Although I'm still a reasonable distance from 75, for both of my very vibrant parents that number is just around the corner — my dad is 72 and my mom turns 71 soon. While it's safe to say neither one is at the peak of their health, I see no reason why both of them shouldn't expect to live at least 20 more healthy and very productive years (my dad keeps saying he expects to live to 120, but given that exceeding 100 is rare in our family…). I didn't know of Zeke Emmanuel before reading your piece, and I have no desire to know of him after.

And of course, I would be remiss if I didn't state emphatically that being 77 has done nothing to dull your creative talents.

I imagine "aberrations in thought processes, mood regulation, and cognitive functioning" might apply to me since an early age. Today I waited on green while some old codgers crossed the road, managing slowly on their canes & walkers and appreciative I waited - I felt good - especially to see them bouncing around late in life.

I think part of the crappy attitude towards old people in America is that it's so driving-focused, so anyone who can't drive is already disabled. Where I live, driving's unnecessary. 

But this asshole thinks the only reason to be alive is to "be productive", to "contribute", and if not, get off the sidewalk. What a jerk. Why not parasitically take in one more concert, walk in the park, sunset, health checkup, trip to the zoo, sip of tea in a cafe, look through a photo album, a game of pinochle, chat with a grandkid? Is this using too much ozone and biofuels and oxygen?

To think this guy helped design the health care fiasco - and indeed, Sarah Palin and her mentor accurately took his attitude about "death panels"  from his writing, however much he backpedaled after - he was talking about rationing care and dealing with decisions of who dies. Which without an endless budget, certainly not everyone will get brain surgery. The big problem is his priorities - you got to be giving in or you're just taking out - win-lose game theory.

One of my nicest experiences was dealing with my mother-in-law as she slowly checked out with Alzheimers. It taught me quite a bit about patience and enjoyment of little things, dealing with inconveniences that somehow weren't that inconvenient, helping through that last push off the shore.  I can't imagine thinking that she should be contributing something - just her bemused sometimes confused smile was enough, and even when she was distraught as things were too bewildering for her, I felt good to help, and it seemed she felt good to be helped. Who really benefited who? Or maybe it was a win-win experience called "just living", enjoying being alive, dealing with daily situations and just chillin'. Sometimes the small road detour is much better than the expressway we were on.

As long as we think people live too long, we'll undercut aging care just as we undercut other health care. It's a racket - old folks homes suck up $6K/$7K a month and toss seniors out if they have any complication - don't want to take the risk, just want the high margins. Kinda like those charter schools - just want the smart kids, not the problem kids that need real creativity to teach. Government used to be a social compact - now it's just another cuthroat marketplace.

For a guy who's an "ethicist", Zack's a piece of work. Perhaps ethics without taste isn't all it's cracked up to be.

THREE SCORE AND TEN

I was raised with this tenet even though the Ancient Egyptians recorded that a perfect life was 120 years. Hahahahah

Even Ramses es the Second could not reach that mark and the ME's appear to demonstrate that this old Pharaoh experienced almost every old age disability in the book!

Mama lived to 87.

50 years without producing much of anything. Hahaha

There are genetics and then there are factors like booze and tobacco and other indulgences.

I recall how obscene the Media attacked Mickey Mantle when he received the liver transplant so long ago; he died shortly after the operation anyway.

Oh we must not reward or repair sinners!

I feel good at 64 except for my cervical spine and my teeth and.....

Oh forget that.

Hell I got Wiki and a ton of dictionaries and encyclopedias and books and all sorts of aids to help me in my dotage.

But if someone wishes to enact legislation that instructs that there shall be no  life saving measures provided to the non rich after the 75th birthday....well there shall never be such legislation.

Now, Happy Birthday (a little late) to Ramona who shall reach  the goal of the Ancient Egyptians.

And, I wish you another 43 years to fulfill the old Egyptian Ideal.

HA!

Happy belated, Mona! Thanks for this reverse-birthday gift to us. I love the kicker.

Ramona, ever wonder what you might have in common with Steve Sailer?

You and he are the only ones in my reader that have commented on Zeke's essay. There may well be something buried in the plethora that Vox spews daily but I gave up trying to follow them. Anyway, I find the general silence in the left commentariat in response to Emanuel very interesting. 

Here is Sailer's first response from last Friday with an excerpt:

The Subtext to Ezekiel Emanuel's "Why I Hope to Die at 75"

Now, the 57-year-old Ezekiel has an article in The Atlantic about how he hopes to die at age 75 because nobody is very creative after 75, which is true.

Of course, not many people are very creative at all at any age, so why they should be terminally depressed that they are less likely to suddenly, say, compose the 21st Century equivalent of the Eroica Symphony or whatever after they hit 75 doesn’t seem all that germane.

And here is his second from today

Another Subtext to Ezekiel Emanuel's "Why I Hope to Die at 75:" Hillary's Too Old

Many of the leading candidates for the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination would be by the conclusion of a second term in the White House well into what Ezekiel Emanuel tells us are their Better-Off-Dead years.

For example, on January 19, 2025, outgoing two-term President Hillary Clinton would be 77 years old. President Joe Biden would be 82. President Jerry Brown would be 86. President Elizabeth Warren would be 75 and a half. President Bernie Sanders would be 83.

In contrast, to pick completely at random an example of a younger Democratic leader with both foreign and domestic experience, President Rahm Emanuel would only be a still vibrant 65 after his two triumphant terms in the White House.

Sailer may be the exemplar of political incorrectness but he is also very witty and often very insightful. 

Happy Birthday Ramona, one you share with my Dad who also was born on September 17th, and who turned 84 last week.  Two good people indeed, and you both seem perfectly fine on the other side of 75, thank heavens.  

Many more Ramona.

Bruce