight to allow such a medical procedure to be instituted in this country appears to be the result of sincere but misplaced religious views, fear that those who can least afford it will be too easily “put out to pasture” by an uncaring society, or a combination of both.

Oregon and Washington states, as well as those other Western countries that share aspects of our culture, have legalized physician-assisted suicide in some form and have yet to be shown that the worst fears of their opponents are becoming a reality. The role of people like Marilyn Golden are important to see that their concerns do not materialize, but their views and the views of others should not be a barricade to prevent the choice an individual makes that serves their best interests to take that final step with life and end it on their terms. To continue this practice is cruel and unusual punishment as that standard conveys. People forced to deal with excruciating pain to satisfy another person’s moral qualms or some legalistic purview have a right to die with dignity.

Death is not the greatest of evils; it is worse to want to die, and not be able to. – Sophocles

Is denying the terminally ill patient their right to die with dignity a form of torture?

Posted by lbwoodgate in Health Care Reform, seniors/aging Tags: Assisted suicide, Death with Dignity National Center, End-of-Life, end-of-life rights, Oregon's Death with Dignity law, physician-assisted suicide, terminal illnesses and diseases

12 comments

“Hey! I Worked Hard For This Look”: No Shame In Growing Old

February 16, 2012

Time is a gift to us all and the condition we find our bodies in at the end of our time is not to be disdained but displayed proudly.

The aging transition

I find it somewhat sad and disconcerting that after acquiring abundant wisdom and a sense of well-being as we age how some want to conceal or ignore the physical markings on their bodies it has taken all those years to acquire. Sure, I’d love to always have well-toned muscle tissue, smooth skin and thick hair, but humans are not figures in a wax museum. We needn’t be ashamed of the more rough and wrinkled countenance that comes with aging. The wear and tear that frequently starts showing up extensively as we hit our 60’s and beyond are signs that we have weathered what life has thrown at us.

It’s odd how our society values the experience that comes with time but not necessarily the package it comes in. It isn’t easy for most of us to accept the slow deterioration of our once strong and youthful bodies and even in death some of us it seems are still unwilling to be portrayed as an elder person.

Take for example the photos of those I found here on the obituary pages of my local newspapers. This seems to be the norm nowadays. We are seeing fewer pictures of the deceased as they were just a few short years before their death at 60, 70, 80 and older, replaced instead by those taken at a time in their life when they were just married, out of college or beginning their first jobs decades ago. Do the children of the deceased do this, wanting to view their parents forever young and submitting these photos for everyone else to share in? Or is this a final request by the people themselves before passing on? Wanting to be remembered in their youth as if to say the rest of their life has no value.

This isn’t an angry old man’s diatribe against today’s youth. If I could gain it all back through some concoction or time machine I wouldn’t hesitate to do so. But we haven’t been dealt such a hand, nor or we likely too.

The journey towards our “senior years” has left us with the effects our efforts have had on our bodies. Our wrinkled skin, bulging midline, slightly stooped demeanor and thinning gray hair are emblematic of our ability to survive a life where many of our friends, relatives and acquaintances haven’t; either dying from childhood diseases, crime, wars, domestic abuses, highway accidents or some catastrophic event like floods, tornadoes and fire.

We have also survived our own foolish choices that often had physical consequences detrimental to long term health or squandering our time and resources with little consideration for the future. Somehow we always thought we had time to overcome these misguided actions.

But it is time itself that teaches us if we allow it and with time comes the slow erosion of physical attributes. Our culture is so obsessed with avoiding this inevitability that we throw good money at commercial products that promise us youthful appearances. For those who can afford it (and many who really can’t) there are now thousands of cosmetic products and numerous surgical procedures available to postpone the effects of time. The waste of resources for this vanity too often forgets that diet and exercise, not creams, tummy tucks and face lifts, will ease us into an older age where we can still be active and useful.

