Thursday, December 10, 2009
For Elderly in Rural Areas, Times Are Distinctly Harder
Do we have a moral or financial obligation to assist the elderly? What should be done with the care of the elderly?
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Welcome. This is a blog dedicated to the students enrolled in the CSHS AP Economics classes. Click on the title of the article, read, and click comment.
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ReplyDeleteTo be completely honest, I don't completely believe that we have any obligation to assist the elderly, especially in a time of recession. We need to be planning ways for our own families to survive financially and to have the ability to be happy when we are elderly. I believe that social security is necessary and should not be ending like it probably will soon. I believe the elderly do need to be helped, and programs to do this are necessary possibly by charity or volunteering, but I don't think it is right to tax society for that reason. I don't think it should be viewed as an obligation.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we should help the elderly, but not just to anyone. I believe that if an elderly person worked for most of their life and they have become ill or need assistance there should be some kind of program for them. I also think that social security should stay in place. We should not just go and give money to elderly or be taxed so that they have money, but there should be some sort of help for them. I think that work pensions are good too. I think programs provided by Medicare and Blue Cross and Blue Shield are excellent programs, for when an elderly person gets hurt and needs assistance at their home.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a moral obligation that's tried to put its burden on society way too long. I can understand Social Security, that's fine with me, but i would be outraged if there were a tax to take care of the elderly. Especially with the ever approaching time where all the baby-boomers will be retiring, we, as the current and productive generation, cannot be dragged down by the elderly constantly spending all of our money.
ReplyDeleteIt is the families obligation to care for the elders. They can not just abandon their elders to fend for themselves or live off government welfare. I can only speak from my experiences, and I know my grandma and grandpa have worked their whole lives and have saved up well enough to be independent and live by themselves with their own money. Sometimes the social security benefits are abused which is what annoys me - if you need help, it is there, but if you don't - don't abuse the system
ReplyDeleteWe have absolutely no obligation to help the elderly. We shouldn't "help" them. In fact, I think in most cases the help goes too far. I've seen news shows where elderly women on the verge of death, whose wills state that "no extreme measures be taken" to save their lives, are receiving "help". The kind of help that hospitals seem to give prolong lives unecessarily, and are all paid through Medicare, which the average insurance policy holder ends up paying.
ReplyDeleteI'm tired of hearing this debate. I don't expect help when I'm older, and I don't want to give it now.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Erika and Allison (although it's naive to think that there is any chance of Social Security being canceled) that the obligation is minimal beyond the payments that come out of the entire workforce's paychecks. The liberal media has a way of doing human interest stories to make us feel sorry for the elderly, the sick, the you-name-it, and it's not that we shouldn't care about those groups, but don't you think we (actually, Obama, not "we") should stop borrowing money from future generations (where the "we" comes back) to fund things that we'll never benefit from (cash for clunkers, "stimulus package", etc.)?
ReplyDeleteI believe we have both a moral and a financial obligation to help the elderly. For one thing, the older generation of today raised our parents and grandparents, a task that shouldn't go unrecognized. Additionally, we want to be able to live when we're older, too. Financially, a thriving elderly population can help stimulate the economy. More people spending money can only help - whether young or old.
ReplyDeleteAs much as we all love old people, and as much fun as paying for their medical bills is, someone should do it, and it should be the families. Either that or the person should have worked out a plan earlier, saved money up for when they got old and couldn't work anymore.
ReplyDeletePeople are living to be too old these days. Honestly, to think people used to die naturally at age 40 seems unreal. People are living to be well into their 90's and even past 100. We can't keep paying for these people's healthcare; either they do it, their family does it, or they need to accept the fact that it really is time to move on.
There already is social security, I don't see what else needs to be done for them. If they need more care, they need to pay for it.
We do not have any obligation to help anyone. That is the beauty of the United States of America.
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