David Frum on How We Need to Learn to Say No to the Elderly by David Frum Jun 25, 2012 1:00 AM EDT They’re the worst drivers—and we’re too scared to tell them so. If we don’t push back, they’ll steal our benefits and bankrupt the country. Print Email Comments (44)
On a sunny October afternoon nearly two years ago, a disoriented 86-year-old Margaret Lazor maneuvered her Buick Century station wagon through suburban Philadelphia, pulled onto the exit ramp of I-95, and drove in the wrong direction nearly a dozen miles in the passing lane, waving off a driver who tried to catch her attention. Cars swerved out of her way. Four drivers crashed, fortunately none of them fatally.
We live in the YouTube era, and so—inevitably—the incident was captured on video, providing a rare real-time glimpse of behavior that recurs again and again but that usually we read about only after the fact.
Three months after Lazor’s wild ride, on Jan. 18, 2011, a 91-year-old man drove seven miles the wrong way on I-95 in Maine. Three days later, an 87-year-old woman, also a Maine resident, repeated the mistake. Again by good luck, nobody was seriously hurt, although at least one oncoming car was damaged when it pulled off the highway to avoid collision.
We’d better be prepared for more such stories, involving relatives, friends, and—over the course of time—ourselves. The number of Americans over 65 is projected to double between 2010 and 2050, to almost 90 million. The population of the oldest, over age 85, will grow even faster: from 5.8 million in 2010 to 19 million by 2050.
As we age, our driving skills inevitably deteriorate. The likelihood of a car crash begins to rise after age 60 and to rise rapidly after age 70. Drivers over 80 are as likely to crash as new drivers in their teens; drivers over 85 are twice as likely to crash as new teenage drivers.
Fortunately, many older drivers are responsible enough to self-restrict. They drive less and refrain from driving at night or on high-speed roads. These behaviors show up in the statistics. Along with the post-2005 surge in gasoline prices, they may account for a reassuring decline in the fatalities inflicted by older drivers over the past few years. But unfortunately not all older drivers are responsible. Those who wish to test their luck—and everyone else’s—encounter few restrictions. Whereas teenage drivers are subjected to a testing process and gain driving rights usually in three gradual stages, older drivers in most states are subject only to more frequent eye testing.
Photo Illustration by Darren Braun for Newsweek
States hesitate to test in part for cost reasons: testing drivers in person is expensive. But as important as costs is political fear. Unlike the young, the elderly pay attention to politics. (One study has found that baby boomers are 38 percent more likely than post-boomers to answer correctly basic questions about current events.) Older Americans vote, and they unabashedly vote their interests as a demographic group. It’s almost always easier and safer to shift the costs of an aging society onto other groups: to force the other drivers on I-95 to veer out of the way.
And no, it’s not just about driving. Whether we can ever learn to say no to the elderly is the great political question hanging over all modern societies, in Europe as much as in the U.S., as we face a 21st century of diminished economic opportunity and staggering government debt.
Pay It Forward Economics
In 2011 Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan proposed a plan to balance the U.S. federal budget over the next two decades. House Republicans adopted a version of the plan as their budget, and it has since been (nervously) endorsed by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
The essence of the plan? A gigantic off-loading of budget pain from old to young. Medicare and Social Security will be protected exactly as they are for Americans now over age 55. Younger Americans, on the other hand, will find Medicare progressively less generous, with the heaviest burden of adjustment falling on the youngest of all.
In the past, such pay-it-forward economics could be justified on the premise that—thanks to economic growth—the next generation would be richer than its predecessors. But that assumption has been breaking down as the benefits of economic growth have been claimed by fewer and fewer Americans. Virtually all of the productivity gains since 1979 have flowed to the top 1 percent of income earners. As a result, today’s 20-somethings face a future in which most of them may well fail to attain the living standards of their parents.
