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POLITICS & COMMUNITY

rthrush: I am at age 51 and recently applied to social security for information about my retirement benefits,when I finally retire. My full benefit doesn't start until I reach age 66. What I really am woried about is will the benefits be there for me? It would be a crying shame that after working all these years since 16 yrs.old that there are no funds available to be able to retire on.

schatz: Personally, being on the tail end of the baby-boomer generation(I'm almost 41), I feel that aging in our culture, in general, is becoming more accepted.It is, afterall, the natural progression of life! It's just better to do that in the company of other people.I guess I don't feel threatened, just squeezed; my parents are in their mid-late 70s and my children are both under the age of 10. Financially,I feel torn between the clout that organizations like the AARP have and their ability to draw resources away from my children's generation, such as in the area of educational funding. While my husband and I scrape together funds for retirement and potential cushion if my retired parents need assistance, I feel like I'm cheating my kids out of a college education that I'm afraid I won't be able to offer them. So that's the money end of things. Personally, I like myself better as I get older. I don't worry as much about what I look like and what other's think of me and boy is THAT ever liberating!

LukasBradley: I don't feel threatened, just concerned. I am a 22 year old student/full time employee that has been working since age 15. There is no way that the Social Security System will survive for the next 50 years. So, between now and then I must take matters into my own hands. This, however, is complicated, when roughly 10% of my income goes to Social Security, that I believe I will never see. Do I want to take Social Security away from those aging baby boomers that worked for the past 50 to 60 years? Hell no. But it is going to happen someday, and that concerns me.

mervync: At 57, I'm just ahead of the baby boomers. I seem to be the last of a generation who felt it was right and proper for a man to go to work and support his wife and 2.3 children at home. On his single wage/salary, he was supposed to buy a house, a new car every few years, and live relatively comfortably. Now my children and their wives are working their tails off together trying to buy a house and make ends meet. Never mind even consider replacing the two 15-year-old cars they drive to get back and forth to work. I made fun of the Russians for sending their wives out to work and their children to day care where they could be brainwashed into becoming Communists and my grandchildren have been in daycare where Gawd-only-knows what they've been brainwashed into believing. Where's the world going? I haven't a clue, but I'm optimistic. Am I threatened by the grey-hairs? Naw, I'm one of 'em.--Merv

starange: As a 44 year old boomer I suddenly find myself one of the older guys in a high-tech fast paced industry. (like what isn't). The funny thing is that I like it. The experience of over two decades of huge changes has made me realize how lucky we are to live in such a time of transition. I get more excited every day as the turn of the century and millienium approach. Yes, it is frightening at times but nothing compared to being 18 and wondering if you were going to have to go to a jungle and kill or be killed. The future is still ours to mold and it is still true, "you are either part of the problem or part of the solution" --Peace

docks: I went to the recycling center in Bethlehem, Pa. today and only greyheads are turning in magazines, aluminum, and cardboard PIZZA BOXES. You young people talk the talk, but you dont walk the talk. Read Mike Agger's interview with Adam Werbach and go and show that you care about things. Start simple. Recycle and vote in November.

Briana_: Having parents that are in the baby-boomer generation doesn't make me feel threatened. However, it's a bit saddening. Most of the people I see from that era were involved in a generation that did very little planning for their future. Therefore, my generation (X) is going to be paying more, besides seeing my parents not as happy as they would like to be. Biggest fear about growing older... Having children sometime in the next decade definitely presents a fear. I look at my peers around, who will primarily be responsible for influencing them outside of my home... scary.

jeremyr: As a 23 year old, I'm alarmed by the trend in America towards impoverishment of youth, and enrichment of the aged. It appears that Social Security has done it's job of raising the elderly out of poverty, at the expense of putting nearly a fifth of those under 18 into poverty. Not only is this ethically abhorrent, but it is economically, socially, and culturally damaging. As this trend continues, America will become a society of wealthy, retired elderly living off the efforts of the terminally undereducated, underpaid, and underrepresented youth underclass. We already see the costs of depriving the youth of America in rising rates of violent crime among younger and younger Americans. The terrible poverty and resulting lack of education, stable families, and legitimate opportunity among the perpetual underclass is bringing a bountiful harvest of brutal young predators who see no way to get what they want except to take it by force, and aren't afraid to die in the attempt. Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid will be doomed by their own success, as more and more retired elderly draw upon the assets of relatively fewer working people. The answer to the problem of the growing payee/payer imbalance is clear. Means test these programs, and then set the eligibility age as a floating level which will keep the payee/payer ratio where it was when these programs were implemented. If, in 1949?, the life expectancy was 96% of the retirement age, we should rewrite the eligibility requirements to reflect that in perpetuity. This will ensure that the programs remain fiscally feasible despite the "Greying of the nation."

