Friday May 4, 2012, 10:01 am
The “Senior Hunger Report Card” found while the risk of hunger for the U.S. population as a whole has declined since the end of the recession in 2009, it rose for people age 60 and older, mainly among those earning less than $30,000 –- or one to two times the poverty level. (The federal poverty level in 2010, the period studied, was $10,830 for a single person and $14,570 for a couple.) James P. Ziliak of the University of Kentucky and Craig Gundersen of the University of Illinois authored the report.

Friday May 4, 2012, 10:02 am
Terrible.

Friday May 4, 2012, 10:30 am
Devastating, and the Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare. Shame on them.

Friday May 4, 2012, 10:43 am
Outrageous, in this country in this day and age. Noted with anger, sadness, and disgust.

Friday May 4, 2012, 10:47 am
Both parties expend a lot of hot air talking about "family values," but all they accomplish typically hurts children and the elderly the most. If we're such a great, great nation, then why do we let so many of our fellow citizens rot?

Friday May 4, 2012, 10:51 am
Good questions. Ask the Republicans.

I fully support the concept of saving for one's retirement (Social Security would NEVER be enough) but, considering what's happened to investments in the last few years, anyone who THOUGHT they'd have enough might find themselves devastated.

Now what do we do with these people?

Friday May 4, 2012, 10:53 am
$30000 a year or less? This "hunger" can't be because of lack of money then. If they are disabled and need help, I could understand this and we do know that social services have been cut to the bone. Even people on the poverty line as defined by the government would find it difficult to be HUNGRY. They might have a poor diet, although they shouldn't have to as eating healthily is often as cheap or cheaper than buying crap. And I question the use o the word "hungry". Hungry is in Somalia, in the Congo, in India.

Friday May 4, 2012, 11:00 am
Sad and unacceptable. I think I read recently that one in six children go to bed hungry...mostly thanks to the Repugs.

Friday May 4, 2012, 11:15 am
i'm sure it has something to do with the ridiculous price of meds. and the article does point out the most important fact, which is that seniors are the least able to change their circumstances. we must help them. i am growing more vegetables than ever before in hopes of sharing. and, don't forget that saturday the 12th is 'stamp out hunger' where you can leave as little or as much food as you want by your mailbox and they will deliver it to those who need it.

Friday May 4, 2012, 11:29 am
Shameful!

Friday May 4, 2012, 11:30 am
Shameful! There's something wrong with our social safety net that needs repairing, not cutting.

Friday May 4, 2012, 11:30 am
very sad..the government needs to do more about everyone in the country, no one should go hungry or be without a house/hydro..

Friday May 4, 2012, 11:34 am
Seniors use a great deal of their income for medical maintenance.
Income is always related to the costs of survival.
Older people cannot drive themselves anywhere, transportation costs are high also.
People usually have to get older themselves to understand.

Friday May 4, 2012, 11:35 am
I have heard it's often a choice between meds and food.

I'm glad I don't take meds.

Friday May 4, 2012, 11:39 am
There was a time, long ago, when women knew herbs. They were the healers.

Then Europe was invaded.

Only men could practice medicine, men approved by the 1%.

Many of the women who were burned as witches were actually doctors of herbs that healed and did not addict.

Friday May 4, 2012, 11:49 am
What was left unmentioned was that long, long ago, people were treated with leeches and bleeding. Infection was the number one killer. Outbreaks of cholera, typhus, and plague were common. Surgery was largely non-existent. The average lifespan was roughly half what it is now. We no longer need to superstitiously belive in vital humors or spirits or elementals; we live much better lives now thanks to science.

What needs to be done is to make our system of health care much more equitable and accessible to all who need it, particularly children and the elderly.

Friday May 4, 2012, 11:56 am
But, we still use leeches... in the best hospitals.

