Just The Facts, Ma'am

Ten Basic Human Needs

Here is welcome news for Americans over fifty. For decades the Cost of Living Index has been the basis for Social Security cost of living adjustments (COLA.) It has proven a poor measure of the real cost of autonomy for beneficiaries.
We've known calculations of the so-called poverty line are erroneous, just as "minimum wage," by no means, covers the minimum cost to live independently. We've known this as surely as we have known that the money we've put into Social Security retirement is our money.

This week Wider Opportunities for Women announced a new study, published in cooperation with the Gerontology Institute of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts, Boston. Sound like a group of scholars, living on the summit of Academia's Everest? Read on.

Two priorities that prompted the study are economic security for older adults, social and demographic research on aging. Meticulously researched and objective, The National Economic Security Standard Index addresses the cost of "aging in place," how our circumstances influence our needs and how where we live impacts our cost of living.

Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe  

The daring idea, here, is to bring accuracy to the national dialogue regarding meeting fundamental human needs, particularly those of our aging population. Below are links to the Gerontology Institute, Wider Opportunities for Women and basiceconomicsecurity.org. We will discuss the findings and significance further in future posts.

http://www.wowonline.org/
http://www.umb.edu/gerontologyinstitute/
http://www.basiceconomicsecurity.org/

Be the change by being well-informed. One of my friends recently went the distance. She read a thousand pages of affordable health care legislation. She knows she'll be living the reality, with or without understanding.

Sweet Charity

We all know charity is not always sweet, but the lemons of charitable giving are continually changing, as are their methods. Elders are not the exclusive targets of charity scams, but are particularly vulnerable, so there is an abundance of help and information available to this group. Among others the Better Business Bureau assesses the effectiveness and transparency of non-profits. Most of us know the basics. Nevertheless we so want to help, especially in the wake of major disasters, we forget ourselves. Head first, not heart first, my friend.  I'm including some excellent links for review: http://nonprofit.about.com/od/fundraising/a/safegiving.htm http://www.justchange.net/world/ar

Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. W. C. Fields

In one insidious scheme, telemarketers start a neighbor-to-neighbor collection, in the name of a major player, such as the American Diabetes Association. The person on the telephone represents a prestigious institution. How could this be harmful, we wonder? And, now, for the clincher! The very polite representative does not ask for money. All he or she asks the caller is to address, stamp and mail a few innocent letters to neighbors. The letters are already printed; nothing could be easier. Neighbors contribute, assuming the bulk of their contributions will apply to research, public education, patient care and the like. 

Instead the contributions go to a company, such as InfoCision Management Corp., a huge telemarketing network. The charity, itself, may receive a small percentage of the money, none of it, or may actually pay for the collection of monies it never sees.  

Why on earth would a major charity engage in such blatantly unscrupulous methods? It is about building prominence, garnering public awareness. This perverse way of thinking leaves collateral damage out of the equation. The fact that some poor schmucks put money into a telemarketing conglomerate is acceptable in the bigger picture. Their disillusionment is incidental.

We Americans have created the perfect refuge for greed, the corporation. We've given legal protections to corporations, including non-profits, that would otherwise apply only to persons. We just don't expect non-profit corporations to exploit us. 

In a larger context we've dedicated ourselves to the win. Didn't Vince Lombardi's public persona skyrocket, when he said, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." Growing up in the late Twentieth Century, wasn't it worse to wear the loser label than any other? Winning at all costs has become the hallmark of our most revered national institutions. In the process it has assumed monstrous proportions.

It is not just the fall of one or another prominent pathological liar, with which we should concern ourselves. Ultimately it is the arrogance of the few and the gullibility of the many. Maybe what we all need, regardless of age, is the jaundiced eye of the professional skeptic, like W. C.  We will have to demand a great deal more accountability of ourselves and others. 

