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Opinion
I'm a Senior
By Michael Lipsky
 April
20, 2005 - There's no denying it any longer. This month I'll be 65. I've
enrolled in Medicare. I'll apply shortly for Social Security.
I'm a Senior.
Like many, I suppose, I began the journey to senior
status gradually. One milestone was the time a kid asked me to throw him
a ball that had gotten away from him, and called me "sir." At 50 I got
an invitation to join the American Association of Retired Persons. Then
I twice became a grandfather. At 62 I received reduced prices at movie
theaters, which I gladly accepted, and on Amtrak, whose prices are
reasonable and whose service is excellent.
As I enter this strange new status, I've been
unusually aware of the recognition now accorded the older generation. We
are a major marketing demographic. Companies are designing cars, leisure
communities, and entertainment just for us. We are suddenly sought after
as employees who bring skills to the job, are easy to train and more
reliable than our younger counterparts. We are the last newspaper
readers in America, and vote in disproportionately large numbers.
I've also been listening to politicians talking to
me - to us. And I don't like what I'm hearing. In particular, I was
struck by reports that President Bush is going around the country
assuring "us" that our Social Security benefits will not be affected by
Republicans' proposals to privatize the system.
No doubt there are some of us - I was going to
write "many older people," but I've got to practice this new identity -
who are genuinely concerned about losing benefits. But an anxious focus
on our own well-being can't only be what we older people are about.
I'm concerned about Social Security not because I'm worried about my
benefits. I'm worried that a safety net for older people in need won't
be there when my children, now in their 30s, and my grandchildren, can
no longer work. I'm worried that our leaders want to make the social
safety net more risky for the next generations, rather than focus on
insuring the system's integrity.
When the president focuses on how seniors don't
have to worry about their own benefits, it feels insulting. When did we
become the generation only worried about our own needs? We and those
coming of age right behind us were the ones who, in many different ways,
fought for civil rights. Later we worked to secure women's rights and an
end to male privilege. We certainly didn't do those things only for
ourselves. To be sure, these struggles were joined by people of every
age, and they continue. But surely they were not fought by people who
would grow old only to worry that their benefits remain intact.
This train of thought makes me wonder what the
President thinks our views are on the deficit he helped create with his
famous tax cuts. Does he think we seniors don't care about the deficit
because, so long as Medicare and Medicaid are defended, programs for
"seniors" will be taken care of? That's a very narrow reading of
seniors, I hope.
The seniors I want to join are those who I've seen
at my local library, who swim and exercise at the local recreation
center, and who enjoy the parks in and around Washington. I hope and
trust there are many seniors who want to live in their communities, not
shut up in recreation camps for the elderly. These are people who will
support their local public services and not simply focus attention on
"their" benefits.
Next on my list are thoughts about the environment
and global warming. Will the President go to senior centers and reassure
us old folks not to worry because sea levels won't rise appreciably
during our lifetimes? Or, not to worry, American farmland will be
adequate so long as we are alive? Seniors support environmental causes
in large numbers not because we want to protect the earth for ourselves,
but to leave it in good shape for generations to come.
I'd like to see political leaders approach us as
something other than self-involved worriers. That's not what our role
should be, and I suspect that's not what us seniors want it to be.
Our world is changing rapidly. Where we live farms
are giving way to suburban sprawl. Where my grandchildren live, mature
forests are threatened by new malls. I sense a fundamental sadness in my
generation over these developments. It's not simply regret over change
as such, although no doubt there's some of that. Rather, we wish we
lived in a society that gave as much attention to sustainability and
healthy communities as it does to commerce and the quick buck. Maybe the
sadness comes from recognizing that we are running out of time to help
make it so.
We lived through difficult times. Like many before
us, we have a deep appreciation of the promise of this country. Don't
infantilize us with promises that our narrow interests are secure! Talk
to us instead about how the country will be a blessing among nations,
and at home, how broadly its advantages will be shared.
Michael Lipsky
Senior Program Director, Public Works: the
Demos Center for the Public Sector, Demos-USA
Michael came to Demos from the Ford
Foundation where he worked for 12 years, most recently as Senior Program
Officer in the Peace and Social Justice program. Responsible for the
foundation's portfolio on "government performance and accountability,"
he helped assemble the State Fiscal Analysis Initiative, a national
network of organizations devoted to budget transparency and
accountability, and International Budget Project of the Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities. Prior to Ford, Michael taught political science
at the University of Wisconsin, and, for 21
years, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His best-known
books are Protest in City Politics, Nonprofits for Hire: The Welfare
State in the Age of Contracting (with S.R. Smith), and the award-winning
Street-Level Bureaucracy. He holds degrees from Oberlin College and
Princeton University. Website:
http://www.demos-usa.org/
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