Friday May 4, 2012, 12:09 pm
John, are you talking about the leeches with M.D. attached to their names?... or MBA maybe? Certainly the medical/insurance industries have become akin to leeches. I don't believe there's any need for medical attention to be so costly. I'm totally sick of capitalism and it's lack of heart for anything but money. I think John is also right that people don't understand the issue of aging until one gets there. I know my understanding certainly deepened once I had to survive only on SS and Medicare. This country is "going to hell in a hand-basket," as my mother used to say. And our elderly are the first to reach that hell, I'm afraid. Thanks, Bee and y'all who keep the issue in front of us.

Friday May 4, 2012, 12:16 pm
Just a moment. Are "poor" people in the USI forced to pay for their own medicines? This cannot be true in an allegedly civilised, first world, RICH country, can it?

Friday May 4, 2012, 12:26 pm
Caitlin M

I have posted similar before but I'll do it again. I also have lived on SS after my father died. I had given up work to be his carer during his terrible descent into dementia and fell into depression after his death. I cannot make a direct comparison as SS benefits are different from ours in the UK, but, although I didn't live extravagantly, I ate well. I ate food bought cheaply on its sell-by date, offcuts of meat and made stews, vegetarian curries, fruit and veg that was marked down in price. I kept my internet connection. I could pay my bills. I didn't have to pay for medicines (and I asked in a previous post if a civilised country truly makes poor people pay for medical help). My local taxes were paid up to 80%.

Is the situation really that different in the USI? If so, it's a real disgrace.

Friday May 4, 2012, 1:20 pm
What an unfortunate state for seniors and children. Thanks, Catherine T., for the May 12th date for food. I just watched a movie (documentary) about kids getting food from the school cafeteria, and stuffing their pockets with food and ketchup (to make ketchup soup) for the weekend, as the household doesn't have enough food for the children. What a shame for all these families!!!!

Friday May 4, 2012, 1:23 pm
Disgraceful! TY Betsy, sadly noted.

Friday May 4, 2012, 1:38 pm
Go to a soup kitchen any soup kitchen anywhere in America and talk to the people there, then ask yourself.....How great is America?
Go to a Indian reservation any reservation and talk to the people there, then ask....How great is America?
Visit one of our many prisons and talk to the people there, then ask....How great is America?
Visit one of our Veterans Hospitals and talk to the people there, then ask....How great is America?
Visit a old folks home or as they call them today a retirement center, talk to anyone there, then ask.....How great is America.
Visit a low income housing project or the back side of a city anywhere and talk to the people there, then ask....How great is America.
Go to a public school any public school with 30 to 45 kids in one class room and talk to them, then ask....How great is America.
Go to any charity that is trying to help feed people or help with health care and talk to them, then ask....How great is America.
I could go on and on, but my point is we need to stop telling our self how great we are and look around at whats going on around us and then do something about it. WE ARE NOT AS GREAT AS WE HAVE BEEN TOLD WE ARE BUT WE COULD BE. OCCUPY

Friday May 4, 2012, 2:36 pm
Thanks Betsy..sad...

Friday May 4, 2012, 2:50 pm
Illinois is so broke the Government gets take-out from Missouri..;) What's Not funny is that they've cut back on Meals on Wheels, cut Homecare hours, & Threatened MORE cuts or Ending some Vital Programs to "reduce" the deficit.. Decades of RepubliCON embezzellment (& cronyism on both sides) has bankrupted Illinois - but Don't you DARE threaten to raise taxes on the Rich & Corporations - just scare & starve the Old & Disabled, they CAN'T fight back!:(

Friday May 4, 2012, 4:04 pm
All the Politicians should hang their heads in shame, for allowing this to happen here in America...

Friday May 4, 2012, 4:48 pm
Noted with thanks Betsy~♥

Friday May 4, 2012, 5:16 pm
sad, and this is the beginning if they don't fix the problem now, it will get worst as time get farther for the next baby boomers, the people should not vote unless there is something positive for this like fix the main issues, like health care, social security, unemployment.

Friday May 4, 2012, 5:55 pm
Yes, John, poor people are still expected to pay for any medical care not covered by any insurance they may have, if they are able to afford it. Even poor people's insurance doesn't cover everything and not all poor people are eligible to get on this insurance as there are hoops and regulations to meet. Many fall through the cracks so to speak. So it's way to common for poor people be they young, old, or disabled, must choose between buying medications, heat their home, or eat. These are not positions one wants to have to choose, but far too many have to, many are the Elderly.