A Widow's Portion

     Here is a true story of an American woman widowed in the Twenty First Century. This is an unusual woman, one who suffered abuse, traumatic injury, substance addiction, physical and emotional disability. What makes this strong lady unique is survival; she recovered, surviving it all against infinitesimal odds. 

      Now the woman is in her mid-sixties. I'll call her Moira. As a young wife and mother, Moira suffered more than her share of tragedy and hardship. 
     Moira met Norris, when both were old enough to have outdistanced the challenges of  marriage, child rearing and career changes. He was a successful entrepreneur, handsome, a charmer. Norris and Moira married, but separated after several years. They remained great friends for life, frequently dining out, even traveling together on occasion. Neither asked for a divorce; neither considered remarrying. They were comfortable with their relationship.
   Recently, though, Norris fell ill. He was diagnosed with end-stage lung cancer. He fought a losing battle, entered hospice and died. This occurred in the space of a few months, and devastated Moira. Although the two had lived apart for more than twenty years, he was her rock.

Widow, the word consumes itself.  Sylvia Plath

    Given the length of their separation Moira hardly felt married to Norris. Nevertheless, as the law requires, she claimed a Social Security survivor's benefits. 
     Despite years of earning, the stresses of single parenthood, physical injury and mental challenge had reduced Moira to poverty. The modest survivor's benefit from Social Security might have been a blessing, but turned into a nightmare. On receiving word of the small widow's portion from Social Security, her housing assistance immediately diminished. 
   Next Social Security took away her longstanding disability benefits. The state in which she lives advised Moira she is no longer a Qualified Medicaid Beneficiary. The result was a change in her medical insurance. Visits with physicians and prescription drugs now incur substantial co-pays. If that were not sufficient, Moira's Medicaid Assistance with Medicare Part B premiums (SHIP) terminated, requiring her to reapply in her state; meanwhile she pays the premiums from her Social Security checks.
     With the change in her medical insurance coverage, Moira had to apply for extra help through the Social Security Administration, to assist with prescription costs. She waits for her application to be processed; meanwhile, she pays out of pocket for visits to physicians and for some costly prescription drugs. 
     Finally, through no fault of her own, Moira was overpaid a monthly disability payment, so she was required to pay money back to Social Security. While all of this went on, her small monthly EBT (food stamp) benefit was drastically cut. 
    Moira needs therapy for depression. Given the boatload of sad, stressful experiences, who wouldn't be depressed? She can no longer access mental health services without paying co-pays she cannot afford. Moira's family is, frankly, at a loss to understand the morass of red tape and the losses (aside from Norris' tragic death.) They have, as most families would have, limited resources. They take the view that, somehow, she's brought financial disaster upon herself. The relationship has become strained. 

   For Moira finding resources has been an uphill battle. While she deals with a complex and unfriendly system, she speaks daily with indifferent, abrupt, representatives of non-profits; in this economy, most are  overwhelmed and underfunded. 

     This is the widow's portion in the most prosperous country on earth, during this so enlightened era. For a woman who cannot work, due to shaky physical and mental health, her husband's death was worse than heart-wrenching; it put her health and life in jeopardy. 
     I'll continue to follow Moira's story, and I'll report what works; we already know what does not work.

Bitter Dregs vs. Empowerment

Writer's block is not a problem for me. Something inevitably comes along to inspire or incense. Today it was a photo and letter, published on a social media site. In her letter the mother (who looks like her grandmother or great grandmother) asks her daughter's understanding and compassion.  Those should be given, but, wait a moment. I am incensed. At seventy-three, I consider myself presentably well-heeled, well groomed, articulate, technically savvy, completely competent and, frankly, more au courant  than many young people. Age, by definition, need not diminish us.

"Discrimination due to age is one of the great tragedies of modern life. The desire to work and be useful is what makes life worth living, and to be told your efforts are not needed because you are the wrong age is a crime." Johnny Ball

     
     Retired, or not, I would ask elders neither to make resolutions in 2013, but to live one resolution: not to be quite so accepting of the limitations we place on ourselves. We do not have to drink the bitter dregs of decline without putting up a fight. Only by changing ourselves, can we end prejudicial treatment. If we want to be regarded as capable individuals, there is a price on the privilege. In other words, for us, as for younger people, we are not entitled.  