Falling Behind
Thirty-two percent of 18- to 29-yearolds are now either unemployed or working part-time while searching for a full-time job. In his powerful book Pinched (the best yet on the economic effects of the Great Recession), journalist Don Peck cites research by Yale’s Lisa Kahn on the lifelong effects of early-career unemployment: “Seventeen years after graduation, those who had entered the workforce during inhospitable times were still earning 10 percent less on average than those who had emerged into a more bountiful climate. When you add up all the earnings losses over the years, Kahn says, it’s as if the lucky graduates had been given a gift of about $100,000, adjusted for inflation, immediately upon graduation—or, alternatively, as if the unlucky ones had been saddled with a debt of the same size.”
Kahn’s numbers may actually underestimate the difficulties ahead for the next generation. Her calculations are based on studies of past recessions, but the recession that began in December 2007, and from which we still haven’t fully emerged, is worse than anything seen since the Great Depression. Even before the recession, the millennial generation faced a harsh outlook. Their educational levels have barely improved over their parents’ generation: among today’s 25- to 34-year-olds, 39 percent have a four-year degree, up negligibly from the prior generation’s 37 percent. Three decades ago, the U.S. was the most highly educated country on earth; today, the U.S. ranks 11th in college completion.
The noncollege majority fare much worse than their college-educated peers. Adjusting for inflation, an American male with only a high-school diploma earns less than his counterpart of 35 years ago. A family headed today by people between the ages of 35 and 44 will be on average nearly 70 percent -poorer than its counterpart in 1984. This is the generation that we are also expecting to shoulder the burden of the baby boomers’ retirement?
The Late Start
And that’s far from the only burden the old place upon the young. In the terrible economic crisis that has engulfed almost the whole developed world since 2007, we have loaded the largest part of the pain and suffering upon the young. They face the highest risks of unemployment in the U.S., but even more so in Europe, where youth unemployment exceeds 20 percent continentwide, and reaches near 50 percent in Spain.
Unemployed young people lose for years—sometimes forever—their chance to start families of their own and begin to live their lives. Across the continent, young people (and especially men) continue to live with their parents deep into their 20s. As of 2007, French men on average did not leave home until age 24, German men not until 25, Italian men not until 29, Spaniards not until past 30. If you want to know why Europeans postpone children so long, lowering birth rates across the continent, here’s your answer: weak job prospects plus high rents.
This grim pattern is now asserting itself in post-crisis America. Twenty percent of young Americans say they have postponed marriage because of the bad economy, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Twenty-two percent say they have put off having a child. Americans gave birth to 185,000 fewer babies in 2009 than in 2007, with trends pointing toward a continuing decline.
A Generational Clash
The economics blogger Steve Randy Waldman memorably and bitterly articulated the meaning of these grim facts. The long slump has revealed the preferences of the aging polities of the Western world. “Their overwhelming priority is to protect the purchasing power of incumbent creditors. That’s it. That’s everything. All other considerations are secondary”—-including economic recovery.
We could jump-start the economy with a massive jolt of monetary and fiscal stimulus, but such a policy would risk inflation and pose a threat to retirement savings. So we don’t do it. We could borrow money to finance infrastructure programs that would set people to work now and enrich society over the long haul—but that borrowing would have to be serviced by taxes to which older Americans fiercely object. So we don’t do that either.
Surveys used to find baby boomers somewhat less anti-government than their elders born in the 1920s and 1930s. Since 2007, however, the attitudes of 60-somethings and 80-somethings have converged, with almost two thirds of both groups opposing active government.
As political scientists Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williamson found in their study The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism, the general anti-government attitude of today’s retirees is heavily seasoned with mistrust and dislike of today’s youth. “[Y]oung people feature prominently in stories Tea Partiers tell about undeserving freeloaders.” They don’t exempt their own children—in fact, it is often their own children and grandchildren toward whom they direct their angriest scorn. As one elderly activist quoted by Skocpol and Williamson puts his generational irritation: “My grandson, he’s fourteen, and he asked me: ‘Why should I work, why can’t I just get free money?’” (A comedian’s riposte: “The Tea Party is God’s judgment on us for teaching our parents how to use the Internet.”)