Life's experiences are etched into our faces

There’s no denying that I would like to remain forever young but that is an age old fantasy that we all share and one that snake oil salesmen keep exploiting to relieve us of our hard-earned income. I’m not ashamed of how time has changed my physical appearance. Looking “hot” and stylish no longer consumes my time and money and I am better for it. I worry less and my self-esteem is at an all-time high.

Longevity is not something to fear. It is an award I have earned for successfully reaching an age that often eludes many other people. On other days, those same obituary pages will also have death notices for people who died long before their time.

I may not be able to read the street sign less than 50 feet away without prescription lenses anymore but I can see the future much clearer than someone who has few life experiences and no sense of history. Many my age can’t compete with today’s youth on the athletic fields, pools and courts but we can coach and advise them to help them find their strengths in order to be the best they can.

Still an honest mug, even at 63

The package may have withered over time but the contents are still viable and can benefit those who have yet to live life as fully as I have. The superficiality of a youthful appearance has its time and place in our lives and on occasion I find myself reflecting back on those times. But when I die I want people to see me for what I have become, and that entails a veneer that exemplifies the journey of a long, experiential life that cannot be completely duplicated by any other human being

Posted by lbwoodgate in seniors/aging Tags: aging, Death, elders, growing old respectfully, Health, honoring the aged

23 comments

There’s Hope in the Numbers

November 5, 2011

I’m encouraged by the OWS grass roots movement to see today’s youth attack the major source of our current economic ills and a potential threat to their own futures. It appears after all that many of them are not being overwhelmed by the snake oil sells pitches of Wall Street regarding their retirement concerns.

I like to check the polls over at pollingreport.com every now and then just to get an idea which way the wind is blowing on various issues. Some of the figures on Social Security caught my eye that were encouraging as they were weighted heavily in favor of the trust fund by those who were polled. But to listen to some, Social Security is a “monstrous lie”. (Yes, I’m talking to you Rick Perry) Many others among conservative ranks think it’s a failure. Yet overall, 72% of all those polled thought that such characterizations of this social safety net program were inaccurate.

Broken down into age groups we find that the older a person gets the more they feel such claims are not accurate with 84% of those 65 and older asserting this. The surprising age group for me was the 18-34 age group who were polled. This is the age group that people who make such “inaccurate” claims are seriously focused on, hoping to convince the younger generation that their payroll taxes are depriving them of funds they could better use elsewhere. 58% of these young people stated they thought such claims were wrong.

That’s a pretty wide margin with a generation who’s fearful that this minimum retirement benefit will not be there for them when their time comes to cash in on it. Equally striking was another poll by the same people (CNN/ORC) two weeks later, where similar people were asked if they thought Social Security had been good or bad for them or had had no effect on them personally. 38% thought it had been good for them personally with just 12% saying it was bad, but half of those polled (50%) said it had no affect on them at all.

Now maybe I’m reading these numbers wrong, but even with the misinformation that’s coming from those people who want to siphon off the billions that go into the social security trust fund in to private investments that rely on the risky and often volatile stock market to generate funds, most young people are still secure with Social Security’s existence, if not its purpose. Apparently too, most people see the payroll tax deduction as something that is either good or that they are willing to tolerate for the benefit of their own generation or their parents and grandparents’ generation.

The notion put out there by people like Rick Perry that Social Security is a “ponzi scheme” has been around since the system came into existence in 1936 yet to this day that bogus comparison has not garnered any serious traction. Why? I see two factors coming into play here

First and foremost, because such a claim itself is a “monstrous lie”. The ONLY similarity between Social Security and a ponzi scheme is that payouts depend on current investments. Ponzi-scheme originators take those investments and spend them rather than investing them to secure assets for future payouts to investors. Payroll taxes that cover Social Security payments have been invested, creating extra revenue, that allows the system to make reliable payments during any shortfalls periods that may occur. True ponzi-schemes survive a few years at best. Social Security has been solvent for 75 years as a reliable source of retirement funds for low income working people and a healthy supplement for those who have also been able to tuck some away in private retirement accounts like 401ks.

