'We Can Reinvent the Country'
By: Source: AARP Bulletin Date Posted: 2006-10-12 11:51:00-04:00
A national leader in social change, AARP CEO Bill Novelli has written a new book, with all proceeds going to the AARP Foundation.
50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America (St. Martin's Press) is a 21st-century agenda in the face of historic forces in the workplace, in the community and at home. In an interview with AARP Bulletin Editor James S. Toedtman, Novelli discusses his priorities for AARP and the nation.
Q: What's the book's central message?
A: It's about optimism. Aging is no longer what it was. We have a chance to reinvent the country. We've got the people to do it. With the baby boomers growing into their older years along with people older than they, we've got the chance for big change.
I would say the big message is that not only can we reinvent society, but we can be better for it. We can be a driving force in this country.
Q: You write about seven opportunities we have to reinvent America. The first you mention is health care. Yet that effort is stuck in what you call "the collective unwillingness to shoulder shared responsibility." What can break that logjam?
A: We have a tremendous opportunity to transform health care. And we need to. It's outrageously expensive, and too many people aren't getting the care they need. I think that is going to change as a result of citizens taking action in three ways. One, they have to be aggressive voters, because I don't see any other way to change this stalemate.
Second, they have to agitate for change in the health care system. When you go to the hospital and when you go to the doctor, you have to be an aggressive consumer.
Third, they have to take personal responsibility. We don't have enough of that in this country. You know, we don't need more people walking into a physician's office and saying, "I'm 65 and I'm ready for my welcome-to-Medicare physical. And, by the way, I'm obese and I smoke." We need more people to take personal responsibility for themselves and their families.
Q: In terms of health care and the Medicare prescription drug program, what are the next steps?
A: We fought hard for the Medicare drug program. We took our lumps, but now we've got this program in place. There's a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation showing that 80 percent of the people are satisfied with it. Not everyone is saving money, but there's a reason for that. It's like fire insurance: Your home is not on fire today but you still need insurance in case you need that financial help in the future. So those people who don't necessarily take a lot of drugs aren't going to save money immediately. But they have protection for the future.
This is not free drugs for all, this is a social insurance program.
Drugs are one of the last aspects of Medicare that aren't really regulated. I'm not saying that we want price controls, but we've got to find some way to get in between where we are, where our prices are out of control, and where England is, where they control their prices.
Q: When I read your strategy for reinventing retirement, I was also reading headlines about layoffs at Ford, GM and Lockheed.
A: No question, the workplace is in transition. We don't know how this is going to play out, but we do know that there are fewer young people coming out of the pipeline, and we do know that a lot of these jobs cannot be outsourced. So there will be jobs, and it remains to be seen whether employers will hire older workers. I think older workers will be increasingly common and more important to our economy.
I go back to boomers. Boomers have an attitude, and they're not going to stand for a lot of prejudice and bias. That goes for work, and it goes for entertainment, trade and how they'll be treated in the marketplace. Some of them will become entrepreneurs, some will fight, some will be eagerly sought by companies.
But when I talk about reinventing retirement, the interesting thing is, we're part of a country that can reinvent itself. No other country has the ability that the United States has to reinvent itself. We've done it many times and we're going to keep doing it.
Q: But isn't there more to reinventing retirement than the transitions?
A: Absolutely. Because of increased longevity, many of us will spend nearly the same amount of time in retirement that we spent working. So the question is not just how are we going to pay for it.
The more important question, I think, is what are we going to do. And the book is filled with stories of people who are reinventing themselves in retirement and making a difference in society as volunteers, grandparents, caregivers and, yes, even as students. Money is important, but so is the freedom to pursue something you are really passionate about.
Q: Another opportunity is building livable communities. Is there a priority or even a tipping point that you think is essential for achieving age-friendly housing, mobility and increased social engagement?
A: That's the toughest challenge. I'll tell you why. We have very systematically re-engineered our society.
I just bought a house in Missoula, Mont. [the hometown of his wife, Fran]. Missoula reminds me of my hometown of Bridgeville, Pa. When I was a little kid, you could get on your bike and ride to your Cub Scout meeting. You could ride to the store, you could ride to school. You can't do that anymore. There are fewer sidewalks in our towns and cities. Traffic is so heavy, a lot of parents won't let their kids out of the yard. What we've got is a society where an older person can't walk to church.
Now, how are we going to get that back? It's very, very difficult. I'll give the example of my grandson, who's 6 years old. His grade school is almost within sight; it's half a block away. He can't walk to it. That is absurd. My dad would say, "Go down to the hardware store," and I would do it. What kid does that today?
Q: One of the real barriers to reinventing America is the polarization that we see here in Washington. Why is that occurring?
A: There are a variety of reasons for this. One theory is that there are many people coming into the Senate from the House, and the House is so much more partisan. They run every two years and they're basically much more aggressive toward each other and they carry that attitude into the Senate.
As a result of redistricting and other things, the country is more centrist than the politicians. The politicians are falling to extremes, and there are fewer moderates.
The question is how we work our way out of this. We need to demand that our elected leaders get together and focus on the people's work. We can't accept the status quo. Our best hope is an educated voter.
Q: What is AARP's role this year?
A: We're doing very vigorous voter education. We're not pro- or anti-candidate. Our job is not to figure out who wins, our job is to influence what gets enacted. So we're laying out the issues and basically comparing the candidates to the issues and letting the voters make up their minds. But we're going to be very vigorous about this.
Q: When you talk about un-electing officeholders, how are voters to distinguish between those who should be un-elected and those who should be kept?
A: That is our job as citizens and activists. We need to be informed voters and actively participate in our democracy because the media don't do a good enough job. There are special interest groups that tend to be extremely liberal or extremely conservative.
It's hard to go onto a candidate's website and get what she or he is for or against because the candidates have become extremely adept at spinning.
As a fiercely nonpartisan organization, we provide objective information so people can make informed decisions for themselves.
So you need a much more independent press, and you need AARP.
All proceeds go to the AARP Foundation.
Read an Excerpt and Listen to Audio Clips From the Book (AARP The Magazine Online)
Don’t Vote.com (AARP.org)
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