Isolation, Neglect, and Apathy in Society

I haven't wanted to leave the house lately. I think about reclusive personalities that I've read about (like Emily Dickinson) and seen in movies (like Helen Hudson played by Sigourney Weaver in Copycat) and I wonder if my attitude is "normal" or "crazy" or "typical" considering what everybody has seen and heard this past decade. I don't believe that isolation is a "normal" human behavior or that it is good for us, yet it seems to me that the whole construct of the city (not saying that rural areas are any better) is set up to promote isolation, neglect, and apathy. I find it distressing as I approach my elder years having already qualified for retirment a bit early, knowing that the "good times" or "glory days" of my past are extinct. The young people today have a totally different attitude and outlook on what fun is, what success is, and what family is. The old values have been replaced by new technology, new ideology, and new ethics. Sociology was supposed to teach me and citizens how to get along with others in various settings, but even with my age, experience, and education, I'm discovering over and over again that there is no way to learn what Sociology promised to teach. It makes me refer to a character in the movie "Shawshank Redemption" ---- Brooks. He had been "institutionalized" meaning after he received his life sentence to prison, he never considered that he would be set free. So when they released him as a very old man, and he saw the world again after all those years away from it, it was not only shocking, but too "fast" and too "different" for him to adapt to. This is happening to me and others, not because we don't know what adapting is and not because we are lazy or unable to try something new, but simply because the skills required (like cell phones, apps, gps, etcetera) are not created with elders in mind. These new modern inventions were created soley for the next generation --- those who have perfect vision, perfect hearing, and perfect health. So the rest of us who have survived the "wars" of life and have any disabilities not only have to endure the civilization with our handicaps, but we also have to tolerate the fact that the younger and healthier folks get additional benefits simply because technology is on their side, invented for them, not for the elders who need help more than they do.

As more and more retirees and elders realize that they can not catch up anymore in the technological advancements, we give up and retreat to hiding in whatever shelter we have. I live in Florida, and I was surprised when someone educated me by telling me that there are no more Owls in Florida. I didn't get much information about that topic, but it made me wonder why the Owls left or went extinct in this state. Florida used to be one of the best states in the nation for retirees and elders. I still think it's better than some other states in regards to nursing homes and assisted living facilities, but the economy here is a big mess and the problems of socialization are increasing rapidly in my opinion. I've been out there plenty, trying to embrace people, life, and the opportunities to meet and get to know others; yet what I have witnessed and experienced (with my best or worst behavior) is a verdict that is not positive about city life, socialism, or how civilization has been constructed. I am typically condemned for smoking cigarettes like a hideous villain who is slowly committing suicide; which I find ironic, when I look at how cold, fenced, and blocked civilization appears to me.

There are some places where the water is still clean and free. There are some places where you can swim without having to make a payment. There are some places where you can view the beauty of earth without having to fight through a crowd just to view it. The construct of civilization does not give humans these basic rights and to me that is a slow suicide. You can put up another "No Trespassing" sign and another "No Smoking" sign and keep your happy customers smiling while the world falls apart. But mark my words, you won't have the last laugh.