There has been enough suffering in our country there has been enough of children whose dreams die before they have a chance to grow and there has been enough of our elders who having served their nation are forced into indignity in their old age.
Nobody with an IQ higher than emergency-room temperature could ever believe that 'death panels' would be appointed to nudge the elderly toward euthanasia. Yet for idle entertainment it's hard to beat Sarah Palin's ignorant nattering on the subject.
Without fullness of experience length of days is nothing. When fullness of life has been achieved shortness of days is nothing. That is perhaps why the young have usually so little fear of death they live by intensities that the elderly have forgotten.
Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death.
My humanitarian work evolved from being with my family. My mom my dad they really set a great example for giving back. My mom was a nurse my dad was a school teacher. But my mom did a lot of things for geriatrics and elderly people. She would do home visits for free.
And as a child I was filled with passionate admiration for acts of civic courage I had seen performed by an elderly military doctor who was a friend of my family.
There are two barriers that often prevent communication between the young and their elders. The first is middle-aged forgetfulness of the fact that they themselves are no longer young. The second is youthful ignorance of the fact that the middle aged are still alive.
Once you become successful people know where you live the type of house you live in the kind of car you drive the clothes you wear and so it would be patronising to go and talk like a welder. Welding's a mystery to me now. You can't go back your life changes every day.
Fact: The new '90210' is cooler than the old '90210.' It's the lithe streamlined Skipper to the elder series' venerable Barbie. Gone are the traditional parents - they've been replaced by a hipster mom n' pop who get busted necking in the car.
The advice of the elders to young men is very apt to be as unreal as a list of the hundred best books.