FINANCIAL ABUSE of the ELDERLY...ANOTHER REASON to HATE BABY BOOMERS

In the last three years, three elderly women have disappeared from a nearby neighborhood.  All of the women were widows that were living alone.  But the disappearances were not due to your typical criminal activity.  The alleged bad acts were not committed by hardened criminals but by the greedy and aging Baby Boomer children of these unfortunate elders. Eventually, these unfortunate women lost the freedom to live life on their own terms while others were in control of their finances.  But these perpetrators acted as if their acts were benevolent. When I was a kid my Mother told a me a dicho (saying) in Spanish that roughly translated says, "Don't do bad things and try to make them look good."  Unfortunately, most instances of elder abuse are not reported.  Contacting local authorities is not considered an option by most people because they fear legal retaliation by the family of the victim. People are also hesitant to interfere with what they consider to be another family's personal business.  All that most people do in that circumstance is to seethe with anger over the apparent injustice.  

I thought back to the time when I ran into an old girlfriend on the street.   Over coffee, "K" told me that she had just moved her Mom out of her home and into what we used to call a rest home.  It was supposedly nice because it was in a park setting.  I asked "K" why she had put her Mom in a retirement home.  She told me that her Mom  became "forgetful" soon after her husband had passed away.  She and her brother had decided that their Mom couldn't live in such a "big house" anymore.  Not surprisingly, they were also making plans to sell the house.  It was then that I knew why we didn't click back then, (apart from her irrational leftist political views).  A frightening character trait of most leftists is a certain cold detachment toward the elderly.  For a brief flash I saw that trait in her.  I could have been wrong but there appeared to be no squeamishness in sending her Mom to a rest home.  Conveniently, and for a price, she became another person's responsibility.  The rationalization was that it was nice clean place with lots of people her own age.  Another dicho from my Mother came to mind, "Even if it is made of gold, a cage is still a cage."  

This cold detachment is  epitomized in the Health Care Reform legislation passed by the most radical leftist Congress in history.  This legislation, which reduced the Medicare budget is the beginning of the classification of the elderly as disposable people.  Here is the egotist and Baby Boomer, Barry Obama at his coldest discussing health care for the elderly.  Apparently, the Egotist doesn't think that he'll ever get old. 

 

There was also a similar scenario with the other three widows that I had also seen with "K's" Mother.  The First Act:  "Memory loss" events committed by the elder are overblown.  You can hear the refrain, "Oh she/he could have burned the house down by leaving the stove burners on!"  (Query:  Who hasn't forgotten something on the stove or left water running? I remember a 22-year old college acquaintance of mine that "forgot" that she had left the bath tub water running in her second story apartment while she talked on the phone with her boyfriend.)   If most people were called to account for their worst memory lapses all of them would probably be eligible to be put in a home for the mentally infirm.

Second Act: the Boomer children either start "visiting" more frequently or move in.  Their first serious move is to take the car keys away from the elder to isolate the elder.  Then there is the subtle suggestion that grows into an oppressive mandate to sell the elder's home and move into a senior home (read warehouse) to be with other people their age.  There's the rub.  The residential home is the one asset that has increased in value in the last 40 years.  Many homeowners look at their home as their financial nest egg.  But overextended by huge credit card debt and a bad economy, desperate Boomers are looking to their aging parents to bail them out of their immature life/financial choices.  But they don't want to wait for the will to be read--that would be inconvenient.  It is a perfect breeding ground for financial abuse.

What's apparent here are the differences in the world view of the Baby Boomers and the Greatest  Generation.  Boomers make decisions based upon personal convenience.  There are many Boomer women and men that have opted for abortion because having a child would have inconvenienced their long term career/life plans.  But nine months is a short time in the continuum of life. To make the decision to participate in institutionalized murder requires some serious thought.  But true to form, many Boomers took the easy way out and chose not to be inconvenienced.  

To many Boomers, credit card debt is an  inconvenience to dealt with, often by using other people's money.  The easy way out is almost always the "choice" of Boomers.  It takes character to not take the easy way out.  It's rare when a  Boomer either "toughs it out" or acts like a "stand-up guy or gal.  Most Boomers are either seeking to obtain a lifestyle they were unwilling to work or save for; or they look to get themselves out of a financial pickle by grabbing their parents' life savings and their homes. There is no respect by Boomers for the sacrifice and hard work of their parents.  After all they are the ones that they have been waiting for and they've waited long enough for their entitlement.  Once again, the leftist entitlement mentality that has  engulfed American society for the last 45 years has poisoned the well.

My Mother did the right thing with her Mother  (and my Grandma).  She left her to live her life in her own house until she passed away at 92.  My Grandma lived a full life, including being in a knitting circle that included the matriarch of the legendary Guerrero pro-wrestling family.  My Grandma was treated  like a fully functioning adult by my Mother.  But that's because my Mom was a product of the Greatest Generation.  They respected their elders and treated them with respect.  That's what most any human being deserves--respect until they take their last breath on Earth. 

My two favorite living non-relatives on Earth are Bronx native "Uncle Bill" and "Tony" the former  Brit banker.  They are gentlemen--(in every sense of the word)--in their mid-90s.  Both are independent and have active lives, i.e., they both have girlfriends considerably younger than them.  I hope that I end up having lived the quality life that those two gentlemen have lived by the time I take my final breath.

If you believe that there is elder abuse going on wherever you are, then  go to the National Center on Elder Abuse website to get guidance as to what to do. Finally, in the spirit of full disclosure, I am a Baby Boomer. I am deeply ashamed of my generation and how they have screwed up beyond recognition all things wonderful about America. (That's my cleaned-up, expanded version of the old acronym FUBAR).