I would of thought the figures are higher and I suspect they are from having worked with the Elderly. Many will starve to death before asking for help, some do not realize there is help for them even if they qualify, some do not have vehicles to go to agencies to get the help, and many agencies are closed and have forced the poor, includes the Elderly to apply online. Many of the aged do not have computers nor even know how to use them so they don't get help. Many Elders, feeling ashamed that they are in this situation or not wanting to trouble a family member who may be struggling themselves, do not tell anyone they are hungry.

Friday May 4, 2012, 6:04 pm
1 in 7 Seniors Suffers From Food Insecurity (Hunger)


U.S.A. First Lady Miss Michelle Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/first-ladies/michelleobama

Friday May 4, 2012, 6:13 pm
There is someting horridly wrong with a society that does not take care of its members. Even worse when they don't even provide the means so they can care for themselves.

Friday May 4, 2012, 6:14 pm
I don't think that little garden that Michelle got going is going to feed the 8.3 million Elders we have going hungry. We've had both Democrats and Republicans in Office since 2001 and the hunger goes on. I have more faith in the OWS than I do in either of the two Parties.

Friday May 4, 2012, 6:20 pm
This is so sad, it breaks my heart to think of how so many of these people who have given so much are being treated so poorly, thanks Betsy and really hope something gets done to take care of all.

Friday May 4, 2012, 6:20 pm
Michelle's little "organic" garden is a PR joke. if the Obama's really felt strongly about organic food then he'd stop subsidizing corporate toxic farms and Monsanto and put the money towards organic farmers instead. That way organic food would be cheaper than toxic food. Instead food prices keep going up for no real reason except the usual greed.
medicare does not keep up with the cost of living, it's lagging, and food keeps going up as well as electircal utilities and housing. These people are on fixed incomes in a rapidly rising cost of living society.

Friday May 4, 2012, 6:45 pm
Thank you Dandelion. What a scandal it is.

Friday May 4, 2012, 7:20 pm
It is a problem here in Canada as well. Meals on Wheels is a great program here that aids this but we are in sore need of volunteers.

Friday May 4, 2012, 7:28 pm
We also have Meals on Wheels but they had to cut back on the number of people they could help due to the lack of volunteers. The major reason is that as the gasoline went up the volunteers decreased, many who did the volunteering were on limited funds themselves.

Friday May 4, 2012, 8:02 pm
I get the Meals on Wheels emails, and i have a community enter only a block away that works with them, but both they and the other next closest to me have plenty of volunteers, what they need are drivers....pretty much the same as Dandelion spoke of....

And i just got rid of my old Acura as i didn't want to drop $500 into fixing the water pump on a gas guzzler that is a polluter and opted to make short, specific trips to the store once a week with the other car... luckily i have a mall less than 1/4 mile away.
So it will have to be my bi- weekly few hours feeding mostly street people, (although many are elderly) through a small Ministry group my sister turned me onto a few years ago

Friday May 4, 2012, 8:44 pm
http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/senior-hunger.aspx
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/hunger-in-america
http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/us_hunger_facts.htm
30% of seniors have to choose between food and medical care- 35% have to choose between food and paying utilities. They are short on everything! Interesting info on addresses.
Majority of people receiving help is not lazy people! It's people that work but that cannot get ends to meet! - Old people are the more dissadvantaged, not only they don't have money, many times they don't have a large family that could help, they cannot move as easily as young people, do not have markets near,have physical problems and or live in rural areas. A disaster!
Thank you Green.Noted

Friday May 4, 2012, 9:30 pm
Unacceptable.
Noted.

* It's time for us to create the world we dream of living in *

Friday May 4, 2012, 10:56 pm
Can good and decent people really outlive their usefulness?

