The symbol of the anniversary of the world approaches and this seems a good time for my New Year’s ruminations. Unlike the holiday which originated with the Babylonians and was moved from March to January 1 by the Romans, Rosh Hashanah is less boisterous and more reflective. This doesn’t preclude the making of resolutions, but for me they are more global in nature, less the "this year I will lose ten pounds" and more of the "this year I will do what I can to help ensure that seniors don’t have to choose between prescription drugs and dinner." Seems such an obvious issue, and one that shouldn’t require choice. Unfortunately, our elected representatives are so out of touch with the real word of their constituencies they don’t realize that a drug discount instead of a subsidy is meaningless for many of those affected. Social Security is not a supplement but the life line for many elderly people who have worked all their lives in low income jobs, barely surviving and unable to save for their ‘retirement’ years, a retirement incidentally which is not always by choice. Of course if you’re a member of Congress you can go on forever, hearing aid, walker and whatever support is needed, walking across that rainbow road to the pot of gold, or in less poetic terms, to the guaranteed pension which sits at the end. We have money for so much in this country but there is never enough for the citizens who have worked all their lives, taxpayers contributing to the coffers of the United States. We are a throwaway nation in so many ways, not the least of which is the way in which we jettison the elderly and ignore their needs. We have the wherewithal to finance a war based on fraud and lies, but an organization such as Meals on Wheels, which ensures that indigent elderly persons get at least one meal a day – and by the way, these people are not the focus of any anti obesity campaign – obesity is a difficult goal to achieve on a single meal each day –this organization has to be privately funded by philanthropic and concerned citizens.

Concern for our senior citizens must come from the top. We prize antique furniture, requiring it to be at least 100 years old to be so categorized. An old Stradivarius can become a national treasure, cherished by anyone fortunate enough to own one. And wine, an old bottle of wine, ah, we place it carefully on its side so that it ripens as it should. We have no respect for age, and that is surprising considering that growing old is a goal most of us strive for. This attitude is even more shocking to me in light of the ages of those who are the leaders in our present administration. The advisors to the president would have been long retired if they were in industry or at least they would have been kicked upstairs as token managers.

Why is it so difficult for these people to empathize with their cohorts? Simple question- simple answer. They are too far removed from the people they ostensibly serve and that has long been the problem and this is the place where a brilliant solution is put forth. Wrong. There is no easy, boiler plate solution, which is why I go back to my resolution cited at the start. I will become more active as a citizen. I will sponsor or join grass roots movements which have a power we none of us suspected. I will communicate with my elected officials, letting them know that their future is in my hands at the ballot box. I will become my brother’s keeper, although the original words were uttered by Cain who had slain his brother and who proclaimed out of his guilt, “I am not my brother’s keeper.” I will call the leaders of my country on the carpet when they are wrong, and when they get their priorities all wrong, and when they wrong headedly think that this is their fiefdom, their empire. This is my country - our country and I refuse to become a jingoist. This is a time for tough love and so I go back to my original issue. Let’s take care of the people who are at the end of the road - now and as we should - before it’s too late.