Secondly, the mood today towards special corporate interests is acutely aware that there are those who have and will continue to exploit the savings of people for their own personal gain. Many young people may be leery as to whether Social Security will be there or not for them but they are at least equally leery of the promises made by private financial interests who usually support the notion that Social Security is a failure. They are also acutely aware that the volatile, speculative stock market is no place for amateurs. The Dow and NASDAQ have been all over the map in the last few years and many young people have watched their parents and grandparents’ retirement funds depreciate dramatically, some to the point where they have lost virtually everything they put away.

In a previous article I wrote on this topic I shared that Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow with the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities tells us that “Retirement security must be a goal of a civilized society in an advanced economy. And in fact, this is the case in every advanced economy. A guaranteed pension is essential to meeting that goal; private plans that depend on stock market returns can surely complement a basic guarantee, but they are simply not compatible with the goal of retirement security.

These polls are hopeful for my generation who once shared the same fears that today’s youth culture are experiencing about Social Security. The prevailing wisdom though appears to be sustained too that this trust fund, though no plentiful resource to retire with all of our creature comforts being met, is an important entitlement program that needs to be continued.

Clearly we need to make some corrections with the system to accommodate the retiring baby boom generation today that I’m a part of along with the economic impact that has forced many to retire before age 65. But transferring our 6.2% payroll tax entirely into a a stock market account is not a suitable substitute. Equally erroneous and hurtful is the belief that we need to lower benefits and increase the age limit to offset projected problems with Social Security.

Currently the Social Security trust fund is capable of paying 100% of benefits until the year 2036. If measures are not taken by then to correct estimated shortfalls from the current economic recession and our baby boom fallout, there will still be enough in the system to pay 75% of benefits through 2085. Perhaps one of the simplest solutions to make this needed adjustment is to simply raise or even eliminate the income amount of $106,800 on which payroll taxes are taken from so that those in the higher income tax brackets can pay there fair share for this social benefit. This increase won’t impact the vast majority of wage earners.

For those wage earners between the ages of 18 and 34 who are being tempted by the purveyors of Wall Street to dump Social Security, I would advise caution. Your best plan of action is to do a combination of a private savings account in the form of a mutual fund through your job or individually AND continued investments each pay check into the secure social security trust fund. There are great expectations from contributing to a private source of retirement but there is greater security in the social security benefits that you pay into over the years. Continue to support the system and encourage your representatives in Washington to insure its solvency and it WILL be there for you too.

A Warning to the Economic and Political Elites: Listen Now

Common Sense on Social Security

12 Fixes for Social Security

5 myths about Social Security

Posted by lbwoodgate in Corporate Influence, Occupy Wall Street Protest, seniors/aging, Social Discourse, Society and Politics Tags: Jared Bernstein, occupy wall street movement, Ponzi scheme, private plans for retirement, privatizing social security, Retirement, retirement concerns of today's youth, retirement security, Rick Perry, Social Security, Social Security Trust Fund, volatile stock market, Wall Street

6 comments

Should We Be Concerned About Deeper Cuts to the Payroll Tax?

September 13, 2011

One of Obama’s points in his speech Thursday was that he would be asking Congress to cut more on the payroll tax from what was cut already in the compromise agreement between him and the GOP last December. These cuts could actually hurt more Americans than they are intended to help.

The Republicans are in full gear to diminish and alter one of the most successful entitlement programs this country has had – Social Security. Medicare too has been tremendously successful but unlike Social Security it suffers cost issues from abuses by providers while also paying for many questionable services that patients feel encouraged to utilize. The last thing our President needs to be doing is opening a path that will assist the Republican/Tea Party in achieving the means to kill off these vital programs.

Both programs, as does unemployment benefits, depend upon payroll contributions deducted from our earnings each paycheck to sustain them. The formula for social security deductions has kept the program solvent almost its entire life. Last year was the first time since 1983 when the program paid out more than it took in. This is the result of less revenue from payroll taxes due to high unemployment rates, more baby boomers becoming of age and those laid off older workers who find it easier to claim early retirement at age 62 than hassle with the younger generation vying for jobs.

