The article doesn't mention one of the crown jewels of the Finnish
welfare
state, namely the assisted living facilities that are unparalleled
in the
industrialized world. Last Wednesday I went up to visit my mom in the
geriatrics ward of the local hospital and was pleased to see that
she had
mastered the Dell laptop that I bought her last month. She had
practically
turned the room into something resembling a dormitory room and had
adjusted
to life there, despite the fact that 3 room-mates have died since
she has
been there. She would be an ideal candidate for assisted living but we
couldn't afford to put her in one. The other problem is that the
closest
facility is far from her town, which would isolate her from the
friends who
visit her daily.
Fortunately, she is well cared for there. But there's got to be a
better
way of providing for old folks who can't take care of themselves. If
Finland, with its meager economy, can, so can the USA. That of
course is
dependent on sweeping social and economic change.
Lou, do you think you can write about this for MRZine.org?
Yoshie Furuhashi
<http://montages.blogspot.com>
<http://monthlyreview.org>
<http://mrzine.org>
* Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/mahmoud-
ahmadinejads-face.html>; <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/chvez-
congratulates-ahmadinejad.html>; <http://montages.blogspot.com/
2005/06/iranian-working-class-rejects.html>
