SENSE FROM SLATE

Meet the Greedy Grandparents. Why America's elderly are so spoiled (Steve Chapman, Slate, 12/10/03).

America's elderly have never had it so good. They enjoy better health than any previous generation of old people, high incomes and ample assets, access to a host of medical treatments that not only keep them alive but let them enjoy their extra years, and a riotous multitude of ways to spoil their grandchildren. Still they are not content. From gratefully accepting a basic level of assistance back in the early decades of Social Security, America's elderly have come to expect everything their durable little hearts desire.

They often get their way, as they did recently when years of complaints finally induced Congress and the president to agree to bear much of the cost of their prescription drugs. From the tenor of the debate, you would think these medications were a terrible burden inflicted by an uncaring fate. In fact, past generations of old people didn't have to make room in their budgets for pharmaceuticals because there weren't many to buy. If you suffered from high cholesterol, chronic heartburn, or depression, you were left to primitive remedies, or none. Today, there are pills and potions for just about any complaint—except the chronic complaint that many of them are pricey. It's not enough to be blessed with medical miracles. Modern seniors also want them cheap, if not free.

Mr. Chapman's basic point -- that the boomers will not bust the government because their love of "get[ting] all they can will sooner or later collide with . . . [their] insatiable desire to furnish our kids with every advantage known to humanity" -- is too optimistic. Boomers believe that their kids are so special that everyone else should kowtow to them, but only because they are their kids. Boomers aren't known for either scrimping self-denial to send their kids to college or for their clear-eyed self-scrutiny. Nothing will make them realize that they can't have it all. But still, good sense from Slate should always be encouraged.

Posted by David Cohen at December 10, 2003 2:09 PM