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Supreme Senior

Seniors and Politics

The population of the world is steadily growing older. There are more people than ever now, and more people are living longer.

What does that mean for us seniors, and what does that mean for those who come after us?

Well, in a sense it depends on where you live. In many countries, the elderly is revealed. In countries like the United States...not so much.

That's a tragedy, of course, because it seems that decades worth of experience and knowledge are just set aside because we're "too old."

Of course it's changing now. Mandatory retirement used to be 65,now its 70. (And not for all occupations. There are supreme court justices in their 90s.)

That's not because companies suddenly realized how valuable oldsters were, of course. It's because the longer people wait before they retire, the longer before pensions would have to be paid, and so on. (And there is always the chance that people would pass away before those pensions would have to be paid...or before that first social security check would be cut.)

Recently, companies have been fighting to lower the quality of pensions offered - cutting back on health care and so on. In some ways you can't blame them.  US automakers can't compete against Japanese automakers because of the extremely generous pensions that US automakers have, thanks to their Unions... provisions they don't intend to give up regardless of whether or not it is bankrupting their old company.

Should employers offer full health care forever? Health care coverage that must extend after retirement? Or should employees have to pay more and more out of their salary in order to get that health care coverage.

That's a hot topic, of course, and will continue to be for decades, as the politicians in Washington continue to play around with the fate of citizens.

And that's the point of my blog. If you weren't interested in politics for most of your life...the time to get interested in politics is now. The quality of your life, and that of your children as they age, will be directly impacted by the decisions of politicians.

Let us not forget that politicians are supposed to work for us. It is we who employ them, it is we who pay their wages out of our taxes.  Doesn't it make sense, therefore, that it is we who should tell them whether or not they get raises each year, we who tell them what their pension plans will be, and so on? And yet we don't... we merely shake our heads when we read the paper and see that the politicians have yet again voted themselves a raise, retroactive for a year or so, and so on and so forth.

Seniors, it's not too late.  With the new president and the new administration starting up, maybe it's time for something new from you.  Become involved in politics, even if it's just gaining knowledge and becoming aware of issues or writing a letter to your representative to let your opinion be known.  The generation after you will appreciate it.

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About the Author

Pakistan Profile: Aitzaz Ahsan, Senior Advocate to Pakistan Supreme Court

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