Growing Disdain
The old have always grumbled about the young. No doubt Cro-Magnons complained that their kids didn’t appreciate their effort to put a nice, dry cave above their heads. Yet we seem today to hear a new bitterness in the attitudes of the old, a special glee in reproaching and denouncing the young. In 2012 job seekers outnumber jobs offered by a margin of 3–1, down from a post-Depression record of 5.5–1 in early 2009, with the ratio worst among the youngest workers. As young job applicants collect rejection slips, the leading conservative policy intellectual, Charles Murray, has publicly urged his fellow older Americans to regard unemployed young men as “lazy, irresponsible, and unmanly” and to publicly revile them as “bums.”
The disdain of the old for the young appears to be contagious. In early June, a commencement speaker at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts delivered a tough message to the class of 2012: “You are not special,” David -McCullough Jr. told them. In fairness to McCullough, a teacher at the school, the bulk of the speech wasn’t as harsh as the most frequently quoted line.
But it was that line that earned a video of the speech nearly 1.5 million YouTube views, its author media appearances, and his harsh opinion an endorsement from America’s most vocal hater-of-the-young, Rush Limbaugh, who chortled delightedly in his June 11 broadcast: “This is not ever heard. You are not supposed to insult the children … You’re not supposed to harm them. And this guy has just gone out and told these little high-school kids, ‘Hey, you’re nothing, you’re nobody. You’re not special.’”
The Future At Stake
It’s altogether appropriate to care for the needs and interests of the elderly. As their numbers grow—as they remain active longer—American society will have to develop new ways to ensure their quality of life. We’ve built a suburban landscape in which losing the right to drive will too often mean the loss of all personal independence, and so it’s unsurprising that many elderly cling to that right long past the point at which they can safely exercise it.
But despite what Limbaugh and his legions of cantankerous listeners may believe, the old truism really is true: the young are the country’s future. If it’s uncaring for society to neglect the old, it’s outright suicidal to cannibalize the life chances of the rising generation. Yet that is precisely what has been happening, before our collective eyes and with our collective assent.
In politics, as in economics, as on the highway, it is the old who are too often driving any way they like—and the young who are scrambling to get out of the way.
As if my blood wasn't boiling enough, I read the comments under the article. Same shit as usual from Baby Boomers - WE FOUGHT FOR YOUR FREEDOMS AND PAID FOR OUR RETIREMENT!!1!!!1!! Yeah, uh, no. WE are paying for your retirement and will have trouble paying for ours. So shut up. I appreciate your service and all but you're still sucking on the government teat and will do so forever despite your alleged "anti-government" stance. And if we base being taken care of for life on wartime service, I don't see veterans of today's wars being taken care of the way Boomers are and will be. But today's veterans are young, so they suck.
As for the driving, I bet if you put frequent re-testing of old people up for a vote, you'd see the biggest voter turnout among younger voters ever lol.
All in all, this article is making me scream on this lovely Wednesday morning.
Interesting. This may be the first article I've read that claims not only that the elderly are selfish, but that their selfishness is actually vindictive because they think the young are undeserving. I truly wish we had the political nerve to tell these people to go fuck themselves.
And that's about the most intelligent response I can muster at this early, pre-coffee hour, unfortunately.
Interesting. This may be the first article I've read that claims not only that the elderly are selfish, but that their selfishness is actually vindictive because they think the young are undeserving.
Come to California, where the olds will extoll the glories of Prop 13 to see this mentality at its finest.
Fvck old people and their 1978 property tax assessments.
I don't get why there have to be these "wars" between generations. It sounds like some manufactured bullshit to me like War on Drugs or War on Terrorism.
Yes, the Old People are losing their marbles. And guess what... part of losing your marbles is not knowing that fact. But it's going to happen to us one day, too. We should be concerned about traffic safety and test older drivers, but being angry at their loss of abilities is not a solution. Then we sound just like them: a bunch of whiney complainers without any ideas to make things better.
I think we're going to be in even worse shape when we hit 70, 80, etc. We're getting into chronic diseases at younger ages, we've been pummeled by stressors like lack of sleep, lack of job stability/gaps in employment, taking care of our own parents and kids at the same time, social safety nets are withering away and so on. Most of us (probably not on here, but the average American) will not have the financial resources that the Old People do to deal with this wreckage.
