End of the World? Fat Chance

I was talking to Warren the other day about long term care and he said – jokingly, I think – that he didn’t need to plan because the end of the world was coming, October 21 to be specific.  Usually, I hear people say that the government will bail them out.  This was a slightly different version of a common theme.  Don’t deal with the problem because, somehow, it will take care of itself.

            Warren was referring to the latest prediction by Harold Camping, an American Christian radio broadcaster.  Camping claimed the world would end on October 21, 2011 after incorrectly predicting disaster would occur on May 21, 2011.  It always amazes me that so much media attention attaches to apocalyptic predictions.  Camping claimed he had examined the Bible and using numerology, a form of mathematics of sorts, was able to calculate the exact date.

            So, October 21 came and went.  The world as we know it is still here, and we’re still wrestling with the same problems we had on October 20.  While Warren was being facetious, his comment expresses the sentiment of many.  They just don’t want to deal with the unpleasant subject of aging and dying.  I am not sure why talk of the end of the world is any easier or more comforting to think about, but I’ll have to ask him when I see him next.

            It really just allows us to push the topic into the back of our minds, but time marches on and we all get older.  We can ignore it for a while but eventually the subject will rear its ugly head.  If Harold Camping wants to increase his batting average as far as predictions go, he might want to focus on the future of the long term care system in this country.  Because it doesn’t look pretty.  We are headed towards a real catastrophe and our government doesn’t seem to have a clue how to solve it (See my post last week about the death of CLASS).  As always, those who are ill prepared will suffer most.  The message is clear. If you were “hoping” the end of the world would bail you out, sorry to disappoint you.  Maybe it’s time to buckle down and put your long term care plan in place.