An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Shouldn’t Wisdom Come With Age?
With what I’m seeing in D.C. these days, I’m seriously starting to wonder. The average age for the so called representation is somewhere in the 60 to 65 year old range? Somewhere in that vicinity. Evidently, the older you get in that city, the more ignorant you become. No wisdom, just power hungry. Term limits come to mind.
No country for old men, indeed
By Peter Lucas
IN THE SPIRIT of being a good American – a worker, father, grandfather, taxpayer, and a veteran who served in the Army during the Korean War era – I feel it is my duty to help the Obama administration pay for universal healthcare. After all, the president’s opponents claim he would ration healthcare and do away with old people. My country is calling.
But first I must point out that had friends of mine – who fought with the 1st Marine Division at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea, or others who saw action in Khe Sanh in Vietnam – known about Obama’s plan to help them die when they grew old, they might have thrown down their rifles then and there and joined the other side. After all, is there not some truth to the belief that the Koreans and the Vietnamese actually respect their ancients when they are alive, and honor them when they are dead? But maybe in this compassionate-less era, these beliefs are no longer true.
Ordinarily I would have included veterans of World War II in these comments. But those members of “The Greatest Generation’’ are already quite old now and are dying from natural causes at such an alarming rate that bureaucrats in this strange, new Obama world can only rejoice at all the savings in healthcare costs those deaths are bringing about.
I had a friend who was shot through the shoulder during the Battle of the Bulge. He fell to the ground bleeding and in shock. He thought he was going to die. He shouted for help. Suddenly a medic came out of nowhere, filled him up with morphine, stemmed his bleeding, and dragged him to safety.
My friend survived. He went on to lead a productive life. He started a family. He started a business. He never complained. He never whined. He would be about 85 and no doubt again in need of medical attention, perhaps for a new hip or knee, or expensive treatment for cancer. Would the medic come if my friend once more called out for help? He might. Or he might not. Maybe an end-of-life technician would come instead to counsel him on death. Maybe he would persuade my friend that medical help was too expensive since he was going to die anyway. Then he could give him another shot of morphine, only this time enough to kill him.
I fear that this is the road the Obama government is heading on. So, out of concern for my fellow aging veterans, and for my country, I have put together a plan that will not only help Obama, but the economy and the nation as well. My plan is not unlike the “Cash for Clunkers’’ campaign that rewards people to get rid of their old cars. Only in this case we would rid the country of old people. Indeed, increasingly, this is no country for old men.
I call my proposal the Social Security Strike Three Plan, or SSSTP. Under the plan, all Social Security recipients will receive a red pill with their next check. It is a cyanide pill, similar to the lethal pills the OSS and CIA had its agents carry when they went on missions behind enemy lines, to take when captured. Bite down on the pill and you die instantly. No pain, no strain.
Upon receipt of the check and the pill, the recipient must choose one of three options: Cash the check and throw away the pill.
Take the pill and throw away the check.
Cash the check, spend it, and then take the pill.
Needless to say, the government will urge the elderly to take the third option because it is the most patriotic. Under number three you not only stimulate the economy by spending, you help the US government by dying and getting out of the way, like one of those old clunkers.
Just don’t be surprised, though, if we run out of Americans for the next Battle of the Bulge.
Hey Peter,
Great article – thank-you! And in response to your headline? Yes, but only if the elderly are “spiritually” alive rather than dead.
Check out my “The Book of Proverbs: School of Wisdom” blogspot at:
http://thebookofproverbsschoolofwisdom.blogspot.com
and
http://tinyurl.com/facebookproverbsschoolofwisdom
and share with all those who are into Godly Wisdom, rather than man’s kind of so-called wisdom.
Until then, Cheers! ;-]