Apparently so! Senior citizens, who have years of wisdom and experience under their belts, have spent a lifetime contributing to this country's prosperity by working, paying taxes, having and raising children, serving in the military, volunteering, and keeping the economy strong with their buying power, become a burden when they're no longer able to work and need to collect the Social Security and Medicare they've paid into all their working lives. Suddenly, they're treated like burdens on society. And if they should need any extra assistance, they're treated like lepers. Seniors have earned their stripes, and they should be treated with respect and dignity. Unfortunately, this is just one of many issues where there is enough blame and enough shame to go around...

Friday May 4, 2012, 11:36 pm
Noted, and concerrned that I may be in that boat before long.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 1:30 am
I am very angry.Can any one tell me approximately HOW MUCH IS THE COST OF USA WARS AGINST AFGHANISTAN,IRAQ,PAKISTAN ANH HOW MUCH IS A WAR AGAINST IRAN WILL COST ?
I KNOW ISRAEL IS GETTING MORE THAN $1,000,000,000.00 ANNUALLY FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS IN MILITARY AID ONLY.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 2:32 am
Oh sooo many green stars I tried to send and couldn't - to Ellen, and Susanne, and Abdessalam, and Dandelion - this is an utter scandal - and I and others will be in the same boat soon - it is appalling - and all could have been paid for easily if the Bush warmongers hadn't led America and most of the Western world into a war which has cost us all dear in terms of people and money - except of course for the GOP and the Tea Party who are keen for more!

Saturday May 5, 2012, 3:54 am
It happens here in Australia too

Saturday May 5, 2012, 5:24 am
And in the UK. And not just seniors; I've heard that often parents are having to go without so their children can eat.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 6:32 am
Living "The American Dream"...???

Saturday May 5, 2012, 6:37 am
There is no good reason for this. Shamful.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 7:02 am
If Obama had not continued those wars and started more.
he has made so many cuts to Medicare and Social Security I've lost count.
Dumms or Repugs..it doesn't matter. We are in a class war NOT a Party war. The two parties are the rich elite we are fighting. BOTH of them. They have no ethics, morals, no conscience, no honor.
Seniors and the disabled have always been the scapegoats in American society. They are considered useless and incompetent. The money set aside for them, social Security and Medicare, is just money the rich elite (Dumms and Repugs) just drool over. They have been stealing from it for decades. Most Americans don't care until they are old enough or become disabled themselves and need the money that is no longer there.
I'd like to see the day when the rich elite, for the first time in history, become the scapegoats. Let them be the door mats of society, the punching bags for once and let the seniors and disabled be the elite.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 7:23 am
A population that Christ would consider a neighbor to love and care for based on what is reported in the Bible...

Saturday May 5, 2012, 7:32 am
Shameful, sadly noted.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 7:48 am
You mean for many the American Nightmare Ben, and I know that is what you did mean. While there are some people in the USA doing well, and some are doing fabulously well, for many millions and more joining them all the time, it is now a Country of hanging on, barely hanging on, and having already fallen into the hole that there is no sight of climbing out of as the system is so rigged.

How does one climb out when they can't find a job, we have the smallest labor market now than existed in years upon years yet with a larger population? Many of thehe unemployed are not all counted in the statistics so a false number of unemployed exists. Only those who are recently laid off and collect unemployment benefits are counted.

That doesn't take in people who never was able to collect in the first place as they were not at their job long to be able to collect, that doesn't count the people whose benefits have run out, that doesn't count the people who sell their homes and live off the sale while looking still for work, that doesn't count the people that are going through their savings, their retirement fund, selling their jewelry, their furniture, tools, and anything else they can sell while still looking for work.

That doesn't take into account the younger and the older who are at home and now the family is trying to get by on the one spouse income that is working. That doesn't count the people who are living in the woods, who are sleeping on someone's sofa to keep them off the streets, poor people feeding other poor people, one more potato in the pot. That doesn't count those who on purpose commit a crime, just to go to jail so they eat, have a bunk to sleep on and get some medical attention. Is horrible when prison becomes an option for survival.

That doesn't count those who must take out early retirement and forever be locked into smaller monthly checks because the younger you are when you retire the smaller your check will be. So these people now doomed into years of poverty for having to retire too soon, but when you are in need of food and a roof over your head today, you grab what you can to survive, even if it means messing up the years in the future.....one must live today.

