the elderly.

I don't have a problem with the senior citizens of today's society, but they frustrate me sometimes. And for the purposes of this post, by senior citizens i mean them plus all who share their mindsets. My econ professor brought something up this morning that got me thinking about this. He was talking about spending time with his older relatives talking about the economy, because thats basically what older relatives would do to exemplify their immense wisdom about society. That's all well and good up until the point that an issue like inflation or unemployment comes along and instead of listening to the guy with the doctorate in the room, they insist that all these problems are the result of CROOKS! NOTHING BUT CROOKS IN HIGH PLACES!..... okayy... you could totally ignore hundreds of years of economics and studies and go for your biased position because you just didn't pay attention while you were in school. i digress. so these people think that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. just like their parents and grandparents did. and probably the same way that we will. but I don't understand WHY. if everyone just thought logically (it's really, really not that hard) we wouldn't have screaming matches at christmas dinner over insane issues (jack.) that popped into one person's mind and they were drunk enough to bring it to light. and why does it always have to do with gays, retards, or money? seriously, at least find a good topic to scream about. like seal clubbing. it's an easy topic. there are two parties, those who are opposed and those who...enjoy seal clubbing. it can include heated debate but in the end everyone just realizes that the issue has the same effect as any other non-profit commercial- you care until you realize that it has nothing to do with you. then you dont care anymore. or you're just too smashed to realize how the conversation went from seal clubbing back to SURPRISE! THE RECESSION! many studies have confirmed that as one grows older, they tend to resist change in their environments because they're comfortable with the environment they've grown up with. well good for them. kinda sucks though because crap changes. if you can just accept that little fact, your life will be SO much easier. will we be upset in 50 years when we all travel in tubes? NO. BECAUSE THAT WILL BE AWESOME. (we'll ACCEPT that the future is awesome, and if we keep thinking that, it will be. even if it isn't. autosuggestion says so.)this tendency goes so far as turning people ignorant. example: at an open mic 2 nights ago, there was a group of SENIORS! called the "Singing Grannys" whose entire repertoire was composed of traditional tunes like row row row your boat, with political lyrics overlaid. they literally just talked about bringing the troops home and why business executives should be replaced. if they actually paid attention to what's happening in the world, neither of those statements would have been made. im not going into them. for the sake of the length of this post.

so how do we address this seemingly innate tendency of the human mind? I propose two solutions: mass suicides at the age of 65 (or 66 so one can enjoy the benefits of social security. unless that falls through. but THAT WILL BE OKAY cuz we'll figure it out. see? not that hard to move on) or...drumroll please... we keep open minds, accept changes in our environment, and possibly even contribute to society through helping to enact these changes? (insert gasp from audience) we'll be in the mental position to embrace changes in society and we won't be able to complain because we'll have had the opportunity to affect the process.

okay, this isnt perfect. it's 10:00 in the morning and class pretty much drained my cognitive capacity for a few hours. but THIS ISNT HARD. thats what she said.