Caring for Aging Baby Boomer Population During Economic Transition

Properly managing the physiological and psychological state of the vulnerable baby boomer demographic may not only avert a tragedy but make a large section of the boomer block politically useful during the long road towards a technocratic social system




The graying of the Northern Hemisphere is a unique historical social event much like agricultural or industrial revolutions were. Besides creating a massive demand (and eventually breakthroughs) for life extension and bio-cybernetic repair/augmentation technologies, the elderly in the world (and particularly in the Western world) also create a particular problem of adjustment.

Transition to a more technocratic, collaborative, cooperative, and supranational global arrangement will prove psychologically difficult for baby boomers in North America and within allied developed nations. In United States for instance, the numbers of people over the age of 62 are 50 million of which 41 million are over 65. The numbers of people in 18-24 block (that tends to be most aggressive and politically unclouded) are 30.7 million. In essence we have 41 million status quo force versus 31 million change agents.

The numbers of 25-44 olds are 82 million and those under 18 years of age are 74 million (of which 54 million are in 5-17 age range).

This simply means that when it comes to political struggles and domination, the 50 million boomer block only has 82 million people to try to coopt/use as reserve while the 31 million Millennial block has BOTH the 82 million to draw from (unconverted bitter Gen Xers) AND has a loyal reserve force of 54 million hyper tech savy individuals about to come online politically. It'll come down to boomer block using entrenched economic heights to slow socioeconomic change via quantity of money, experience, and established informational controls versus more mobile Millennial block accelerating change via quality of informational approaches and technological knowhow.

We can thus expect to see dramatic rise in the use of coping mechanisms among the elderly as they rapidly lose political power. We already see a rise in alcohol/comfort food abuse among those living deeper in the countryside and we saw a rare rise in annual boomer mortality in 2008 after the clear decline of Reaganism and election of a non-traditional appearing Gen-Exer. Previously such rare peculiar annual reversals in (usually declining) mortality occurred after the end of FDRism in the late 1970s.

During Soviet transition towards something else in the 1990s, there was the predictable decline in life expectancy primarily centered on the elderly. To prevent a similar demographic catastrophe and tragedy in the Western world (especially in USA since the notion of empire plays a large role in the ego and self esteem of the boomer population), preventive measures need to be thought of in advance.

A national network of rural detox facilities need to be rapidly constructed with the aid of some large corporate players (such as Wall-Mart which can house these clinics). These clinics should provide cutting edge full body detox from fast food and alcohol. Although top down education via propaganda outlets like CNN should of course be utilized, such clinics can bypass attempts at trying to educate the boomers on healthy lifestyles and go straight for marketing/offering finished full spectrum treatment. Cutting edge simply means seeing what rejuvenation practices the ultra rich use on a daily basis and using Fordist mentality to mass produce it and make it widely available in every clinic (remote areas can even have the clinics be within post offices, public schools, or fire stations).

The clinics need to be small, brand new and utilize environmental cues and marketing the way some pharmacies like Rite Aid have been using lately. Following Rite Aid's example, it is also prudent to localize the atmosphere of such clinics. Getting local community religious leaders involved can for instance result in southern regions having pleasant clinics with religious literature/themes, northwestern clinics having a more hippy feel, etc. The important thing is to preserve psychological sanity and thus life expectancy of the most vulnerable demographic block during a period of very rapid cultural and economic transition.

Major movie studios can be helpful in this effort by working with the government to produce a few all star cast informational movies which indirectly emphasize the benefits of these new clinics (love story taking place there, some drama of a person having a life turn around after multivitamin injections/blood oxygenation, etc). And of course it is easy to locate and pay a few major boomer role models to advocate these clinics via stories of personal use (Oprah, some former "bad boy" actor, etc).

Getting inside a clinic can require "tickets" (bringing to mind a celebratory event) and local governments can use lottery system for additional marketing  (winning to go to specialized clinic in a luxurious region of the country while emphasizing there is one nearby). Even within the capitalist framework, incentives can be provided so people earn points on purchase of healthy food to get additional trips to the clinics (above the standard number of provided tickets).

Starting to think of providing services like this is essential to reverse current depression born increase in mortality among boomers (1.6+ million a year currently). Informational and psychological counseling via television can also provide continuity between prior imperial era and the world of tomorrow. Russians and British have some experience with this. Moscow has been staging military parades recently to provide some cognitive continuity for the elderly while London uses the monarchy for that purpose. Future youthful American political leadership may think of linking FDRist, religious, and Reaganist themes to the technocratic developments that the post-Millennial generation will be engaging in.

