One-Third of Boomers Will be Victims of Elder Abuse

1/3rd of Boomers Will be Victims!

THE SKY IS FALLING1/3rd of Boomers Will Be Victims
By Irene A. Masiello

We’re living in a voracious society with predators lurking in lending and in legislation not to mention a plethora of predatory offenders ready to lash out at the vulnerable.

In nature, predatory animals stalk the weak in order to survive. They slither along the brush on the plains or in the shadows of forestry ready to devour their prey. While humankind considers itself more "civilized," too many do likewise.

In life, business or politics, if common decency or, God forbid, human life gets in the way of profit margin, people are viewed as the expendable commodity. The bottom line for too many: get all they can and when an escape from the plundering is needed let’s delve into the compelling social issues of the times.

Observe the media frenzy about how much weight the celebrities gained or who's in which rehab, what major league baseball players are alleged to be involved with steroids and Congress’ interest in less than 100 professional athletes.

Meanwhile, America is pouring its much needed resources into a war that almost no one supports. The feds are trying to bail out the mortgage/credit industry. The infrastructures in our cities are collapsing. Many are complaining about the presidential candidates, their lack of qualifications and their spending millions on campaigns that resound with inconsistency and insincerity.

Nevertheless the largest voting block in America, 78 million baby-boomers and their parents, are at risk of being nothing more than fodder for predators with the national elder advocacy groups having estimated that as many as 27 million baby boomers alone may well be just that.

Elder groups report a substantiated statistical based warning that the numbers of victims of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation are exploding. An American pandemic already exists and it’s growing into a holocaust-like picture for the future.

A U.S. Department of Justice report indicates the ways in which to abuse, exploit or neglect a senior citizen are about as endless as the blabber coming out of the presidential campaign.

Five years ago, The Journal of the American Medical Association stated that it will be 30-40 years before we, as a nation, will be as aware of the issues regarding elder abuse as we currently are about child abuse.

The Elder Justice Act, meanwhile, sits unnoticed in both Houses of the Congress while the poorly funded elder advocacy groups attempt to grab the attention of our aging nation like Chicken Little compelling us to be aware that “the sky falling.”

Not to over-state the obvious, but something is seriously wrong in this country besides the war, the stock market, the various predatory situations, the mortgage crisis, corporate CEO's getting millions as a bonus, security and exchange fraud, the healthcare crisis, etc. Yet in the height of arrogance and hypocrisy, we want to share democracy with the rest of world even if we have to invade to do so. Has the $20 million a day being pilfered off the elderly in California alone been fueling the war or Blackwater, bailing out the mortgage industry, helping to stabilize the sub-prime lending rate or funding the investigation into the drug habits of a handful of over-paid professional athletes?

We, as a nation, require a change in priorities. Babyboomers, use your enormous numbers, voting power and resources to make it happen by lobbying for the Elder Justice Act. Write your senators, become a member of the Elder Justice Coalition and send a message, namely, that 78 million baby-boomers and their parents refuse to tolerate being fodder for barbaric acts of domestic terrorism.

Irene A. Masiello is a member of the Elder Justice Coalition and the author of a recently released book, Paradise Costs-A Victim's Daughter Fights Back Against Elder Abuse.

SOURCE: StopElderAbuseNow.org

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Irene has and excellent interactive site Paradise Costs; where you can take action instantly e.g. Download letters to your senators, or ‘one click’ email to Congress. Well worth a visit.