Eventually we all have to pay for 'ageism' handouts
23/12/2008
There's a lot of good anti ageism stuff in Mature Times. But let's not pretend that Selina Scott challenged Channel Five so as to make an ageism statement, otherwise she would have had her day in court.
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United we could win...
Roger Redman, Vice Chairman, Taunton & Wellington Pensioners Forum, argues that by working collectively Britain’s older people could start to achieve real and positive social change.
Let's hear it for our libraries!
In the last two years 'cut backs' mean a hundred library buildings no longer function as libraries - despite Britain being almost at the bottom of the European table in reading skills, and with more and more children leaving school unable to read properly. Libraries are also repeatedly being told they are 'antiquated' and to 'smarten up their act', while at the same time being deprived of funds. Having belonged to libraries in a various towns and cities for nearly fifty years, I have seen them change - but I have never seen any sign of them becoming unpopular.
We've become a paranoid nation
Nowadays we are afraid of global warming, social and economic meltdown, terrorism, GM crops, cancer, street crime, road rage, fuel shortages, will the lights go out? - and the list goes on and on. The end is clearly nigh - so is it really worth getting up in the morning?
Do we have the right to "call it a day"?
I am 73, fit, take no tablets of any sort, am not depressed, and look forward to many more good years. However when I tried to discuss the option of suicide when I am 90, 100 or whenever with a doctor, the position appeared to be that if I became mentally incapacitated, Social Services are legally able to take over my affairs and my life.
Eroding our civil liberties
One of the most frightening things ever to happen to Britain occurred last week. It wasn’t a bomb attack on the mainland by some terrorist group but it was, nonetheless, an attack far more frightening than that. It was an attack on the way of life which we in this country have been proud of and have fought for over the centuries and which has now insidiously eroded our very fabric. I am of course, talking about the raid, seizure and detention of a democratically elected member of Parliament.
What has happened to individual responsibility and responsible authority?
As the global banking industry continues to lurch from crisis to crisis, Ken Lacey from the Weston-Super-Mare Senior Citizens Forum revisits the Depression of the 1930s - and remembers the values of a generation who were brought up to 'live within your means and set some aside for a rainy day..."
Remembrance Day - an alternative view
As Remembrance Day approaches, please spare a thought for genuine war veterans that choose NOT to be part of the benevolent military extravaganza.
Is this a return to rationing?
Is the older generation being forgotten in this country? The Royal British Legion thinks so, and has recently launched a campaign called “Return to Rationing” to raise awareness of the ever-worsening plight of millions of pensioners. Chris Simpkins, Director General of The RBL, says it’s time to remember the debt owed by society.
Reflections on the Heyday Challenge
There has been disappointment over the failure (to date) of the Heyday challenge over the default retirement age in the European Court of Justice to deliver a surprise “get out of jail free” card. Chris Ball, CEO of The Age and Employment Network puts the current situation in context.
Zimbabwe: soon, no country for old people
Life expectancy in Zimbabwe has dropped from just under 60 years 15 years ago to 34 years. So, very soon, there will be more senior citizens than young people. Yet because the health delivery system is now so tattered, these old people may not have enough drugs to treat their illnesses, most of which tend to the terminal. This could soon be no country for old people. An inside view from a Mature Times reader in the country.
Do we really need such an overblown Olympics?
I have been watching the current Olympic Games and marvelling, not only at the success of our athletes, but the cost of it all. Is it not time to take the lead and offer a simple Olympic games in the spirit of the original?
Madonna hits 50 - but what does that say about the rest of us?
Passing the 50 mark is always a significant moment in our lives. We're currently watching Madonna go through that stage - in her own way. But what does it mean for the rest of us? Baby boomer marketing expert Judith Cork has her own take on life after 50.
Keeping the family circle together
Broken families have been blamed for the rise in anti-social behaviour and crime, and young people staying locked into welfare rather than making their way in life. So what’s the solution? Pamela Wilson, Chairwoman of Grandparents Action Group UK maintains that at least part of the responsibility must lie with the way that Family Courts operate, and makes suggestions on a better way forward.
Where have all the insects gone?
I live in London and have been increasingly concerned this summer about the lack of insects. The buddleias are flowering profusely but there are no butterflies dancing around them. So I thought that perhaps I was looking in the wrong place - a big city. Not so.