In parallel however, top down informational campaigns should gradually begin to de-emphasize prior imperial propaganda of militarism and other less savory aspects of the 20th century socioeconomic system that existed. Once again, Hollywood and cooperative younger religious leaders should be heavily used.

If management of the declining boomer population is done in a very restrained, humane, and methodical manner, besides averting a humanitarian catastrophe, a large portion of retired intuitive boomers can even be made to serve the national technocratic interest in the future (by minimum of not standing in the way of progress and maximum of encouraging it via word of mouth among peers).

Government Gerontocracy and Congressional Term Limits

Legislative gerontocracy guarantees social and economic stagnation.

Structurally, a politician in his 40s will always have difficulty working with important congressmen in their 70s who matured in a radically different country



Many congressmen today were born before television was a commonplace household item. These entrenched dinosaurs are making decisions on topics ranging from net neutrality to regulation of the financial sector. We have the spectacle of people like the corrupt 86 year old Ted Stevens, mentally reckless 72 year old Jon McCain (with choice of Palin being most telling about deterioration of cognitive faculties), and 92 year old Robert Byrd (who had the rank of Exalted Cyclops in the Ku Klux Klan).

The average age of a member of the House is 56 years and 62 years for a Senator . Improving medicine and incumbent friendly tools have driven up the average congressional age in the last few decades. The stranglehold on major important congressional committees by the oldest legislators is resulting in a gerontocracy to rival that of China and Soviet Union in the 1980s.

People who are well past the legal age of retirement (already way too high in the workaholic United States) are simply not cognitively fit for a number of key governmental functions in the 21st century. Things such as modernizing the country, managing cutting edge technological developments to maximum material advantage, conducting high stakes geopolitics, being on the same cultural page as an average elite (the playboy Ivy League lawyers are definitely incapable of being on same page as an average American), or futuristic interdisciplinary national/global strategy.

The reality of political power growing along with the numbers of years spent in Congress has resulted in United States falling further and further behind the developed world. The lack of serious political competition in the archaic political system (where oligarch clans throw support to one or both of the structurally allowed parties) makes it extra easy for senior citizens to keep making and proposing laws. As such, the senior citizens have divided up United States into regional spheres of influence with only some battleground states providing a neural cognitive challenge to privileged incumbents (incumbents have close to 90% re-election rate). The recent event of Republican party being pushed towards a true regional party status will not help matters.

Interestingly enough, the average age of the executive seems to be falling due to the extra special cultural attention placed on this spot as well as the viciousness of competition. The fall in age (of those occupying the powerful political position in society) appears to be not just an American phenomenon but one observed internationally from China to France to England and to Russia. The internet and new rapidly evolving forms of technological mobilization mean that cut throat political competition increasingly favors technologically savvy (who tend to be in their 40s) and not the entrenched senior citizens. For most of national existence of United States that has not been the case as informal patronage proved more key than clever technological marketing.

The falling age of the executive branch and the rising age of the legislative branch will amount to increasing friction in American style political systems in the years ahead. Proportional representation systems are more immune to this since they are less susceptible to legislative gerontocracy formation in the first place. They have greater political contestation (because of presence of multiple strong parties instead of two) and their executive leadership rises from the legislative.

We are already seeing some examples of such age based frictions with Obama battling his own party to push through reform. A 48 year old man is trying to get 70 year olds on key committees to agree with his proposals. The insanity of it is best illustrated with the example of the already mentioned Robert Byrd. How can Barack Obama hope to effectively work with people who came of age in a country where Obama would not be allowed to use the same water fountain as them? It is no different than Gorbachev trying to work with people who came of age in a country where people with Gorbachev's opinion were sent to death camps.

Senior citizens in power have turned the former superpower into a giant retirement home (not mentioning the near future political implications of falling birthrates leading to young versus old demographic disparity). Things have been getting gradually worse for so long (going back to early 1970s) that everybody is used to it. People cannot conceptualize things getting really bad since things are expected to get worse already. The rotting crusty brains of American rulers require implementation of term limits so there is a chance jump start the rotting crusty socioeconomic system.

Robot Pets Help the Elderly

Move over cats and dogs. The equivalent of a crazy cat lady of the future is likely to be one with a multitude of specially designed robotic assistants. As of 2009, Japan is full speed ahead in creating a manufacturing base for robotic companions that will help the elderly with psychological well being, household chores, staying in touch with loved ones, staying physically fit, mobility, providing endless entertainment, and even assisting out on the street. The average age of all major industrial countries is constantly rising. The wave of post-war baby boomers around the world will drive demand for assistance and entertainment to levels never before seen.