GKUHN: Having reached retirement age I can understand your concern about not having Social Security when you retire. However what you don't know is that when I was 50 the same concern was voiced by me and many others at the time, as you see it survived much to our amazement.You are paying higher SS taxes now and it is a burden like it was for all of us but it may be a lot cheaper than helping to pay for your parent's upkeep in their old age. I just received my school taxes and the went way up again and I haven't had any children in school for a long time. So I believe things have a way of evening out. you help pay for my social security and I help to educate your children. GOOD LUCK!!

namsos: Once I turned 50 I felt several extremely strong concepts: 1. I was not going to live forever afterall! 2. I was entering the LAST HALF of my life! 3. I now needed to try all the things I held back from because I'm running out of time. Things I did 1. Take 3 specific vitamins A,E,& selenium. 2. started a small p/t business out of my home 3. Attempting to purchase a 3 family home to build additional equity. 4. Purchased a larger live aboard sailboat. 5. Attempting to learn lots of new things 6. Most important my health is everything & Without good health money is worthless.

ChadJuettner: I guess I think that all the "baby boomer" generation cares about is is itself. I'm worried that they are going to put their needs before ours and in the process dig the next couple of generations into a hole that they won't be able to get out of. I'm 21 years old and am more worried about what my 6 month old son is going to have to deal with than anything else.

Gadj: I'm enlightened by the fact that I'm reaching the big 60 next month, July 20 to be exact. That means that we will be looking at approx. 4 years of wearing the harness and turning too. Seriously though, I believe that all the baby-boomers are in for big trouble, especially those that neglected to get an education. When and if the politicians ever have the guts to tell the population that we are out of cash to pay social security benefits, I think we may have another revolution in this country. My concern is for the children who are going to grow up with a lot less than we had. I'm thankful that one gets to go around only once in a lifetime and I'm of the mind frame that I was given the best of all times to live in this world. I don't believe in reincarnation and I certainly hope that there is no such thing. Cause what is coming down is not going to be pretty. In the first place, everyone is going to have to stop being so greedy and above all everybody will have to realize that they are not going to get their own way on every issue. The bottom line is this everyone is not going to be able to have as many babies as they want and if our God is a merciful God, he's not going to stand for it. First and foremost, he should put a muzzle on the Catholic Church and let those that want to make their own choices do so. Most of my family lived long and happy lives and if I should follow their example I should be around for approx. 20 more years. I consider myself most fortunate to be able to sit by and watch what happens to the people that put us where we are. On the good side, I hope I'm wrong, maybe there is paradise at the end of the trail. Maybe those politicians are smarter than I give them credit for. Maybe they'll look at China and say "Hey, they were exactly like us 3000 yrs ago and look at them, they straightened out and do have a society that functions. Not well, but they do abuse their criminals just as their crimials abused their victims. They make an attempt to educate their children and above all they are trying to regulate their overpopulation." Any way it's a thought! The truth of the matter is this, when we get overpopulated, we are going to either die of famine or disease and I don't believe we'll get to have an option.

benjie: I really don't feel threatened by the aging, but I do think that older people can't do some things they could do when they were younger. I think that once they reach 60, they should retake their drivers test.

Applecheeks: Being a "boomer" (I intensely dislike labels), I feel I must answer Brianna's comment. You're completely wrong about "most" boomers not planning for the future.The REAL problem is that OUR social security deductions have gone up and up during our lifetimes, AND, more and more companies have commited the BIG sin of disloyalty to long term employees by firing them (and calling it "downsizing") within a few years of their retirement!!!!! A lot of these people are/were in their 50s, and even though the constitution forbids discrimination on the basis of age, many (if not most) employers do just that so you Gen X slackers can get a job and (finally) move out of your parents houses! That, of course, is also part of the problem. I moved out of my parents house at age 18, and now "children" (read "spoiled brats who are above being waitresses until something better or more in line with their degree comes along") in their mid 20s and even 30s are still being supported by their

