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Even with doubts being expressed in Asia and
Russia, there is still broad international consensus
that free market forces are the best prompters
of economic growth, and "whole areas of economic
activity are becoming decoupled from time and
space," with the lines between the industrialized
and developed world becoming blurred. An outgrowth
of this is that populations around the globe are
faced with massive culture change. While most
adults find themselves on the cusp of change,
struggling to make a life stitching together the
old and the new, the two age groups at the ends
of the spectrum are profoundly affected by being
quickly detached from traditional practices and
beliefs. As privatization increases and government
supports decrease, the decline in social services
throughout the world has contributed to a social
and political void, often being filled spontaneously
at the local level.
The Aged: Loss of Entitlements. In China,
120 million people (10% of the population) are
over 60. By the middle of next century, this will
grow to 410 million (25%). One in three of the
urban elderly lives alone. The American model
is increasingly moving in - old-age homes, nursing
homes and large-scale western-style pensions and
social security programs are increasing. The same
is true in Japan, where retiring Japanese who
used to live with their children now settle for
phone calls and visits.
Japan's fertility rate is its lowest ever. Birth
rates throughout Europe have also dropped precipitously,
as life expectancy increases, leading to a large
number of elderly and not enough working people
to support them. Italy is the first nation in
history with more people over 60 than under 20.
Next year, Germany, Greece and Spain will be in
the same situation. In the Czech Republic, Hungary
and Poland, mutual funds and private pensions
are expected to mushrooms governments reform their
overburdened state pension systems.
In the U.S., the growing senior population is
having a sinking effect on public infrastructure
expenditures, with older votes resisting taxes
for services that benefit the young, like higher
education and public schools. However, as potent
consumers, they do want amenities that serve them
better, and so theme park operators are having
to provide comfort, fountains, seating and scenery.
A good example of this is Opreyland Hotel in Nashville.
The U.S. led the way in having its seniors live
without housing or caregiving from their children.
It may now be leading the way in the reorientation
of estates and inheritances. Not only is there
a growing popularity of the idea of "spending
your childrens' inheritance," but more estates
are being left to non-family (to caregivers and
organizations).
What all the above point to is a melding free-market
culture of the global aged. Regardless of nationality,
religion or ethnic origin, seniors are stepping
into the 21st century with their traditional bases
of support and pride withdrawn. They are having
to fend for themselves, and those who can will
increasingly do it the American way - saving more
effectively for their own upkeep in retirement,
using their power as consumers to force the market
to pay attention to them, using their power at
the polls to divert public expenditures into areas
of interest and concern to them. They are no longer
the wise elders of their community - they are
increasingly the seniors of the world.
The Youth: Loss of Identity. The spreading
free market and cutbacks in government subsidies
have had different effects at the other end of
the age spectrum. Today's youth may be the vanguard
of a "global species consolidation" - a 10,000
year process in which nationalities are giving
way to the consolidation of all ethnicities into
one global ethnicity and all races into one global
race. While an interesting theory, this is still
a long way off. In the meantime, many young people
are trying to figure out what identity they want
to adopt.
American-style consumerism and values, and its
psychology of entitlement, are spreading and attracting
the young of the world, and changing their idea
of their place in it. McDonald's (having become
hangouts for the young) has changed Asian youth:
children's birthdays are now celebrated, the Japanese
are getting used to eating standing up, and the
Chinese are smiling at strangers (previously an
insult in China). In China, fast food outlets,
cyber cafes and coffee bars are booming.
In Eastern Europe, the mom-and-pop stores are
disappearing, replaced by hypermarkets and malls.
For practical and business reasons, immigrants
to the U.S. Anglicize their names. There is little
that can be done to stop the spread of Western
identity. The Islamic Taliban movement, which
rules most of Afghanistan, has banned TV sets,
VCRs, tapes and satellite - devices deemed as
causing the corruption of the society. Other countries
have tried to do the same, but failed.
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