Let us go!

What do we do with all these old people?

Original January 2017. Updated October 2020

For years now I've been barking about freedom. Not the usual freedom banality you hear from politicians or libertarians who think they did it all on their own. Or those other freedom things like; free speech, a 'free' gift or 'of the road' or the freedom of hanging out with your buds at the park while not wearing a mask. Since I'm moving into my mid 70s my niche freedom is a little smaller – different - than that.

The freedom I'm talking about is freedom for old people. I know, I know, old people are not generally liked by some as seen by the way we're treated and abused at times. The younger masses, at least some of them, would sooner not know we're there at all and would prefer to not seeing us in public except in a “isn't that cute, the old guy can still remember the last century” way. For some we show them their future and it scares the hell out them. We complain a lot too. Some of us don't understand newer tech or food fads and why Yahoo wants to make me log into my email account from my phone when I want to use my laptop.

We don't spend lots of money on useless crap anymore either because we've already had, and gotten rid of much useless crap and don't need anymore. One 55” TV, one laptop, one smart phone (the non-exploding kind), a dongle to connect them, a gamer's chair (seriously – any oldies reading this, check them out) 3 pairs of shoes, enough clothes/towels/bedding to cover 2 weeks without doing a laundry and we're done. Some people think we smell bad, well guess what – so do you, well some of you do! Seriously, ever taken a whiff of a runner, a biker, a stock broker or anyone after a 2 hour workout at the gym? There are many reasons people stink up the place and age, solely, isn't one of them. Shower, brush your teeth, step back from the cologne counter and we're all good to go.

I know we tend to walk slower which gets in the way of some hipster's power walk on the way to get his or her “Austrian goat milk double-half-caf-half-decaf-soy extract cappuccino - extra hot - with a dash of Madagascar cinnamon-and half tablespoon of caramel-latte-frappa-mocha with an extra extra sweet and low,” mainly because we've probably already been there and done that so there's no hurry to repeat the trip.

We use the medical system much more often than young people do because we've got parts we've worn out through general use. I've got parts I've worn out from over use too but, I won't talk about that stuff in public, or in private for that matter. Usually our doctors are more than willing to send us to get an expensive public paid test, or prescribe some sort of subsidized medicine that may or may not react with one of the other subsidized drugs we already take, which is followed by a subsidized ride to the ER. Must cost the system a ton huh?

Long Term Care facilities have come into the news since the arrival of COVID-19 and the number of old people who've died in those facilities. British Colombia avoided the worst of it because “B.C. took swift, coordinated and decisive actions to stop the transmission of the virus, such as providing adequate protective gear and financially supporting front-line staff to restrict their movement between sites. There have been 111 deaths in long-term care facilities in B.C., including hospitals, compared to more than 2,500 in Quebec and 1,500 in Ontario.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/long-term-care-crisis-covid19-pandemic-1.5589097.

All the talk around LTC facilities ends where most complex issues like that always end, and that's for the status quo, only in this case, a little cleaner status. Government representatives from all levels are saying “We'll make it nice, put out a spread.” or words to that affect. But they remain the same as they ever were, warehouses for declining old people. There are other ways to do this but first Canada and Canadians have to shrink their ego bubble and look around the world for alternatives. Much of the world treat their old people with respect, a respect that seems to have been lost in most western societies. Staying at home, being taken care of by relatives is much more common place elsewhere. Many countries see housing as a human right, not an inconvenience or a weight on the taxpayer.

Speaking of non-LTC housing: We also take lots of tax dollars when accommodating us too. We need special access. Our buildings need to be centrally located so we can go places, like the doctor's office, medical center, grocery store, bingo hall and most importantly, the liquor store or weed dispensary. Housing downtown is pretty expensive so we need lots of subsidies to make ends meet, including free heat and dance lessons (okay, that's a personal thing.) There are geared to income housing projects that cost local, provincial and federal governments lots of cash. Imagine building an apartment building and renting out a brand new one-bedroom apartment for less than 25% of its market value. Conservatives and libertarians hate that stuff and we end up with ideologues like the present day Conservative Party leadership slate. There are some other rent and renovation subsidies that are income tested which will send a couple of hundred dollars a month to us oldies just for the asking. That is, if you know that they exist in the first place. But rent costs have been allowed to spiral out of control for decades so, for most of us, we'll be dead way before any well meaning governments like in B.C. or Ottawa can build enough to alleviate the problem.

Here's something else to consider. Why do you think that most old people hate lefty governments and suck up to the right wing crowd? Generally, old folks in western democracies vote for right-wing nut jobs who scream about lowering taxes, closing schools and libraries and stopping 'those' people from using up all 'our' resources. Why are so many old folks so damned angry? Simple. They feel that they've been ripped off by a system that doesn't give a damn about them. And, sadly, many resentful old people lean right because the right-wing hate the same people and things they hate. Keep in mind, even with all the subsidizes I've mentioned here, life for many pensioners is miserable, lonely and pointless. And after you've worked and paid into a system for nearly 50 years, one that gave you armloads of promises and failed you at the end, you'd be pissed off and vote for the “Leopards Eating People's Faces Party” too.

Imagine the last decade, or more, of your life, spent in a 2 room subsidized apartment, that has rules about who can visit and when, how late you're allowed to stay up, how long you can head south to avoid winter, how many times a year you must check in and prove your income and residency and on and on and on. Government has a lot of expertise in harassing its more vulnerable citizens. Just ask anyone forced onto disability welfare or the unemployment line about that. Now imagine you're told you're too old to work anymore and then you're handed a handful of new rules to follow or you'll find yourself going hungry or on the street!

Part of the problem, in my opinion, is the decisions that are being made are being made by people who have no real first hand knowledge of what being old means and feels like and of truly understanding how finite our lives are. Certainly, many professionals have studied and examined aging issues and have become somewhat expert but, that still doesn't change the reality of what it feels like being on the short-end of society's stick. Or what it feels like to be sitting in a room, staring out the window at the traffic moving along the street wondering what the hell happened and having no recourse to change anything.

There's a solution to most of that. For those of us who are willing to relocate to some 3rd world country, or some welcoming but still cheaper developing country to live in (I am) we should be allowed to. But, but, but...that'll cost Canada billions you cry - unless it's done properly, I cry back! There are other parts of the world where cost factors such as; residences, medical, drugs, labour etc are so low compared to Canada much of the cost is offset. Some have a dual private-public medical system where the costs can be 1/3 as much as Canada yet still offer top-of-the-line care. Think about a Canadian Crown Corp setting up a private hospital/LTC facility in Thailand or Colombia using Canadian long term care staff working with and training local staff. Any medical procedures required would be billed at local level fees. Everybody including the newly employed citizen and the younger Canadians who work there win.

For those of us who can remain living alone and unattended let us keep all the pension money you give us in Canada so we can afford to live offshore instead of locking us up in that subsidize apartment. Canada could free up thousands of units that are in short supply. Make our provincial health insurance plans portable (Federally subsidized?) and usable in places like Thailand, Mexico or Ecuador where the billable costs are less than 1/3 of the cost it is in Canada. Hell, throw in a couple of extra rules to satisfy the Conservatives who seem to have a big hate on for us, and for those who think we should do everything on our own, even though my back is sore and I make lots of noise when I stand up. Let us go and have a life that is more than sitting in a little box waiting to get older and die. What's wrong with that? 

They system has failed us and will fail us again and again, Just let us go. Give us a chance to fend for ourselves.