An interesting survey about aging was performed in the USA.
Living to 120 and Beyond: Americans’ Views on Aging, Medical Advances and Radical Life Extension
Some suggestive results is in this report.
According to this report, the majority of American people do not want to extend his/her life with medical care. It may result from the bad image of prolonging life with some machines, or real adverse effects of medication. However, they seem to think that other people hope so.
What does it mean?
A similar situation is heard in the context of information about the untreatable disease.
In Japan, some surveys show that most people want to know the truth about their own remaining life. However, they seldom tell the truth to their family.
It also seems that the American people are quite optimistic about the future. American society is going to be aging one. Most people are not afraid of it.
Japan and some European countries have become aging society. The low birthrate and decrease of population weaken the national power, especially in an economic context. The US has accepted immigration from other countries for a long time ago. So perhaps American people are not concerned about the population composition itself.
On the other hand, in Japan, another survey shows that young people are satisfied with the current situation. According to Mr. Noritoshi Furuichi, a young sociologist, however, this result is extracted from the absolute despair in young people. He said that hopelessness about the future makes a person being satisfied with the current situation. It is a serious hypothesis.
I do not know what makes the difference in the attitude for the future of the two countries. I think the nationality cannot explain it enough.
Absolutely Japan will face the most serious situation among the most Western countries, as Japan does not accept immigrants compared to European countries... In 2050, 40% of Japanese will become over 65 years old, which makes Japan as "the oldest" society for human being. I don't know exactly what will happen in Japan, however, I am quite sure that this will make somthing negative effect for our country.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why Americans are so positive, but in my opinion they are always positive :-) I think even Americans will be pessimistic when they will become old, be sick, and their government cut their pension. I think there are no "magical" solution for this.
Peet