The term 'food security' is beginning to apply to seniors and the disabled and their access to food. Many seniors become housebound or are without a driving license and are dependent upon public transport to get to the shops. Issues such as the lack of such public transport, dental problems, lack of money, family or neighbourly support, and more, can lead to malnutrition and other illness, [and also being taken advantage of].

Increasingly too, the rising costs of living and expected food group shortages, mean that growing food at home is becoming an important budget support item.

With the above problems in mind, we have begun building a new free course for the Lyceum, called Growing Food at Home. We hope to be able to provide a practical nutrition plan, and a back yard garden approach, where you will get "The best bang for your buck!"

To make this course more tangible, I am seeking to illustrate it with personal garden images. If you have such or some useful tips, do mail greypath

A sure sign of a successful society is healthy ageing and longevity.

A dubious society endlessly carps on about aged sector health costs, [which are due to peak in 40 years or so and then decline rapidly, regardless].

To be able to spend on such matters is something a society should be proud of. Surely quality of life for all citizens is more important than so many other national costs?

If not quality of life, then what is the aim of our society?

Further, if such costs take 10% of the national budget for a few years, does it really
matter? Finally, I get tired of hearing such costs projections that simply ignore both the
contribution of the substantial return of so many seniors to the workforce, and also the
impact on such costs projections of the potent emerging health technologies, in particular
the stem cell developments.

 

Is greypower on the warpath over fair pensions, or is it ephemera? I think that achieving useful outcomes from this courageous demonstration will require sustained effort, and that will only come about with some sort of independent and noisy national leadership.

 

There is some debate over the modesty etc of such demonstrations, but it seems that, sadly, in todays political and commercial life, the only doors that get oiled are the squeaky ones.

 

Time to smell the roses?

When complaining about an arthritic knee, I was told, "Stop grizzling, only lucky people get old". All in all it's true. Forgetting the physical issues, I find that life is much more interesting and enjoyable as we age.

We see nine variations of green in a gum tree, listen to the words in songs and empathise with them, take joy on seeing young children on the way to a first day at school, know more and find relevance in so many more things as as result, enjoy and have more time for conversation with others, begin to take more pleasure in giving than accumulating, and value each sunset and sunrise. These and so many more things, which are now a daily part of our lives, are something so many of us were far too busy to take note of when younger.

 

For pensionable Seniors, the budget promised to index future pensions to the highest of three indicators, CPI, average national wage and a new cost of living index for seniors. It also increased a range of allowances such as gas/electricity/water and more, and made provision for another $500 grant. It seems to me that this is a good budget for seniors, for which we should be grateful. Now we need to have the government drill down into the next level issues of aged health care and housing, and come up with productive and affordable initiatives here as well. The facilitation of seniors employment for those who wish to work is also a growing national priority, as also an urgent review of the livable value of the base pension.[Editorial modified 19 May]

 

Is it simply ageing that
changes our perspective
of world affairs or is it
that we have been around
long enough to see
things as they really are?

It is difficult to deny that Capitalism 'delivers the goods', as they say, when it comes to increasing the material wealth of nations. It does seem however, to be essentially underpinned by its encouragement of ever increasing and perhaps unnecessary consumption, accompanied by the steady depletion of increasingly limited world resources.

Where it faces its biggest challenge, is to continue to build material wealth, without further damage to the other parts of the triple bottom line, those of world wide social justice, and an improving environment .

As I see it, the rich are still getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, and the world now teeters on the brink of catastrophic climate change. [A by product of industrialisation perhaps, rather than any one eco-political system.]

Something has gone badly wrong with the way we are managing this beautiful blue/green world of ours.

Capitalism appeals to the baser instincts of greed and self interest, and I have some difficulty in seeing that system, as it stands today, surviving the challenges ahead..

The grand Socialism/Communism experiment also failed dismally. [Although perhaps Sweden and Norway are on the right track with their brands of Socialism].

We need a new and better way, a third way, perhaps, between the two.