My parents have become insufferable.

I just say no, I don’t agree with that when the political stuff starts up (views infected by daily Mail) but I really can’t be bothered getting into the weeds of such discussions.

Lol. True.

I feel rather strange reading this post as Iąm retired and very much of this age.

I think I'm more interesting and open minded because I now have time to inform myself about politics etc.
I also find this is true of the people I know, who are also in this age group.
I don't know anybody who is like the OP describes.
I'm not doubting her word, but am not sure what would make some people like this.
Some of the responses here are rather dismissive of older people, so that makes me wonder whether the adult child is partly contributing to this situation by the attitude they bring to conversations, dismissing the opinions of older folk too readily, or treating different opinions from their own as worthless.

I deliberately have a username that indicates my age and have been surprised by how dismissive some posters are towards me, sort of assuming I don't know what I'm talking about, or that I hold my opinions for unjustifiable reasons.
I may be wrong of course but can't help wondering whether some of this is in the eye of the beholder.

Citation needed

https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/nhs-asylum-seekers-priority-care-address-inequalities-waiting-lists-5HjcxZY_2/

No point denying it, it's been in the news. You may support it, that's your right, but no point denying it.

Clickbait headline with the article mainly cribbed from a Daily Telegraph sensationalist piece featuring anonymous quotes.

An accurate non-shitstirring headline that fairly represents the initiative would read "Priority care given to vulnerable patients, which can include asylum seekers..."

It’s for people who haven’t signed up with a GP etc. So patients who are already receiving less care than others. To try and get them back in mainstream healthcare. Hardly a big deal. It says a lot about the people who get worked up about this stuff, and none of it’s good.

On a day to day basis, nobody is jumping queues. In my hospital, the asylum seekers, tagged illegal immigrants etc, all wait to be seen by consultants like me. No special treatment. And the fact many have no recourse to public funds, makes arranging other kinds of support really difficult. And life in a hotel on a pittance, eating the same slop every day, often living with mentally unwell people/drug users, is no walk in the park. People need not to believe everything they read or see in the DM or GBN. Life is pretty shit for asylum seekers.

That's a hard one. But be careful because ageism exists too.

My mother is in her early 90s. She is very racists, full of negative talk, wantsthe death penalty back. But she has always thought these things, and just lost her filter. I am in my 60s and think I am far more tolerant than the way I was raised. I keep up to date with current issues, run an online business, and am far more tolerant than I have been at any age. Mostly because lI know how hard life can be.
But I am a joy seeker, an inner calm cultivator, , a boundary holder. I spend only half an hour with my mother once a week, any more and she starts dipping into toxic talk.

😂Hilarious. Just read the news and other information sources. It'll do you the world of good.

You're nicer than me ;)

Incorrect. Do some research.

Ahhh I thought as much. No logical coherent answers to your similarly incoherent unfounded illogical cries of Racism! Bless.

Being stuck (or choosing to be stuck) at home can mean getting immersed in diet of telly that tells them the world is terrible. Delivering that message is a business model for some media companies. I know both lefties & right wing people both convinced the world is horrible; they are more convinced the less they can get out & rely on a telly station to tell them what the world is like.

I only have brothers so we're not related I'm afraid! But this thread has really shocked me/opened my eyes to the amount of people that have these kinds of views. I appreciate it isn't just a 'pensioner/older age' people that have these views but I think retirement, losing friends and relatives and YouTube (hate YouTube!!!) have a lot to do with it.

This isn't about age, although older people do seem more vulnerable to it. It's about a shift to the (far) right, a tsunami of misinformation consumed via social media, and various media and political forces playing on people's inability (decades of social media/Internet use have churned out some real numbskulls) to think critically to stir up fury, fear and clicks. The small boats narrative is out of control. If you've ever wondered what the start of fascism looks like, those men in balaclavas at Portsmouth are a strong sign. These are dangerous times. Shrugging it off as 'just older people losing their filter' is not helpful. It should be challenged on an individual level, for the sake of that person and to alert everyone to the fact that not all of us think like frothy-mouthed, ruddy-faced, racist lunatics who can not recognise when they are being manipulated, and are having their human decency stolen from under them. I am sk pissed off about this.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

With the age thing, I think when this phenomenon is discussed it's mostly about retirement age parents because the vast majority of us have parents and they are people we speak to regularly. If it's not your own parents it could be your friends or colleagues parents that you hear of.

You also get younger people getting sucked into the manosphere or other adults who are unemployed or long term off sick and find the same online spaces but we aren't necessarily in contact with those people. They aren't so noticeable to everyone.

Because their world is smaller and that is what is worrying them - and rightly so. The problem isn't that your parents are ageing, it's that you don't like the way they are ageing. You think you know better than them what they should think.

Have searched thoroughly and not found one news source that reports asylum seekers receiving priority NHS treatment. Either you uncritically believe any old bollocks that you read/watch on Facebook or you're just making stuff up in your head.

I repeat - citation needed.

This whole thread is a cesspit of ageism and oikophobia.

For what it's worth I can live with my parents having different opinions. I'm not one those people who feels a constant need to call things out or go NC with loved family members because of their views. What bothers me is that these obsessions make them anxious and miserable.

I'll moan about Disney Adults and other adults that make one thing their personality but at least those obsessions make them happier.

I actually blame it on mobile phones. DH reads reams of stuff watches videos from people he follows. He's just as addicted to the thing as the kids. He puts on a TV programme he wanted, then I look up and he's doom scrolling.

He researches drugs his mates are on and worries. He meets with these mates a few mornings a week. I ran into one of them last week and was told they call him Google because he knows so much. 🙈

Part of it is experiential. They lived much of their adult life in a different world, and are now witnessing that world becoming severely compromised. Things are getting worse on many different metrics. Have you considered that their consternation is a normal reaction?

😆You crack me up 'I repeat - citation needed'. Who do you think you are?

I'll help you out as clearly, you're struggling. It's called the NHS Priority Service.

Not all pensioners are like that, I’m certainly not - but they are entitled to their opinions.

Politics is just opinion. 🤷‍♀️

I would just agree not to discuss politics when you’re together.