Little Boy reaches 65 years old - time to give up or get up?

The idea that the retirement age is being raised from 65 years of age because we are all living longer and that retirement was something most people never saw when the retirement provision was originally constructed.

Shakespeares Seven Ages of Man shows us that little boys have time to play, where play is the work of children, whilst as we pass our prime, we would like time to play more rather than work, but it all has to be paid for somewhere along the line. The worst aspect of judging people by age is that young people often disregard their elders as short of knowledge of the "modern" world based on their experience of six score years of life. Not long ago I had blazing rows with "minor" employees of some PCTs who wanted to "get rid of the old codgers" from the world of pharmacy. Many (codgers) obliged as they were smart and realised we had moved to a scenario where their knowledge and experience would never be acknowledged, and many resigned from the register (of Pharmaceutical Chemists). They were smart enough to see that we were being led by little boys and were following, like lemmings, over the cliff edge. We didn't bother to ask them what they thought, we assumed they were past it. Now, however, we cannot make that choice and must continue to work, even if we don't want to and are not wanted when and if we reach that milestone.

After all, they had been through it all before and built what we inherited and are now bodging due to our relative lack of experience. Does history teach us it's mistakes? Of course! Do we learn them? No!

What was the main news today in all the papers and media? Not the fact that 65 years ago today, Enola Gay dropped Little Boy on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. An estimated 140,000 people were killed instantly or died from the effects of radiation in the months that followed. A further 80,000 people died after the US dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki three days later.
The US has since justified the bombings as an alternative to a potentially prolonged and costly land invasion, saying the devastation wrought on the cities forced Japan's surrender days later, on 15 August.
Some of the 55,000 people attending today's ceremony of remembrance made symbolic offerings of water to the victims, as many had complained of thirst as they lay dying, while schoolchildren read out messages of peace. A single bell tolled as the city's people fell silent at 8:15am, the exact time "Little Boy" detonated.

The day that changed the world forever barely warrants a mention today, 6th August 2010. Would we dare sanction the dropping of a nuclear bomb on anyone today? Since the answer is a resounding "NO!", even though we can't be bothered to ask those who were there, the witnesses of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, why should we bother to ask anyone who has been there before in terms of pharmacy in the UK?

So why would the "leadership" who have claimed us as their "membership" without it ever occurring to them that we might not actually want them to lead us anywhere, as we didn't ask for them in the first place (less than 1 in 5 voted for a change, let me remind us all). This isn't a nuclear bomb - that would be a gross insult to everyone involved in events 65 years ago today. But is a a depth charge, silent running and it will come back to haunt us all if we don't face it down. Is it time for a DIFFERENT new professional body? Some think it is and they range from little boys to over 65 years old and more. Could this be a coalition OF THE WILLING?

P.S. I can't be bothered labelling this post. Technology! Why can't id do it for me?