Susanne you are so correct in your statement that the Elders in this society are just looked upon as dead weight so to speak. But that is what you get when you live in a Consumer Society where Profit is God instead of a Society built on compassion and love for others. The youth consume, the Elders tend not to replace their clothes so quickly, they will keep what furnishings they have, their income lowers so they tend to not be buying new gadgets and whatever else that jumps onto the market. They are not needed for this Profit world.

The Elders are not feeding the profit machine, unless they happened to make it into the well to do part of society, therefore....goodbye if you can't consume. This society doesn't care how they go goodbye, just so long as you go and don't ask for anything. So slowly starve to death, freeze to death, die from lack of the needed medications, it matters not to this heartless society. For if it mattered, all Elders would be assured of having enough food, and not have to worry how to pay for medical care.

You are so correct Abdessalam, the Profiteers whose special interest it is to protect their oil interests, or the cheap labor in other Countries, or the mines and other resources, yes, billions can be found for all of that. If it comes down to feeding our Elders or keeping the CEO rich that makes weapons you better believe they'll find another damn war to get into.

We the citizens of the USA are only pawns to do their dirty work, be it fighting the wars they feel are in their best interest, not ours, fill their prisons for profits, offer our bodies to run on the rat wheel so we can buy more of their stuff that is ruining our environment, as long as we fit into their "profit margin" we get to live, the disabled or Elders can't fight wars or offer much anymore so....goodbye.

And if the adults can't take care of the children this system doesn't care about them either, more children are ending up in our hospitals today not for only being malnourished, but are in starvation. If these children live, then they can join into one of the slots laid out. They don't have to be smart, just be able to pick up a rifle, or be a clog where they are needed, be able to buy another I-pod or the next generation of war games to get the next generation to kill or be killed. Our statistics show our math and science skills are well below others so at the same time, our teachers are laid off, class sizes are increased, educational programs are on the chopping block, and the schools fall apart around the students heads.

On my profile page I have the confirmation to this thinking when Scotus was passed. That was the validation.

SUPREME COURT RULING OF JANUARY 23, 2010
There you have it. Corporations are our new citizens. And you? If you're lucky, you get to make a choice: consumer, warrior or prisoner. Which will it be?

We are far away from what one of the Founders of the USA had stated.....

"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government." ~Thomas Jefferson

Unify and Occupy....if you wait for Washington to save your arse you wait forever.

“We keep expecting elected officials will do the right thing, and the fact is they never do unless they’re pushed.” Rocky Anderson The Justice Party

Saturday May 5, 2012, 7:58 am
On a short budget nasty compromises are always reached.This is particularly so in a hung parliament -If the person trying to put through just legislation has not te voting power in the senate and lower house then whatever he wants to do is unlikely to be achieved.

1)One cannot know what Obama would or would not do if the voting public had not been silly enough to remove his backing before he had the chance to do it so blaming Obama is nonsense

2 If we all really tried to look after all the family old and young rather than gratifying ourselves with living styles that the planet cannot support-then this situation might not have arisen

3 If we even applied Christian principles -really applied them then this situation would not exist.

4We are all human and there will be faults in any human system-If we really applied ourselves to by our daily actions righting these faults rather than carping and blaming then this situation would not exist.

5 I know people in this country that live out of bins where the out of date food from supermarkets is thrown away-Anyone who was really concerned might well start by locating that sort of food source and locating a few ellderly half starving people-There are hundreds of other things that could be done
eg Adopying a pensioner for live in babysitting.

Asking the owners of the mortgages on unoccupied houses if old people could squat there for minimum rent
provided that they or you upkept those houses which are now losing value exponentially.

