
The Staggering, Heartless Cruelty Toward the Elderly - laurex
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/respect-old/607864/
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0xfaded
I'd love to see a counter opinion about the elderly being cruel to the young
by saddling them with debt, the climate crisis, social security, tax breaks
for the retired, etc. What's interesting is this article notes that these
young people are "not caring" about a generation, but probably do care for
individuals in the generation (e.g. their wlown grand parents). This somewhat
amusingly reflects the case where individual grand parents are often very
generous to particular youth, but not to the generation as a whole.

People should absolutely be taking the outbreak seriously, and I agree these
young people are downplaying the severity. I just feel this article sets the
stage so perfectly for a counter.

~~~
leftyted
The article provides an example of what you're asking for:

> "To be perfectly honest, and this is awful, but to the young, watching as
> the elderly over and over and over choose their own interests ahead of
> Climate policy kind of feels like they’re wishing us to a death they won’t
> have to experience. It’s a sad bit of fair play."

I find the whole generational conflict bewildering. To me, blaming "the
elderly" for "the climate crisis" and "saddling us with debt" seems stupid
beyond words.

~~~
pasabagi
They do tend to vote for tire-burning candidates, on the whole.

I personally feel there's a sort of vicious circle going on between the social
isolation of the elderly, the elderly consequently watching too much TV, then
(on the whole) developing rather unfortunate political views.

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micky_25
What does it say about society in general when younger generations
collectively despise older generations to the point were they don't care, even
find it funny that they are under threat from a deadly virus. For too long old
men haven't planted any trees they wont sit under, instead they've harvested
the trees for short term profits to invest in their property portfolios.

~~~
Mr00_Oldie
Sure. That's why I see hordes of young people trying to reverse the "damage"
the old generation has infliced upon the world. What I see is that most young
people are self-centered A##oles.

~~~
micky_25
Young people shut down numerous cities protesting for action on climate change
last year. Individually you have people like Boyan Slat. Young people do not
have the political clout that the boomer generation has yet but they will in
the next 20 or so years. That is why I'm hopeful for the future.

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Buldak
Even setting aside the possibility that some generational resentments should
perhaps be taken seriously, this op-ed is really thin. The author's evidence
for "a degree of cruelty that is truly staggering" is two social media posts.
To this point I haven't seen much reason to think that the elderly are really
being shunned in the current climate.

~~~
gremlinsinc
I think a lot could also be aimed not at seniors in rest homes, but seniors in
congress, even on both sides of the aisle. Corona Virus and death in general
doesn't differentiate by wealth or class, it comes for all equally if given a
chance.

Many younger people and people on the left probably feel that this is the only
chance to maybe even out some justice on capital hill, and in the elite
structures of the world. Nobody wants people's grandma's to die...

Unless they are part of the gridlock problem in D.C., then maybe they could
use at least an early retirement, we could definitely use less geriatrics
running this country. Maybe we can be a better society if we set an age limit
of 70 in public office.

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Nevermark
I think part of this is normal coping humor.

A young person can feel conflicted between feelings of (a) relief that they
are not in an endangered demographic, and (b) anxiety for people who are
endangered and remaining self concern as they do not truly feel safe.

Oversimplifying the situation with humor (only older people need to worry, I
am not old) temporarily releases some anxiety.

Dark humor does not necessarily reflect dark motives or values.

Taken too far it can become callous denial, also likely as a anxiety numbing
strategy.

But most people just need a break from worry in a way that doesn’t harm
anyone.

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catalogia
Treating the death of a young adult as several times more tragic than the
death of an elderly adult is not a new phenomenon, nor is it irrational.

Now, laughing in an elderly person's face is obviously rude and unnecessary
(although I won't necessary begrudge gallows humor as a coping mechanism.) But
expecting people to treat the death of elderly people as seriously as the
death of young people is unreasonable.

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drewcoo
You know who else is anecdotally mistreated? Anyone. The brief piece builds
its case on two anecdotes to claim general problems for a class of people.

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mikestew
What a crap premise. Had I a FB account, how long would it take for me to
dredge up an anecdote or two like the author’s? Because that’s all the article
is based on: two anecdotes, and then we’re off to the races of blame-placing
and guilt. Ergo, I don’t have much of a response to the rest of the article. I
mean, people can be assholes, don’t have to look far, nor across generational
boundaries. No news there.

—

Not-Quite-Elderly

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jshaqaw
I suspect the author overheard gallows humor as a coping mechanism in a
conversation he wasn’t a part of so he had no context. Or maybe he overheard a
couple of jerks. Some percent of jerks exist in every generation. That said
much of the lack of empathy in this comment section depresses me more than the
two guys walking down the Upper West Side. I sincerely hope this young
generation radically changes the world. All of you castigating an entire
generation facing down an imminent threat to their lives - well you may find
as you age that it’s not as easy as life goes on to break out of a system from
within as it may appear.

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wool_gather
Contrast this with reports like this one: _" Frustrated millennials say they
can’t get their aging parents to [...] take coronavirus seriously"_
[https://www.businessinsider.sg/millennials-say-parents-
wont-...](https://www.businessinsider.sg/millennials-say-parents-wont-take-
coronavirus-precautions-2020-3)

Like most things, it's probably over-reduction to attribute any given state of
mind to every person born in a particular 20-year span.

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ralph84
If the author thinks overhearing some people saying old people will die soon
in any case is “staggering, heartless cruelty”, he really needs to get out
more.

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Ghjklov
I think millenials/gen z would love to have sympathy for the elderly or others
in general, but they are caught up trying to _have any future at all_ in
today's world. It seems cruel, but nihilism and dark humor are great coping
methods to avoid being overburdened by all the bad things we can do nothing
about. Yes, the elderly may die a little sooner than they would've liked after
living long and fulfilled lives. But the young people making these jokes are
probably struggling with the idea that they may not even live half as long as
"those boomers".