It has been argued that Social Security benefits are a drag on the deficit. That’s a distortion and is only true in the sense that congress keeps “borrowing” from that trust fund to pay some of the other bills they have to. When they borrow money for Social Security it is covered by the “full faith and credit” of the Untied Sates government and invested in special Treasury bonds. But this borrowing from the $2.5 trillion that social security is valued at is now considered part of the U.S. debt.

The $49 billion shortfall we are now experiencing in social security revenue can be corrected by generating added revenue that will have the least impact, if any, on most all working Americans. Those who protest tax increases of any sort are often people who are less likely to be affected by them. For instance, if we simply boosted the amount of earnings subject to the payroll tax over time we could cover this shortage in plenty of time before the 2036 date that says if we do nothing, current benefits will reduce to a 75% payout amount.

Currently income over $106,800 is not taxed to help pay for social security as well as the other payroll taxes for Medicare and unemployment benefits. This means that increasing this amount will have no affect on 95% of income earners in this country. Also, income from investments – income that the wealthiest among us receive most of their income from – are not subject to the FICA taxes which social security is part of. By making these sources of revenue subject to taxation, social security would become solvent for at least the next 75 years, long after the baby-boom generation no longer creates a strain on the trust fund benefits.

So if added revenue will correct what needs to be addressed with recent Social Security shortfalls, why is Obama talking about reducing the existing source of revenue that traditionally has fed the system? Back in December when the President was trying to appease the Tea Party segment of the GOP to raise the debt ceiling he tossed them a bone in the form a of tax cut. That tax cut amounted to about a 2% reduction of the 6.2% rate currently established as the amount that we pay on payroll taxes. It was intended to put a little extra spending money in the pockets of American worker but it also “blew a hole in the financing mechanism for Social Security by reducing payroll tax revenue by roughly $110 billion for the year.”

Sorry Peter but I need to pay Paul

With the enactment of “The American Jobs Act” the FICA tax holiday for workers will be increased to a 50% reduction, lowering it to 3.1%. Along with this “the President proposes to extend the FICA tax holiday to employers by cutting in half the employer’s share of the payroll tax through the first $5 million in payroll.”

Under the payroll tax cut initiated in the 2010 lame duck tax deal, the revenue loss to the Trust Fund from the payroll tax holiday is made up through compensatory payments into the Trust Fund from general revenues. The President proposes to continue this scheme — deepening a relationship between Social Security and general revenues (read deficit) that did not exist until the December 2010 tax deal. This will make Social Security increasingly vulnerable to demands for “reform.”

In the worst case, Congress could choose to enact the payroll tax cut without actually appropriating revenue compensation for the Trust Fund. This would mean that the payroll tax cut directly depletes the Trust Fund, creating financial/actuarial problems far sooner than the currently anticipated shortfall date of 2036. - SOURCE

He couldn’t be handing Grover Norquist and all the other anti-government people a sweeter gift than transforming the way Social Security pays for itself to one that would actually make it a drain on general tax revenue. Thus it could be more legitimately argued by the those who want to privatize the system that the nation is spending more than it takes in and Social Security is part of the problem.

I don’t want to accuse Obama of working with those people who drool over the prospect of getting all that tax revenue that pays into the trust fund so they can make a profit off of it while diminishing the benefits. But if it isn’t clear to him that this tactic, intended to stimulate the economy, is really a slippery slope that allows free-market proponents to shrink the Social Security trust fund to a size “that can be drowned in a bath tub”, killing it off completely, then he either hasn’t got the foresight many of us have given him credit for or he is taking sides with those who want to reduce the deficit on the back of the least powerful and most vulnerable in this country.

