CoVid-19, Seniors and the Surfacing Prejudice

That's another way to say that I have lived for a long time. I made it through my childhood, my 'Teens, my adulthood, and I survived a number of things that could have killed me over my lifetime, but I survive it all.

I survived growing up in a tough neighborhood, I survived serving my country in the the Navy during the VietNam War, I survived traveling for several decades managing projects in countries with questionable health systems and radical political leadership, and last but not least, I survived receiving a Kidney transplant.

Yes, I am in my Seventies and I have survived a lot of things, but now I am beginning to see a new attitude about myself and my fellow Seniors floating to the surface of treatment limitations for we, the aging people..

Don't question my recognition of prejudice. I have watched it surface in the eyes of people I would never have guessed were so self-centered.

You see, I am a White Man who grew up in a small Southern Town.

I think my observation skills developed during the early years of my life. Whenever the adults got together and a conversation started, about pretty much anything, I would slip into the room and sit in a dark corner and listen.

Looking back, I knew, even then that I loved listening, and watching adults. Well, because back then, you learned everything about life from the adults that surrounded you.

The problem back then was that I was only getting one perspective on things, and there was rarely any argument against the person with the loudest voice.

So, without apology, my childhood was peppered with the barely covered prejudices of my family, my friends and pretty much everyone else I knew during those early formative years of my life.

Many people will deny it, but like I have said; i know that children see and hear everything their parents and family elders say; about everything.

And I was no exception. I could see the emotions in everyone's eyes when they spoke about Blacks, for instance. It seemed to me that they could avoid speaking the hate directly and instead would just tell a joke about Blacks.

This way they could keep the mood in the room light and not get into raising everyone's blood pressure.

Yeah, I was that quiet kid that was sitting in the corner listening to everything that was said.

And I have been able to recognize prejudice when I saw it with or without a veneer of humor.

What I see now, as all of the countries around the World are trying to fight this deadly Coronavirus, is Prejudice rearing its ugly head.

There is no known cure for this disease, and in case you didn't already know it. the resources that are needed to manage the fight to save the lives of people who contract the Coronavirus are becoming scarce.

So you ask yourself what has history told us happens when certain resources are scarce.

It's simple really, admit it.

You know the answer but you don't want to say it; certain people are not treated and they die, typically in larger numbers than those that are not treated with these scarce resources.

That's the question that I see politicians voicing right now. They don't come right out and say;

Well old people have weak immune systems and are already near death. They've lived a good long life so why should we waste our limited resources on them? Let's just save the lives of the young and the strong.

Yeah, I'm that same little boy who is still listening to the adults on TV and I'm still looking into their eyes as they justify their prejudices against which are presently directed at Old people.

A Year ago there was no such conversations about who do we let die; but now, this one disease and our lack of capability to manage and possibly cure it, has already pulled it to the surface and is being considered by those who run our countries.

Hell, we use Electric Chairs and lethal Injections to "humanely" Kill people now, but our leaders would just ignore the sick elderly people and let them suffer for days or even weeks before they die.

The first problem these people who are in control and their possible Death Sentences for anyone or group on our planet is the fact that we do not fit very well in their boxes.

Age for example is useless for a potential selection criteria. There are people who live for a Century, and are still productive thinkers. There are people who are not yet fifty who are unable to tie their own shoes.

I only mention these two exceptions because the exceptions when looked at with an open mind can easily drive a mathematician crazy in his efforts to define ueable bounds for selection criteria especially when their numbers are a Death sentence to some and a reprieve for a longer life for others.

I'm about done with my argument so I warn you; don't smile and verbally pat me on the head. I am not senile, and I am not unable to defend myself, if I have to.

I don't know, maybe it's the Redneck in me, but yeah, I own a few Guns that I have collected over my life, and I am very comfortable using them. I'm was once a good hunter and I have a lot of outdoor skills.

So, when you decide that I and my fellow Seniors don't need to be treated for something like the Coronavirus you should make sure to consider our other skills.