Are we going to be ok without solutions to leave our suburban prisons? With insane health care costs, we're all so sure we're going to be able to take care of ourselves? I'm pretty surprised at the lack of foresight from smart people. But then again, maybe every one here is financially well off enough not to have to think about these what-ifs. Still, it's not very compassionate.
I think you are missing the fact that the elderly have a sense of entitlement that will destroy this country and won't budge. They are the Me generation.
I don't get why there have to be these "wars" between generations. It sounds like some manufactured bullshit to me like War on Drugs or War on Terrorism.
Yes, the Old People are losing their marbles. And guess what... part of losing your marbles is not knowing that fact. But it's going to happen to us one day, too. We should be concerned about traffic safety and test older drivers, but being angry at their loss of abilities is not a solution. Then we sound just like them: a bunch of whiney complainers without any ideas to make things better.
I think we're going to be in even worse shape when we hit 70, 80, etc. We're getting into chronic diseases at younger ages, we've been pummeled by stressors like lack of sleep, lack of job stability/gaps in employment, taking care of our own parents and kids at the same time, social safety nets are withering away and so on. Most of us (probably not on here, but the average American) will not have the financial resources that the Old People do to deal with this wreckage.
Are we going to be ok without solutions to leave our suburban prisons? With insane health care costs, we're all so sure we're going to be able to take care of ourselves? I'm pretty surprised at the lack of foresight from smart people. But then again, maybe every one here is financially well off enough not to have to think about these what-ifs. Still, it's not very compassionate.
Oh my, where do I start?
I'm not angry old people lost their marbles. I'm angry that the incessant pandering to the older generations allows them to operate heavy machinery that can kill or maim others without any form of testing whatsoever besides inadequate eye exams. And FWIW, I feel this strongly about teens driving too.
Also, I'm angry because no one (including old people) wants to pay for public transportation infrastructure in most parts of the country that could make this less of an issue than it currently is. No one wants buses bringing riff-raff over to their preshus neighborhoods.
Sure, younger generations may not be better off, but we are dealing with the fallout from having to pay for older generations to live longer than ever before and I don't expect us to have that same luxury of younger generations supporting us when we're older. Essentially, we are paying for the retirements of multiple generations. Granted, I don't have a problem with my retirement being my responsibility. But the sense of entitlement from the olds pisses me off. Just read the comments under the article. They think they are the only people who ever fought in wars and who ever had to work hard to make a living. And our elected officials buy into that thinking.
I don't know. My first reaction was more a long the lines of mr+mrs. Although I do think there is some truth to what is said about "old people", I tend to be more sensitive to anti-old people comments since my parents are already there and all I can think is that they won't around that much longer to be such a burden to us young folks.
Everything I read about how my generation will not be better off than my parents' generation is so fucking depressing. But it's true. With the cost of education and healthcare outpacing inflation and real wages being stagnant, how could we be? The bulk of wealth increases in the last 30 years have gone to the top 1 percent? Well, fuck me.
There was an interesting comment on NPR yesterday. They were discussing education. One of the host commented he went to UT Austin for college back in the 70s. Tuition was so cheap that his living expenses were higher than tuition. (Even when I was at UT in the 90s tuition was cheaper than living expenses--I worked and that covered my tuition and housing costs). The host said his generation didn't pay that gift forward. Now public universities are incredibly expensive and 2/3rds of kids are graduating with SL debt and the average debt is $25k (that's a car payment on a honda civic).
His generation took but didn't give. That is the mentality of the boomers who are now the "elderly"
I would be far more sympathetic to older Americans if they weren't the ones who spent decades creating the economic morass in which we find ourselves and which has been universally predicted for ages. To set up the younger generations to fail while simultaneously criticizing them for being lazy, unemployed, irresponsible, and unwilling to sacrifice absolutely warrants anger and resentment.
I would be far more sympathetic to older Americans if they weren't the ones who spent decades creating the economic morass in which we find ourselves and which has been universally predicted for ages. To set up the younger generations to fail while simultaneously criticizing them for being lazy, unemployed, irresponsible, and unwilling to sacrifice absolutely warrants anger and resentment.