I can appreciate the fact that by allowing more people to take more of their paycheck home will convert into more spending that can help jump-start the economy. But let’s be realistic. Nearly one-fourth of the nation’s wealth is controlled by only 1% of its people while slightly more than half of working American households make less than $50,000 a year. More than half of those, 28%, make less than $25,000. For this latter group that means they get to keep about $65 a month more if the payroll tax is cut to 3.1% as suggested in Obama’s Jobs Act. With the high cost of essentials like gas, food and rent, $65 dollars will likely not make much of an impact on growing the economy.

But this further reduction of the payroll tax will begin to eat away at entitlement programs that benefit many of the low-income earning families that assist them with health care costs that they would otherwise not have available to them. There is also the concern too that lower payroll taxes that help provide unemployment benefits will be further strained to alleviate financial distress when people get laid off due to a failing economy.

Many young working people today may not empathize as much with this concern as someone who has worked all their life and is now ready to retire. For those who were lucky enough to tuck away money into a retirement fund, the benefits they are owed from the social security trust fund may only be a small part of their income revenue to sustain them. But they are in the minority. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities close to 90 percent of people 65 and older get at least some of their family income from Social Security. Social The venerable trust fund now provides most of the income for more than half of the elderly and for many, it is the only income they have.

For children of those elders reaching retirement age who are watching their own shrinking budgets, I can tell you from experience that had it not been for Social Security benefits my mother and father would not have remained as independent as they were nor received the medical care they needed. Our family, like most Americans are not among that class of people who have sufficient wealth to cover their own needs and then some. We struggle with our own families to get by and if we had to incur the rising expense required to take care of our aging parents it would put a further strain on already strapped resources. This would feed the cycle of a worsening income disparity taking place in this country today because saving for your children’s college education and your own retirement would have to be put on hold to do what you need to do for those who raised you.

The further cut in payroll taxes may be appealing to many hard working families in these tough economic times but it can become a catch-22 problem that will only make our lives more miserable down the road as the safety nets that keep millions of Americans from falling into the despair of poverty and ill-health are eaten away by a move that lowers the resources needed to keep them intact.

Posted by lbwoodgate in 2012 Presidential Elections, Economy, Jobs, seniors/aging

7 comments

Category Archives: seniors/aging

We Should Have the Right to Die

Everybody’s going to die eventually. A fact that many try to ignore. The grim reaper is a specter many dread but there are those who look forward to the end of this life and are ready to face whatever may be offered on the other side.

We seldom can choose when, where and how we die but we can and should be allowed to choose death as an option when we feel there no longer exists a life that we find rewarding, especially as our health deteriorates to the point where pain accompanies us each waking moment of each day we draw breath.

Waiting and Accepting: Gifts Not Waisted on the Elderly

For me, there were two themes that emerged - waiting and acceptance. Behaviors that are not only foreign to today’s youth in most cultures, but to many of those people as well who are broaching old age or who have already crossed over to the late autumn of their lives.

WAITING

ACCEPTING

Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little – Epicurus

It appears true then as Epicurus has noted that good fortune lies not with what youth can achieve but what time will give us if we are but patient and accepting of its gifts.

A Life Traveled Thus Far

As I look about too I see images in nature that reflect how I feel to some degree. Like the trees that are losing their leaves, the thinness of my greying pate becomes more apparent as I comb through it each day.

And though standing and walking upright once I work out the kinks in my joints after rising each morning, this piece of firewood, set to be consumed in my chimenea later, reflects a posture that I can identify with. It will undergo the process I have chosen after I breathe my last – cremation.

But there still remains a part of me that is perhaps more alive now than at any other time in my near 64 years. My sense of who I am and what role I play in the big scheme of things seems more acute and there’s a wisdom that generates a fire in my soul unlike any time in my youth.

On Pain – Listen Up Kiddos

Not-So-Near Perfect

Death With Dignity – Our “Inalienable” Right to Die as We See Fit

“Hey! I Worked Hard For This Look”: No Shame In Growing Old

Should We Be Concerned About Deeper Cuts to the Payroll Tax?

Related articles

Search Blog Content

America Honors Leaders, Not Politicians

Bet on solar power

What I have written recently

Blogroll

Archives

Follow “Woodgate's View”