As of today, many elderly rely on pets and grandkids for amusement, companionship, and feeling of empowerment through care taking. These methods are unreliable since they are mostly a one way street in terms of care. The investment into a cat in particular, might not even outweigh the psychological comfort of cuddling with it and enjoying its chaotic willful behavior. There is the constant expense of acquiring food for it and the time needed for other care. Dogs offer the increased health benefit of getting the elderly outside for walks. Many dogs however, consume even more food and the walks can be a drain occasionally.

The robotic companions that are about to be mass marketed create a two way mutually beneficial relationship with the elderly. They can: help remember to take your medicine in right amounts, clean up around the house, play mentally stimulating games with you, update you on news events and your family, help guard your house, monitor your health levels, have direct connection to the hospital, respond to your interaction with them in hundreds of different ways, do amusing physical tricks, connect to other media devices for full entertainment experience, look and feel cuddly and fun, and be fully under one's control.

Such a relationship not only creates a financial investment superior to dogs and cats but can potentially create a bigger emotional attachment to machines. With advancement in WiFi broadband and cloud supercomputing, the robotic pets of the future will have access to endless constantly updating programming that will give a stronger illusion of consciousness compared to biological pets. First generation of early adopter cyberpet owners will undoubtedly run into a multitude of quirks and deficiencies. With time however, a 70 year old man can create a stronger emotional bond with the robotic assistant than he does with a car or a trusty rifle.

Japanese and Swedish authorities have been recently collaborating to study effects and potential of integrating multitudes of mass produced robotic companions in retirement communities and hospitals. Once government organizations begin to massively use robotics and once the rich make cyberpets into status symbols, the trend should take off culturally around the world. Unlike flesh and blood pets, robots can suggest activities and urge the owners to engage in healthier more active lifestyles. Combined with social networking, the cyberpets can link owners together socially by interest. By remembering what the owner likes, they would increasingly behave and cater to that preference. With voice recognition growing in leaps, cyberpets can even help finish the owner's train of thought if he or she stops mid-sentence.

By no means should cats and dogs be replaced since cyberpets can not only co-exist with their fleshy counterparts but even make real pet ownership more enjoyable. Cyberpets can make cat/dog ownership easier through caretaking/feeding/cleanup and can engage with fleshy pets in playful activities to extend the pets' lifespans and functioning. The cyberpets of tomorrow will be covered with durable soft synthetic exterior that is pleasant and warm to the touch. Their fur will not shed easily and would be replaceable according to one's aesthetic desires. We can't even begin to imagine the rise in quality of life when watching, say, a blue furred purring robotic lemur interact with your cat. Especially if the robotic lemur sings the oldies like Nirvana, vacuums the floor, informs you of your portfolio investments, and uplinks live video feed to television from your friends and family.

Having said that, can see a future drop in demand for real pets begin to occur. There's the environmental consideration of using a lot of chemicals and fertilizer to grow animal feed for animals used in cat/dog food. Using real tuna and fish bits in cat food might seem like a silly luxury a couple of decades from now. In Japan, increasingly there are cat and dog pet cafes for those who like furry animals but don't want to have them at home. Pet cafes and larger petting zoos allow not just a great public attraction (that generates revenue and promotes social interaction for the whole family), but can serve as an outlet to retire one's aging pets. As elderly people pass away, their pets would have a great public retirement destination to live out the rest of their life and interact with many other animals and children. Unwanted and unadoptable pets can mingle with the healthy ones and serve a useful public service. Large petting parks of course can be tended by robotic cleanup crews that would also educate the visitors.

Pet stores are a strange business since they treat pets as a commodity yet try to not treat them as one would a farm animal before the slaughter. If the cultural construct is one where cats and dogs are to be protected, then pet stores should be discouraged legally. Too many opportunities for abuse occur in the existing gaps between for profit pet stores, farms, adoption agencies, and buyers. Rather than expanding energies and human labor to fine tune inspection and enforcement, it makes sense to restrict pet acquisition to large regulated petting zoos and cafes. As for more exotic animals, only zoos and professional research organizations should be allowed to own them and make money off them through public tours.

Robotic pets combined with smaller amounts of better bred, raised, and regulated real pets, are a good way to kick off transition period for our elderly. The sooner furry robots begin to trickle into our homes, the happier and healthier our elderly and society will be overall.