I'm not sure that "most Australians" feel this way, but...........
http://www.independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/no-country-for-old-men--or-women,6138
The WHO estimates that by mid-century, two billion people will be over 60 years old — but rather than welcoming an abundance of wisdom, most Australians simply see a tsunami of cost, writes Lyn Bender.
THE ABBOTT GOVERNMENT has proven itself to be pretty much a dunce when it comes to understanding the complexity of humanity.
The current government takes a ham-fisted mechanistic approach when a nuanced organic sensitivity is required. It manages people and complex social issues — like bikes instead of, say, frogs. You may remove a wheel from a bike and replace it with another.
When you cut off a frog’s leg the whole organism ‒ like an ecosystem ‒ is damaged.
If the oldsters were like refugees and arriving in boats, there might have been a campaign to stop them. But instead, they lurk within our midst and future in the millions, lining up with their Zimmer frames and mobility aids to invade our overstretched services.
Indeed, since being elected treasurer, Joe Hockey has used the projected hoards of the elderly, and other welfare recipients, to invoke fear of budget catastrophes and health insurance explosions. A horrible fate is depicted and implied for us all as we age. We become the unattractive drain and burden on able-bodied taxpayers.
The pièce de résistance 'solution' is the suggestion that those receiving unemployment benefits could work for the dole in aged care facilities, thereby solving the problem with a 'genius stroke'.
This is no country for the unemployed, impoverished, or the vulnerable, nor for the physically and mentally disabled and those who have extra needs.
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