It is a large-scale problem. Older people as they grow less able need a web of support from others; but we are leading the edge of the multiplying demand called the Baby Boom; always the most assertive and self-centered section of the population, we have collectively done all kinds of impact on the way things are done. Those older than we are scarcely capable; those younger are fewer in number, I believe. So as the Boomers grow needy in their declining years, and those capable of filling those needs are fewer, more demands will be hitting fewer people, until the Boom curve starts to fall off the edge of the Wheel.

Some will have money, or their children will, to cope with it; others have not managed to build reserves and somehow I suspect that 2010 to 2030 will be a rough period as we boom our way over the edge of time. Gawd only knows what we'll do after that -- start a revolution on some distant planet or something... :>) But the transition on the whole isn't looking graceful from here, and a lot of people are going to be facing the harsh reality of it in the near future, bith in this culture and in others such as China and India (although I confess I am ignorant as to whether they had Baby Booms after WW II or not).

A