World's oldest man turns 112
2 hours, 8 minutes ago
The world's oldest man celebrated his 112th birthday Tuesday with a healthy Japanese breakfast of rice, miso soup and seaweed, saying he wanted to live forever.
Tomoji Tanabe, who has been the world's oldest man since January this year, lives with his son and family in Japan's southern prefecture of Miyazaki. He keeps a diary and reads the newspaper every day.
"I want to live indefinitely. I don't want to die," he said as he marked his birthday, Kyodo News reported.
Tanabe, a teetotaller who has repeatedly said that avoiding alcohol is a secret of his longevity, was given a certificate from the Guinness Book of World Records by the mayor of his local municipality in June.
Japan has the largest population of centenarians in the world. The number of Japanese aged at least 100 years old is expected to top 30,000 by the end of September, the health ministry said in a recent report.
The Japanese people's renowned longevity is often attributed to eating the country's traditional healthy food, despite the hectic lifestyle many lead in the big cities.
But the longevity is also presenting a headache as the country has one of the lowest birthrates, raising fears of a future demographic crisis as a smaller pool of workers supports a mass of elderly.
Is America aware of this?
The same situation is just ahead of us.
The baby boomers could live even longer than their parents. And already, company pensions are in jeopardy, insurance is a mess, and health care is reaching critical mass. Add to that the difficulty in knowing whether Social Security has the chutzpah to survive the event of the elderly pig moving through the python.
I've said before, The only likely pill we will be able to swallow is European-style socialization. That is, we tax the young to pay for the missing pensions, the lack of insurance, the underfed 401Ks, and the SSA shortfalls. And the move away from the present poorly administered juggernaut of insurance can't be easy either. Will there be government jobs for all the hungry insurance agents who will have to settle for lower pay?
Hillary is already opening up the health care can of worms. And the angry rhetoric will fly. And Congress will resort to fisticuffs. And the stock markets will reel and rock. And taxes will go up, up, up.
Don't kid yourself: this shift is already here. The insurance companies are just operating a socialistic program at a huge cost, with insurance people skimming the cream off the rising costs of health care. That's not to say that this is doom. But it isn't going to be a gentle hiccup, either. When it's over, Europe may be way ahead of the game, leading, instead of America.
2 comments:
We all know it is coming, yet what are we to do? I wonder what it would take to naturalize to Sweden.
Globalism is slowly homogenizing the nations, with the developed nations at the lead. I would guess a homogenized socialism will emerge out of that. Perhaps, eventually, a global tax could be expected, or at least a general global picture of democratic/ socialistic systems.
In your day, in America, the pig will pass through the python and ultimately wind up pooped out. That is, you should eventually enjoy a rather wide job market, except that many boomers will be reluctant to retire. I don't mean to scare by these analyses.
America could well make this transition and your generation retain their unprecedented prosperity. There just wouldn't be a lot of pocket change or so much aggravating paperwork to go to college or get an operation. The argument will ensue first: big government vs. capitalism. That should come up under President Hillary. Right now, big government looks good because Canada and Europe do pretty well with it. Japan will also develop something like this.
Sweden is charming....and very cold. Probably kind of difficult to naturalize to. I'll take my chanzas wid Kanzas.
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