Through the Eyes of a Daydreamer's Daughter

Once upon a time America was well on its way to having cheap and clean electricity from nuclear power plants. Then we had a problem with one power plant and that was pretty much the end of nuclear power in America. One after another we closed down the nuclear power plants that we had and we built no more. Instead of looking for ways to build better and safer nuclear plants, we fled from the field. Now we wish we had electricity from nuclear power as people do in Europe, but we are so far behind that it will take us years to catch up. Drilling for oil off our own shores looks like it will go the same route as nuclear power. We're watching a sickening spill cause terrible destruction, so we will withdraw from drilling rather than look for ways to drill better and safer. We will buy oil from nations that hate us, giving them money to injure us, because we fear drilling on our own soil or off our own beaches. We will run scared instead of taking a t...

I am positive that Tony  Hayward genuinely regrets the accident that is currently costing BP  a fortune, destroying his career at BP after a life of climbing the corporate ladder, and possibly ruining the company that funds his pension plan. I'm one hundred percent certain that sitting in front of our congressmen and women today, he wished someone had said something about the problems with drilling that well before the accident happened. Today, if he could go back to before the explosion and be told what would happen, he would certainly believe that he'd have welcomed the news and given that prescient employee a medal and a big bonus. But the truth is that "If you see something, say something," just isn't the way most corporations operate. Most corporate cultures operate on, "Go along to get along." Of course the person who fails to predict a disaster may be sacrificed after a disaster. But most people who predict disasters are also sacrificed--or...

I haven't been writing and posting here because I'm most absorbed by socioeconomic issues in our society and I do realize that those topics are not primarily about issues of aging. On the other hand, maybe aging B aby B oomers are more likely to suffer from the current economy and more likely to recognize the dangers in the ways society is changing. After all, those among us who were paying attention certainly had an opportunity to understand the socioeconomic conditions in Germany right before WW II broke out if we cared to know. The other day there was an article on the Internet that reviewed newspapers for 1930 and concluded that no one recognized then that the world was in the Great Depression. In fact, people were writing optimistically about the economy in 1930.

Things I would teach myself if I could go back to my youth and give me a lecture: avoid possessions as much as possible to travel light and free--only acquire things that are really really wanted after waiting to see if they'd be forgotten with the passing of time--only acquire the best to be found even if it means waiting longer--always pay cash. A friend has promised me the location of a place to sell some of my junk and I do plan to take her up on it when she gets back to town next month. There are things I own that will pain me to part with but I shall part with them. I own too much and the excess feels more and more like an anchor around my neck rather than wealth.

I started writing this blog to talk about lifestyle issues of the aging Baby Boomers. So why have I been writing so much about the economic issue of cheap labor? Cheap labor impacts the lives of aging Boomers more than most other Americans. Employers are eager to dump Boomers whose experience in the workforce results in them being more expensive than younger workers. Boomers age also raises the cost of health insurance for all the employees at companies that provide health insurance. The new health insurance reform does nothing to protect the jobs of aging Boomers. Companies that don't opt for paying the penalty instead of offering health insurance will be more eager to dump the older workers. The current economy is a great excuse for layoffs. Most employers no longer offer pensions. Government jobs that promised generous pensions may renege on that offer. Many Americans talk about working until they drop and save little or no money for the future. Now the option of...

In theory seniors should benefit most from the presence of Illegal Aliens in America. We need low cost caregivers: first to care for our parents so that we can continue to work, later--should we live long enough--to take care of us. No one works cheaper than Illegal Aliens. The problem is that you get what you pay for. I've had close contact with Illegal Aliens in more than one setting, but most of all I had contact with dozens of illegals in my mother's nursing home. When my mother first entered the nursing home, the staff were citizens in all the colors of America or, in the case of nurses, temporary guest workers from around the world. My family had problems with the nursing home management that I'll leave for another posting, but the original staff included some definite nominees for sainthood. That staff held difficult, draining, exhausting, dirty and sometimes stinky jobs and those staffers did those jobs with dedication and skill. Then new owners...

Caryn, an Australian acquaintance, put these words of wisdom on her Facebook Wall and I've fallen in love with them: "Don't make someone a priority if all you are to them is an option." Acquaintance is a word all of us should probably use more often to describe the majority of our relationships. The word friendship should be reserved for warm, supportive, reliable, mutual relationships. Friendship should mean something more than just anyone who usually answers the phone when it is your name on the caller Id.