Aging: Is It a Happy or Sad Term?
With the development of the world economy, the average life expectancy has shot up while the definition of aging has varied widely. “Aging is the process of becoming old or becoming worn out,” according to the Collins English Dictionary (Collins). Eastern and Southeastern Asians used to respect the term aging and viewed it as a symbol of wisdom. Under the influence of globalization and rapidly changed technology, aging is not a positive word anymore, instead, it has become a stage that people are afraid to face and avoid talking about. In fact, due to the people’s fear of aging, the anti-aging business has grown into a gigantic industry. “The global anti-aging market was financially worth $250 billion in 2016 …show more content…
Another social conflict regarding monetary resources that have arisen via aging population is how national resources can and or should be spent on them. According to a report in the BBC news about inter-generational fairness, a proposal has been made for a £10,000 payment to be given to the young, which would come from the pensions of the elderly (Ahmed). A report from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows that in 2010, health care spending amounted to $18,424 per person for people aged 65 and older – about five times as much as per-person spending for children ($3,628) and triple what was spent on working-age individuals ($6,125). Much of the elderly’s medical costs are paid for by the government (De Nardi, et al.) As one approaches the final stages of the aging process, there is a medical ethics dilemma between saving a life and efficiently using medical resources vs. applying unmeaningful treatments. In some Chinese government hospitals, there are some patients who have occupied beds for many years with incurable diseases, just because of their decent retirement and free health care plan. At the same time, some children from low-income families and young people cannot receive prompt treatment due to financial problems or the lack of medical resources. It is a moral and governmental issue to balance the resources for the people who certainly need
With the development of the world economy, the average life expectancy has shot up while the definition of aging has varied widely. “Aging is the process of becoming old or becoming worn out,” according to the Collins English Dictionary (Collins). Eastern and Southeastern Asians used to respect the term aging and viewed it as a symbol of wisdom. Under the influence of globalization and rapidly changed technology, aging is not a positive word anymore, instead, it has become a stage that people are afraid to face and avoid talking about. In fact, due to the people’s fear of aging, the anti-aging business has grown into a gigantic industry. “The global anti-aging market was financially worth $250 billion in 2016 …show more content…
Another social conflict regarding monetary resources that have arisen via aging population is how national resources can and or should be spent on them. According to a report in the BBC news about inter-generational fairness, a proposal has been made for a £10,000 payment to be given to the young, which would come from the pensions of the elderly (Ahmed). A report from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows that in 2010, health care spending amounted to $18,424 per person for people aged 65 and older – about five times as much as per-person spending for children ($3,628) and triple what was spent on working-age individuals ($6,125). Much of the elderly’s medical costs are paid for by the government (De Nardi, et al.) As one approaches the final stages of the aging process, there is a medical ethics dilemma between saving a life and efficiently using medical resources vs. applying unmeaningful treatments. In some Chinese government hospitals, there are some patients who have occupied beds for many years with incurable diseases, just because of their decent retirement and free health care plan. At the same time, some children from low-income families and young people cannot receive prompt treatment due to financial problems or the lack of medical resources. It is a moral and governmental issue to balance the resources for the people who certainly need