Getting up a local church donation box to be filled as a Sunday thanksgiving with gifts of food and distributing it

Getting together to plant out vegie gardens inside and outside pensioners houses

Having members of a congregation on rotation taking in couples of old age pensioners for dinner each day or at least on Sundays

Starting some odd job system that pensioners could do in return for a meal-many have invaluable child caring,homework coaching,craft and art and traditional cooking skills which could relieve a young overworked mother or help with a member of the family who was sick

Anyway these are just off the cuff ideas-bet anyone reading this has better ones and if they really do want a place in heaven or even that peace of mind which comes from knowing that they have done everything they could ,then perhaps they could apply their intelligence and do the talk and walk on this

Saturday May 5, 2012, 8:08 am
Sending a Green Star is a simple way to say "Thank you"
You cannot currently send a star to Dandelion because you have done so within the last week.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 8:44 am
The American Dream has become a nightmare. TU

Saturday May 5, 2012, 9:13 am
One of the things I am very grateful for here in BC is the system for Assisted Living, primarily for seniors. For seniors who have had a stroke or heart attack or have other medical needs,assisted living can fit the bill. At least 2 meals are provided as well as a room/suite and the provincial government will subsidise --- 70% of the senior's income is used with the provincial government paying the rest. Low income seniors usually have their medications paid for by Fair Pharmacare. The system isn't perfect and there are often waiting lists depending on where you live, but it does help seniors to live more independently for longer. As Cam said above, Meals On Wheels is also available for those who are still able to stay in their own homes.
I know I think about what will happen to me when the time comes as I don't have any children and no spouse. I try to keep tabs on a couple of seniors who are still on their own. If I think something is amiss, then I will deal with it appropriately. And I have a younger neighbour who keeps tabs on me. We really do have to look out for eachother.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 9:47 am
Thank you, everyone. Thoughtful and thought provoking comments. Yes, the American nightmare.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 10:11 am
Thank you Abdessalam.

Long ago, before the Europeans came to these shores, my ancestors, the Pennacook, lived on the coastal shores of what is now northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Upon the signing in of this new Country now called the United States of America, the British boarded their ships to leave.

However, before leaving, the English kidnapped around 200 of the now very dwindled population of 1,200 Pennacook, and brought them to England to be used as servants or slaves. No one from this NEW Country prevented the English from doing so, were the Pennacook not people of this land now called the USA? To survive as a people the remaining 1,000 went up into Canada and northern New England to merge in with the Abenaki Nation.

My Grandmothers ancestors were what is referred to as the First Nations people or American Indian, and we had a much more respectful way of treating our Elders. The Elders were valued for their wisdom and all knew that the Elders had offered much to the Nation in their youthful years. Now, they shared their stories which contained this wisdom with the other adults and the children spent a lot of time at the Elders feet, learning, while the others hunted, made the clothes or prepared the meals.

When a child picked her first berries she gave them to the Elders, when a young man on a hunt got his first deer, buffalo, or elk, it was brought back to camp to be given to the widows, the disabled, the Elders who did not have young hunters. If an Elder needed a blanket it was given, if they had no son or daughter they were taken in by another, if they needed food it was given, the only time an Elder did not eat is if the whole Nation was hungry. We were not Christian, but we believed that all of life was important, from the smallest baby to the oldest, all had an important place within the Circle of Life. As did the animals, the trees, the Winged Ones, the ones who swam in the waters, all were respected.

But this thinking and way of life did not fit into the hearts of the ones who came to this land, they wanted to have more and more, to exploit all that was around them. This thinking has not stopped even to this day, and many from the First Nations people and American Indians had tried to forwarn of these things, for hundreds of years now, that living out of balance was destructive. The Indians were not just trying to protect themselves, they were trying to protect all. It was a way of life that the people who lived here saw this thinking of the newcomers way were not in harmony with the design of Creator, it was a way they saw as destructive to all of Great Spirits relations.

I had placed a video on made by John Trudell, American Indian, that explains the mining of the Mind to keep this destructive way of living going. Even many Indians now, have forgotten how to live in harmony, they are sick in their hearts, depression, alcoholism, as for many years they were prevented from "being" Indian. The ole' "kill the Indian to save the man" philosophy, that I feel really killed the man inside. Indian and non, all of the people's of the world were once connected to the Earth, our Mother, but this mining of the Mind has gone on longer with some people than with others. We were spared until Columbus got "lost" in our backyard.

