Prejudice is Unforgivable, but One Form is Ignored by Nearly Everyone Under the Age of 50

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart

You heard the term and probably dismissed it. It doesn’t apply to or interest you. However, age discrimination is one of the most serious and overlooked crimes in America.

America was a capitalistic society, but has become a plutocracy: rule by the super-rich. If a group of Americans do not produce commodities, which result in outrageous profits for their corporations, they are of little or no importance in the 21^st century.

I’m not saying that I, or any other older American has no use after the age of 65 or 70. Quite the contrary.

Personally, I have become physically disabled, but my mind is as sharp or sharper than it was 20 years ago. However, I know for a fact that if my physical disabilities did not exist, no one would hire me at the disgusting age of 79. But Trump is your president, and he is three weeks my senior. Millions of Americans support an elderly man who is clearly suffering from dementia.

In 2009 I was hired by the Decennial Census. After I completed two projects, I was asked to come into the Reno field office. I was hired and would become the “Group Quarters Supervisor,” and later the Assistant Manager of Field Operations.

As the process began, we were given a growing number of office employees, as well as field operatives. In 2020, as the number of projects assigned to us grew, there were 100 men and women working in our office. What was amazing to me was the diverse population. I encountered people every day who were not only composed of various nationalities, and ethnicities, their ages ranged from 18 to 80.

At lunchtime, we began to know each other on a personal level. Every person aged 60 or older had experienced age discrimination in the private sector. The greatest fact about working for the Census Bureau is the hiring process. Every temporary employee had taken a test, and those test results were the only criteria which mattered: not age, sex, color of skin, or ethnicity was a factor.

I think back to what I consider my “best years.” In my mid-thirties I had finally ended an unhappy marriage of more than 12 years, had two children, and was a successful hairstylist in the thriving community of North County San Diego. Life was good.

Not once did I have even a passing thought about getting old. I never considered a retirement plan, or what would happen if I suffered a serious injury or a debilitating health crisis.

I am paying for my lack of foresight today. I continued to work in industries which failed to offer retirement plans, including the casinos in Northern Nevada.

I met my bride of nearly 30 years in one of those casinos. She will be 75 this year. Our only income in 2025 comes in the form of Social Security checks. We earned them, having worked hard and paid taxes, including deductions for Social Security for more than 40 years.

However, between the passing of the Social Security Act in 1935 and today, our government has literally “fucked up” the only perfect law ever passed in our nation’s capital. A program which had been totally funded by employees and their employers was bastardized by incompetent lawmakers. These professional politicians added other programs to my Social Security. They used my money to pay for programs which should have become completely separate from the only retirement plan available to me.

The following are programs attached to Social Security, which created a deficit in funding for the original law.

Old-age benefits for workers: A system of retirement benefits for those who worked and contributed to the system.

Benefits for victims of industrial accidents: Compensation for those injured on the job.

Unemployment insurance: A safety net for those who lost their jobs.

Aid for dependent mothers and children: Support for families in need.

Aid for the blind and those with disabilities: Assistance for individuals with disabilities.

Federal Old-Age Benefits: This was the new social insurance program that is now recognized as Social Security.

“All governments are bad, some are worse than others.”

This is what has happened over the last four decades, making the government of the United States the most corrupt and inefficient in the world.

Every other nation in the world has universal healthcare, and every other nation in the world reveres and cares for its elderly. In America we are pushed aside as if we have no value. The late-night comics constantly made fun of Joe Biden and older Americans in general. Not once did they tell the truth about Mr. Biden. Facts prove that he was the most accomplished president since Bill Clinton.

But no one cared: not the comics, the mainstream media, or most uninformed voters.

I leave you with one fact which continues to cause great pain for elderly, low-income, and impoverished Americans.

Mine and my bride’s Social Security checks received a 2.5 percent increase this year. Greedflation continues to be our most serious problem. Our grocery bills continue to be at least 40 percent higher than they were just a few years ago. Gas prices remain too high. Medical care not covered by Medicare continues to be 50-60 percent higher. All necessities average an increase of 45 percent.

For younger readers, this is a warning. When you reach my age, you will be forgotten by your government and the billionaires who own the 546 men and women in Washington who control your lives. Take care of yourself: no one else cares.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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