Can you explain this because, although there are fiscally irresponsible old folk (as there are irresponsible young folk), I'm not seeing this as a generational issue?
I would be far more sympathetic to older Americans if they weren't the ones who spent decades creating the economic morass in which we find ourselves and which has been universally predicted for ages. To set up the younger generations to fail while simultaneously criticizing them for being lazy, unemployed, irresponsible, and unwilling to sacrifice absolutely warrants anger and resentment.
Everything I read about how my generation will not be better off than my parents' generation is so fucking depressing. But it's true. With the cost of education and healthcare outpacing inflation and real wages being stagnant, how could we be? The bulk of wealth increases in the last 30 years have gone to the top 1 percent? Well, fuck me.
And I know you're not saying it, but how is this old folks' fault?? Why are we placing blame on a whole generation for this? Can you imagine what the younger generation will say about us??
I don't get why there have to be these "wars" between generations. It sounds like some manufactured bullshit to me like War on Drugs or War on Terrorism.
Yes, the Old People are losing their marbles. And guess what... part of losing your marbles is not knowing that fact. But it's going to happen to us one day, too. We should be concerned about traffic safety and test older drivers, but being angry at their loss of abilities is not a solution. Then we sound just like them: a bunch of whiney complainers without any ideas to make things better.
I think we're going to be in even worse shape when we hit 70, 80, etc. We're getting into chronic diseases at younger ages, we've been pummeled by stressors like lack of sleep, lack of job stability/gaps in employment, taking care of our own parents and kids at the same time, social safety nets are withering away and so on. Most of us (probably not on here, but the average American) will not have the financial resources that the Old People do to deal with this wreckage.
Are we going to be ok without solutions to leave our suburban prisons? With insane health care costs, we're all so sure we're going to be able to take care of ourselves? I'm pretty surprised at the lack of foresight from smart people. But then again, maybe every one here is financially well off enough not to have to think about these what-ifs. Still, it's not very compassionate.
I'm not angry that the elderly are losing their sensibilities and I don't think the author is, either. The point is that if we are the more sentient ones, we need to learn to tell them no at some point, for their safety and for ours.
"This prick is asking for someone here to bring him to task Somebody give me some dirt on this vacuous mass so we can at last unmask him I'll pull the trigger on it, someone load the gun and cock it While we were all watching, he got Washington in his pocket."
I don't get why there have to be these "wars" between generations. It sounds like some manufactured bullshit to me like War on Drugs or War on Terrorism.
Yes, the Old People are losing their marbles. And guess what... part of losing your marbles is not knowing that fact. But it's going to happen to us one day, too. We should be concerned about traffic safety and test older drivers, but being angry at their loss of abilities is not a solution. Then we sound just like them: a bunch of whiney complainers without any ideas to make things better.
I think we're going to be in even worse shape when we hit 70, 80, etc. We're getting into chronic diseases at younger ages, we've been pummeled by stressors like lack of sleep, lack of job stability/gaps in employment, taking care of our own parents and kids at the same time, social safety nets are withering away and so on. Most of us (probably not on here, but the average American) will not have the financial resources that the Old People do to deal with this wreckage.
Are we going to be ok without solutions to leave our suburban prisons? With insane health care costs, we're all so sure we're going to be able to take care of ourselves? I'm pretty surprised at the lack of foresight from smart people. But then again, maybe every one here is financially well off enough not to have to think about these what-ifs. Still, it's not very compassionate.
All of this. I understand there are legitimate issues (and the driving one makes me livid) but some of the anger toward the elderly is going overboard. Not all of it, but some.
What really pisses me off are those AARP commercials where the retired people make comments about how they "paid their fair share." Um, no, you didn't. You will collect far more money than you EVER paid in. And ditto IIOY x 1000.
I would be far more sympathetic to older Americans if they weren't the ones who spent decades creating the economic morass in which we find ourselves and which has been universally predicted for ages. To set up the younger generations to fail while simultaneously criticizing them for being lazy, unemployed, irresponsible, and unwilling to sacrifice absolutely warrants anger and resentment.
YES.