"I felt as though someone knocked me unconcious as I entered this world. I spent a lifetime trying to come to" John Trudell or as Walter Littlemoon calls it a Thick Dark Fog. Indian circle thinking had to go; wasn't good for ladder thinking exploitation.
MINING THE MIND...LET THE SPIRIT LIVE

Saturday May 5, 2012, 10:48 am
So many have said it so well that i cannot add anything that hasn't been covered. Think...FINLAND! Then tell me Socialism is evil.....It may well be the only way this nation will survive in the future.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 2:36 pm
Tragic. Beyond that it's sickening and shameful. It's almost at the point where the only people who can afford to eat are the wealthy, conservative, anti-poor, anti-middle class elitists that are the ones making things even worse!

Saturday May 5, 2012, 2:50 pm
Dandelion G - could not of said it better:
"When a child picked her first berries she gave them to the Elders, when a young man on a hunt got his first deer, buffalo, or elk, it was brought back to camp to be given to the widows, the disabled, the Elders who did not have young hunters. If an Elder needed a blanket it was given, if they had no son or daughter they were taken in by another, if they needed food it was given, the only time an Elder did not eat is if the whole Nation was hungry. We were not Christian, but we believed that all of life was important, from the smallest baby to the oldest, all had an important place within the Circle of Life. As did the animals, the trees, the Winged Ones, the ones who swam in the waters, all were respected."
~ It was like that only a few decades ago! My grandparents weren't sent to a home to live out the rest of their lives. It was called a family, being a Family! There children say that it is the best thing for them and that they will get the care that they need. They don't need that care! They don't want that care! All they want is to be near their children and grandchildren and die Happy! They don't want to be in a place that has the smell of death all around them. They gave us everything they had and we give them a place to die!
Retirement Villages is another joke that many all into, surrounded by people your own age. It is youth that keeps you young, not people your own age! Assisted living, if the government had its way, you would go to sleep one night and never wake up! All they see is the money that would be saved. As long as they are protected by the generous benefit packages that they voted for themselves, why should they care?
The problem is, is that the whole system is corrupted!

Saturday May 5, 2012, 2:58 pm
I wouldn't be the first person to suggest this but put all the prisoners doing nothing in prison to work, producing some service or product etc. The elderly on the other hand can't work and they've worked all their lives most of them so they deserve at least all the necessities of life as well as health needs. Period.. Criminals however can be put to work to accomplish something valuable. It's irrational to not use people or put them to work. While politics dicks around, people die.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 4:14 pm
Noted! So very disturbing......our country has the wrong priorities....greed has corrupted & taken over

Saturday May 5, 2012, 4:42 pm
Terrible

Saturday May 5, 2012, 4:57 pm
Thak you Bee. What could I possibly add to so many great commets here... Yes , it's a SHAME,SHAME; SHAME. Have you seen that top ten list on the article, I fnd it particularly shameful that Texs is on #4 position of those "states at risk..", rediculous Governor Perry should be next in line to suffer from "food insecurity" and find out that all that oil still won't feed the people.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 5:09 pm
This is terrible. The wealthy billionaires can't find it in their cold hearts to allow the republicans, who they control, to allow their fellow Americans to eat? So sad and embarrassing.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 5:31 pm
Thankyou Betsy for posting this article!...I see it everyday , on the bus and can't help hearing the seniors that sit in the seats around me...I respect peoples privacy and try to shut my ears, ..but as so many seniours have lost some of their hearing, they speeak "louder than normal..and they are just coming back from the grocery store, and complaining, that "what are we going to do?".."I don't know!..this is all we have!"..well, how are we going to pay the rent..(so on!)"..."I DON'T KNOW!"..clothes are dirty..hair is dirty...fear, extreme worry, stress..and hunger....and shame/fear...they WORKED all their lives, paid the taxes..and there is nothing for them or the rest of us working class poor, with huge skills, no jobs..........VOTE OBAMA 2012!!!!

Saturday May 5, 2012, 6:27 pm
Sad.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 8:54 pm
How very sad. Its noted. Thank you Bianca.

