Aging Because of the Aging Baby Boomer

Aging

Because of the aging baby boomer generation, a lower current birth rate, and advances in health care and medical technologies by 2020 as many as one-fourth of all Americans will be aged 60 or older. This astounding figure has huge implications for American social, political, and economic spheres. For example, the general population will be forced to confront it prejudices and biases against seniors. Currently, American culture glorifies youth to the extent that elderly people are treated poorly, neglected, and taken for granted. In many other cultures, older persons are deemed wiser due to their having accumulated life experience. In the United States, on the other hand, the senior population is often viewed with scorn, as symbols of lost beauty and impending death and decay. However, if twenty-five percent of all Americans are in the senior age bracket then it will be harder to practice biased behaviors. Similarly, an already poorly designed and weak health care system is failing the elderly population today. If trends continue, the seniors of the future will have even less access to affordable medical care: the pharmaceuticals, procedures, tests, and surgeries they require. With old age comes the natural deterioration of the body and medical care services pertain especially to the senior population. However, the United States poses a catch-22 dilemma for many American citizens: getting old means being retired and out of work. Most old people do not make enough from their pension plans to get by and social security does not cover the difference of their lifestyle costs. With a lack of adequate income, the elderly are unable to afford health care in a system that caters mainly to those who already have enough money to afford medical services. Finally, if a quarter of all Americans is elderly then legislation will increasingly reflect the values and beliefs of this segment of the population. The values and beliefs of older people are often in stark contrast to the values and beliefs of the younger generation. Problems pertaining to politics, economics, and social realities will come to the fore as America becomes a "grayer" culture.

Growing old isn't necessarily a negative process. Our grandparents are sources of wisdom and repositories of great stories of times long gone. The tales of grandparents provide rich fodder for younger generations, who when they respect their elders stand to learn much about themselves, their ancestry, and their community. Especially in a multicultural society, elderly people become conduits to the past and to the traditions of cultures that are at the risk of dying out. Therefore, old people have a very real and solid status in American culture and should always be valued as such.

As more and more baby boomers age, it will become clear that aging isn't a negative phenomenon. The baby boomer generation has instilled in American culture the view that agism is like sexism or racism: a form of prejudice. Moreover, Americans are becoming increasingly more health conscious in general. Therefore, the elderly generation in 2020 will probably be far healthier overall than the elderly population of today or of ten years ago.