My problem with the older generations is their absolute refusal to admit that the choices and mistakes they made have led us to the point we are currently at. And instead of admitting that, and helping by not being a crazy ass voting bloc that won't even entertain the idea of reform for things like social security, they lobby with AARP and bitch and moan about how the younger generation sucks and talk about being "the greatest generation."
Who is mad at truly demented old people? No one. There are plenty of olds who are of sound mind. And every one I've ran in to has the same bullshit entitlement attitude--about everything. That's the issue here. The fact that the old and the elderly feel they need to take no personal responsibility for their health, their finances, or the future of the country.
So, at least in part, issues are due to elected officials who:
(1) we elected (2) are not elderly
Well, #2 is easy to discuss because it doesn't matter what age the elected officials are; they know who's voting so they'll pander to the old folks. Easy peasy.
#1 is tricky. Voter turnout sucks in this country, although turnout is better among the you-know-whos. And it's a horse-and-cart dilemma - would younger people turn out to vote in higher numbers if elected officials showed that they care about the issues younger people care about most, or would elected officials care about the issues that younger people care about if younger people turned out to vote in higher numbers?
So I absolutely do blame lack of turnout among my generation as one of the reasons why we've gotten to where we are. And like I said before, put driving re-tests up for a vote and you'll see young people vote in droves lol. Sad but definitely a legit possibility.
H and I both work full time. We both are in professional positions with access to benefits. But our insurance sucks.
My son's asthma meds cost us $200 out of pocket per month. He's 1. this is so he can breathe. The bill for his recent visit to the allergist/asthma doc is sitting on my kitchen counter. $350. I would like to see the asthma educator to learn more about how to manage his condition, but she charges $150 and our insurance won't cover it. We can't swing it on top of the other $550 right now.
My MIL recently fell. Due to her not taking ANY of the supplements she was supposed to, she has terrible osteoporosis and snapped her femur. She had surgery on Memorial Day, was in the hospital for several days, then moved to rehab. She has in home supports.
Total bill? $26K and climbing. Their share? Less than $300.
Medicare is a great thing, but dammit, I'd like to have access to health care for my family too. We're paying through the nose and get no benefits until we spend $6K out of pocket.
So, at least in part, issues are due to elected officials who:
(1) we elected (2) are not elderly
Well, #2 is easy to discuss because it doesn't matter what age the elected officials are; they know who's voting so they'll pander to the old folks. Easy peasy.
#1 is tricky. Voter turnout sucks in this country, although turnout is better among the you-know-whos. And it's a horse-and-cart dilemma - would younger people turn out to vote in higher numbers if elected officials showed that they care about the issues younger people care about most, or would elected officials care about the issues that younger people care about if younger people turned out to vote in higher numbers?
So I absolutely do blame lack of turnout among my generation as one of the reasons why we've gotten to where we are. And like I said before, put driving re-tests up for a vote and you'll see young people vote in droves lol. Sad but definitely a legit possibility.
No, I don't think #2 is so simple. At the very least, these are politicians that are OUR age, so it's another example of OUR generation being partly to blame. The opint is I think it's a lot easier to blame it on the old people when, in fact, we are just as much to blame.
Marie, I actually see the opposite happening with driving re-test. The old generation will turn out to keep that right.
Oh, I know they would. I just think that we'll also see epic turnout among younger people too. Bad drivers seem to piss everyone off (even bad drivers themselves who don't think they're bad drivers, ha!).
Who is mad at truly demented old people? No one. There are plenty of olds who are of sound mind. And every one I've ran in to has the same bullshit entitlement attitude--about everything. That's the issue here. The fact that the old and the elderly feel they need to take no personal responsibility for their health, their finances, or the future of the country.
I think what has contributed in part to their entitlement mentality is the constant assurance (always emphasized by the pandering perpetuated by the politicians - sorry for the excessive alliteration there) that the government and programs will and should take care of them as they get older. They've been promised the money and the care by the talking heads they watch for hours on TV, so who are these young whippersnappers to tell them differently?
ETA: It's no accident that Judge Judy is now the highest rated daytime show on TV. An old bitty laying down the authoritah on the young stupid people. /gavel