    First we can all work on our social skills, even though we live alone. There is absolutely no need to babble or repeat ourselves. Getting out into the community, socializing with people of diverse ages, volunteering, working ... all require the acquisition of interpersonal skills. I stress diversity here, because it is critical for growth.

  Even less is there a need to simply accept encroaching physical weakness. Injury and illness occur. That said, people in chronic pain can improve pain management with yoga, practiced at an appropriate level. For reasonably well elders, fitness programs are available on public television, in various media formats for a small investment. Fitness facilities nationwide offer 'scholarships' available for men and women, who cannot otherwise afford them (YMCA fitness facilities are an example.) It is hard work, but it is part of not accepting the bitter dregs of age.

      Among my elderly friends and neighbors few are computer literate, let alone technically savvy. With affordable, accessible broadband and the availability of inexpensive (or, at least, less expensive) equipment, this should have come to a screeching halt, but did not. Part of living in the present is acquiring telecommunications knowledge and skill. Like physical fitness programs, many community programs exist for the purpose of teaching computer literacy and more. These programs are inexpensive or free. Self-teaching is part of the equation, because there is nothing like hands-on experience in computing. I find it difficult to excuse seniors' reluctance to jump in and utilize the technology. Not to do so is isolating and limiting.

     For elders who are computer savvy, get up-to-date with new concepts in computing. Again classes and courses are available for little or no money. Many state-funded colleges and universities offer senior citizens the ability to monitor or audit courses free of charge. 

     A brain at rest is a brain in decline. We can find learning opportunities, in addition to those we encounter in workplaces. BBC language courses are available online, free of charge. Take a class at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Available through MIT, free of charge or for a donation, is an array of timely open online courses.  Course materials are generally available for little money or free from libraries.

    I submit that, only by refusing the limitations placed on us by ignorance and bias, we empower others. How much better is this than begging anyone's indulgence?

My Kingdom for a Horse

"For want of a Nail the Shoe was lost; for want of a Shoe the Horse was lost; and for want of a Horse the Rider was lost; being overtaken and slain by the Enemy, all for want of Care about a Horse-shoe Nail." Benjamin Franklin

Sooooo .... the United States did not topple over the fiscal cliff. The question is whether landing will be soft. It seems extremely doubtful, as economic growth will be affected at a crucial time. There are three more precipices coming, so, don't be too quick to exhale. (As a shameful aside people all along the East Coast, who suffered the effects of Hurricane Sandy, will continue to have to wait for relief.)

As everyone knows a principal area of concern, for me, has been Social Security and the myths surrounding it. Now there is a new worry that ongoing payroll tax relief could be exploited -- it could become a stick with which to beat the old Social Security horse some more. As Social Security inevitably declines we hear echoes of the death knell. The critics will have right on their side; Social Security will not work the way it did in Franklin Roosevelt's day.   

Privatization is an unpalatable alternative. So what is left is to reform Social Security, so monies taxpayers put into it are guaranteed. The Trust, itself, should not the government's lender. The Trust's investments should yield returns, and monies rolled back into it. The Trust should 'own' real securities, not bonds that represent debt, rather than having potential liquidity. Then, the money we put in would grow and would return to us, not in ever-decreasing amounts for an ever-decreasing number of (older and older) people. Next a truer measure of increases in the cost of living should be sought, and the impact of inflation, anticipated long term.

Ah, but that would require taxpayers and voters to demand better. We'd have to elect representatives, who have some concern for the needs of citizens, other than the very wealthy. 

Whether Mr. Boehner will be his party's new pariah and whether his long career will survive the blow, remains to be seen.  The new body politic may yet reject the vicious partisan politics, nasty infighting, and ineffectual representation we've seen in 2012. Hope springs eternal!