Bowsy: What scares me is all the tension that exists between age groups. The main threat I see is the resentment that older folks harbor towards youth in America. The baby boomers have power in numbers and I'm afraid that they will use that against young people because of the present negative attitude many have. The young people aren't the enemy, they are the future, and yet they are seen as incompetant, lazy, and uncaring. If that attitude isn't replaced with positive energy, we are all doomed.

mdulcey: I worry about it a lot. On the one hand, I wonder what will happen to us as we age. Us computer geeks don't have lifetime employment with paternal corporations, so we won't have comfortable pensions, and Social Security will be broke by the time us end-of-the-boomers (I'm 39) get there, let alone the twenty-somethings. Our choices: we can continue to impoverish the young so the old can be comfortable (and it will get worse and worse as more of the population ages), or we can push the end of people's working life farther and farther into the future. The problem with choice 1 is obvious. Choice 2 is just as flawed, but in a different way; keeping a glut of aging boomers in the work force will cause a lack of upward mobility for everyone who follows, basically destroying a lot of workplaces. Or we could just let the old starve, and thus decrease the surplus population. I don't expect that to be a popular choice either. As for personally growing older, there have been good and bad things about it. On the minus side, the accumulation of aches and pains is just no fun at all. But on the plus side, finally managing to attain some modest amount of social competence (not an easy thing to get from a childhood of nerdly ostracism) has come with age and experience.

snapple: There is nothing wrong with Americans growing older. This question is prejudical because it implies that something is wrong or different with the way old people think. Would there have been the proverbial finger pointed if Tripod asked how people felt with America looking less white? Let's not promote prejudice toward the elderly here!

Spartica: I fear being alone, as I am married to a man who is much older than I am, and I have no children of my own. I also fear becoming a homeless person because of this.

droger: I don't feel threatened, as I'm in the tail end of the boomer generation (38). I do feel concerned that as the boomers age, our burdens will be passed along to those born after us. When we get to the demographic point that one worker supports one retiree, we'll be in big trouble, both politically as well as morally. The answer is to means test most benefits and entitlements. And, provide a "safety net" for all, particularly to handle the catastrophic health expenses that will fall upon each of us eventually.

cosmicv: As a 27 year old male, I am very resent- ful towards the baby boomers. They have had more than ample time to provide for their retirement, yet they continue to hope that we younger folk will pay their way. I dont think they have the experi- ence we do that there will be no one to take care of us. Very few younger people hope for Social Security, and frankly I wouldn't want to be dependant on some- one else for my livelyhood. It is a fact people will use up everything they put in it in 4 years, then it's welfare. Stop being deadbeats you old fogeys, I hope you're happy when your precious entitle- ments wreck the economy.

jrmeyer: It seems painfully obvious to me that we can not be supported social service wise by the younger generations. It just does not seem to be enough of them to contribute to Social Security and Medicare. I think as more of the baby boomer generation retires, we are going to bust the social system; then we're screwed. In the meantime, politicians continue their song and dance; their heads in the clouds and their feet on the heads of "the people."

JackM: Threatened? The mere suggestion is indicative of a youth obsessed culture. Respect has virtually disappeared from the American psyche, and not just towards our senior citizens. Humankind has long revered its elderly, if only for having survived the perplexities of life on the planet. Their wisdom and counsel was frequently sought and considered a blessing. Now, in America, we want the newest, the flashiest, while denigrating those that do not, as not being with it. I believe it is the Germans who have a saying that goes something like this; 'What's truist, is oft not newest; what's newest, is oft not truist!'. So, fear? For me, watching a destitute American attitude deteriorate our once great country (which I see as rooted mostly in the name of corporate consumerism), and watching its insideous spread into other cultures. As a 43 year old, if the good Lord will have me, I'm ready to go! Meanwhile, I'll continue to respect those before me, those that have cleared my way; and attempt to be an example for those who come after me.

cracker: Fear is not the right word. How can one fear getting old when the alternative is death? Physical degradation is the hardest thing to live with. Assuming reasonably good health, the "old bod" just won't do what it used to. For a very physically active 65 year old, that is the hard part, but fear it? No way. I just keep exercising, working, motorcycling and having fun. I just get tired quicker from having such a good time.