Saturday May 5, 2012, 9:03 pm
This is so upsetting ! Thank you for sharing.

Sunday May 6, 2012, 3:21 am
thanks Betsy its so horrible the way things are going

Sunday May 6, 2012, 4:41 am
Thanks.

Sunday May 6, 2012, 5:51 am
Thanks.

Sunday May 6, 2012, 5:52 am
Thanks.

Sunday May 6, 2012, 6:23 am
What a dreadful situation in a rich country like the US - a fraction of the money used to bail out the banks (subsequently used to pay the directors huge bonuses) would address this issue.

Sunday May 6, 2012, 8:43 am
Grim reading.

Sunday May 6, 2012, 11:45 am
sad

Sunday May 6, 2012, 12:05 pm
sad story!

Sunday May 6, 2012, 12:16 pm
America is not "great" anymore. Living standards are horrific. But I also think that "hunger" is in Africa (Congo), India and so on. Abdessalam is right "why does the US fund so much on war (plus it's money - support for Israel ?). They should bring the troops home and care for their own people. Fund healthcare instead of war. Damn the 1%, Go Occupy !!

Sunday May 6, 2012, 12:22 pm
It is a major shame what the elderly have to go through. They don't make enough money on Social Security to live on. I would like to see the politicians try to live on that amount!

Sunday May 6, 2012, 2:03 pm
Our Seniors certainly do! It is so sad and no Snior whould have to worry about their next meal..no one should:( Seniors - they have always become the forgotten ...

Sunday May 6, 2012, 2:19 pm
such a tragedy,noted,xxx

Sunday May 6, 2012, 3:25 pm
There are many green stars deserved in this thread. I tried to send you one, Dandelion, for your ancestral story and reference to the video and for your reply to a John D. who had posed a question to me.

In case John's still "listening," I would like to say that his description of life on SS is similar to what many of us must do here in the States. The greatest difference being that medicines are very expensive and the insurance which we must buy to help with the cost (whether Medicare or private insurance) is costly and usually does not pay for all of our health care needs. One is forced into very meager circumstances in America if one is not wealthy. And, yes, this is happening in the land that calls itself --still-- the richest country in the world. America has spawned many a multi-millionaire, but heaven forbid our infirm or elderly citizens should be afforded a little "social and economic" security!

Sunday May 6, 2012, 6:56 pm
Poverty and hunger in old age would be really scary.

Sunday May 6, 2012, 6:57 pm
More money should be spent on social services, not invasions for fossil fuels.

Monday May 7, 2012, 11:58 am
This is what capitalism affords us in the 99%. According to the Stockholders and Corporations it is time to return to the austerity of Dickensian times to protect capital.

Monday May 7, 2012, 12:03 pm
We all in the 99% should not only ask for more like Oliver Twist, but boldly demand our share of the wealth that we have created.

Monday May 7, 2012, 12:33 pm
Green star to you, Craig. With babies and senior starving, it is time for 99% to take back all of the wealth they have produced. There are many gutters in which to deposit our would be masters.

Monday May 7, 2012, 6:53 pm
This nation should help it's own people in proverty instead trying to buy friendship else where. We the people are what makes the nation what it is. It's people need to be respected and no one left behind due to corporate greed. Shame on the 1% as they should take us the 99% advice cause we are the survivers. Lets put the 1% in proverty that they fear. Seniors and children should come first.
Thank you Green Bee for this. I help the elderly as much as I can when I can and even the homeless.

Monday May 7, 2012, 7:00 pm
We, the hard honest working people shouldn't have to be SLAVES to the rich. Without us they would be NOTHING.

Tuesday May 8, 2012, 5:31 pm
Our elderly need to be respected, this is so sad that they have worked all of their lives only to wonder where their next meal is going to come from....

Tuesday May 8, 2012, 8:17 pm
Thanks for posting! We should be doing more, not less to help the elderly of this country.

Sunday May 20, 2012, 9:10 pm
another neglected family of citizens for the cronies to be proud of~if only there were a unique way to turn a mirror on them~I really don't think they know themselves anymore