>From Harry,
> I am glad you enjoyed it and that you are looking forward to your > retirement. Yes, I am. It's likely that I'll be busier than when I was working. > On a more somber note this issue could impact you personally should you > become disabled as you age. Given current income trends among young adults > the generation of care workers that will help you may not be so caring as > you might like. Due to the continued advancement of science, technology, robotics, and better health practices there is a high likelihood that many of us will end up surviving to the point where we will be severely disabled in multiple ways before being blessedly released from our mortal coil. You seem to be playing what I might describe here as a scare card here amongst your elders. I don't know if it was your intention to do so or not. That said, I strikes me as a tad patronizing to infer the inevitable lessening of the standard of living of many senior citizens (as well as their dignity) is what we get to look forward to unless we continue jury-rigging the employment sector so that we'll always have a crop of disadvantaged minimum wage workers whose only employment choices might be to perform menial tasks like changing my depends when my conscious awareness has degenerated to the level of an inert doorknob. The truth of the matter is that most individuals my age (62) and older are very much aware of the ramifications. It concerns us deeply because many of the future choices we see laid out for us are ugly. IMO, making sure low-wage employment care-takers will continue to be available to wipe the drool off of my face is not the solution. Neither, IMO, is more science, technology and robotics. Science and Technology can only delay the termination of the original warranty Nature gave us to work with. Granted, I think genetic engineering is eventually going to extend the quality life by quite a bit. Unfortunately, selfishly speaking, such wonders will not come in my lifetime. Alas, sooner or later the Reaper gets us all. And, of course, all these technological wonders come with a price tag where we are in danger of out-pricing ourselves from the ability pay for the most promising therapies unless one is fortunate enough to live in the rarified stratus of the 1%. That certainly ain't me. Fortunately better ways of dealing with end-of-life choices will be found. As Jed mentioned about Ed Storm's thoughts on the matter of growing old... (really old, that is) Storms mused he'd rather be taken out back and shot once he felt he no longer could perform his life's work. Regardless of whether Ed Storms would actually allow this to happen to himself, it is a passionate sentiment many elders express. Unfortunately, when it really comes time to do something about their predicament few are actually in a position to do anything about it in ways our society would find acceptable. Except for a tiny minority of five states, Oregon being one of them, End-of-Life options are not available. This is due to conservative, religious, social and moral issues for which our country is too terrified to deal with head-on. It's going to take our conservative up-tight society a considerable amount of time hashing and thrashing about before we will be allowed to be as humane to our own species as we have been towards our most beloved pets. Fortunately, we are making some progress. There are a few brave soldiers taking the fight to the battle font, like Brittany Maynard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7-_qD09N_Y Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson svjart.orionworks.com zazzle.com/orionworks
