Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

I bought the book and finished it tonight.

Here is the essence:

Mr. Blechman sees developers and occupants of age restricted communities as "bigots."* He has a social agenda that preaches, in essence, that the only worthwhile community is a fully age (and I presume every other way, including what most would consider "perversions") integrated and diverse community.* Cultural diversity is the primary social distinctive required to be cherished by enlightened ones.* Otherwise one is worthy of disdain and disparagement.* He strongly suggests that freedom of choice of retirees to live in these types of "ghettos" is anti-social, and ought to be discouraged by government in some manner.

His written sampling of life in The Villages is curiously dominated by his passion to seek out lesbians, gender-changers, alcoholics, and sex-obsessed womanizers.* Hardly a random sampling.* In fact his story reveals a purposeful pursuit of kinky diversty.* I'm surprised that Dave, his host during his stay in The Villages, and one of the few relatively "normal" folks he mentions, still speaks to him.* The only "Christian" he refers to is called "The Enforcer" and is negatively portrayed as an extreme dominator of women.

In several passages he refers to TV as a "gated" community when it suits his purpose to infer "a closed society."* But then later on he says it's really not gated when it suits his purposes to infer superficiality.

He states that few homes have front porches when it suits his purposes to infer there is little neighborliness like there is in his traditional New England towns.* He doesn't notice that most homes have front porches, but they are located 30' from the street instead of 10' as he would like them - "within talking distance."* While he acknowledges his perceived purpose of front porches inducing "neighorliness" (and it appears to him TV is lacking here), throughout the book he describes how amazingly friendly and outgoing Villagers are.

The end of the book mentions the tornados that ripped through TV in February '07.* But despite the great story of how quickly everyone came together, neighbor helping neighbor, developer helping neighbor (granted, his interest) for a miraculously fast recovery, the author mentioned none of this.

On one hand, the author is disdainful of TV's lack of diversity while at the same time he purposely seeks and apparently finds his beloved "diversity" here.* Applying his same perverted investigative reporter technique to any other town in the world - he will certainly find diversity - blatantly shoved in people's faces.* This is what he apparently enjoys.

I could write much more about his distorted, biased, and his own bigoted view of The Villages and its people.* Suffice it to say, the book grossly distorts the character of The Villages while it is a mirror of the character of the author.

By the way, the subtitle "Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias" does not claim the essence of the book.* "A Gen X'ers Disingenuous Mock of Free Choice of Retirees" would be more appropriate.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

GF --
Thanx for reading the whole thing for us so we don't have to -- not that I was planning to do so.

Aside: I notice all the reviews refer his "quaint" New England hometown. Has anyone ever heard of a "quaint" Indiana town or "quaint" Iowa town? I think the only quaint town we had in Missouri was Hannibal.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopi
 

Well here's my vote...I'm a Boomer, I'm not an Adult ;) and I'm mov'in to The Villages...

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

If I felt there was any credibility to this guy's take on TV being "bigotted' then I obviously would not be planning on spending the rest of my life there.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

I am becoming increasingly convinced that in many cases, the word "bigot" is carelessly or maliciously misused to refer to anyone with whom one disagrees regarding their personal choices or opinions.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Orlando Sentinel:

Book's critique of The Villages lifestyle fires up debate
Adrian G. Uribarri

Sentinel Staff Writer

May 6, 2008

THE VILLAGES

The book cover projects a pleasant view of retirement: a row of houses and golf carts, a pool, a tennis court. Even the title seems complimentary to residents of this retirement community, about 60 miles northwest of Orlando.

So much for appearances.

In Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias, released last month, author Andrew D. Blechman uses The Villages as the key example in his 244-page critique of retirement communities across the country. He started writing the book a few years ago, after his New England neighbors moved here.

Now, some Villages residents are miffed about how he portrayed their lifestyles.

"Boy, that guy went looking for dirt -- and he found it," retired software engineer Joe Becker said of the author. Becker, 79, panned Blechman's book on Amazon .com after he bought it about two weeks ago at a bookstore in the retiree haven.

"Ninety percent of the people here are happy 90 percent of the time," Becker said.

Throughout the book -- called a "darker view of sunny retirement" in The Wall Street Journal -- Blechman highlights the social pitfalls of communities where people 55 and older have scant civic engagement and interaction with young people. He laments how the perennial village elders have become elders of The Villages, leaving their hometowns for a life of pickleball and golf.

"A lot of these people are, in a sense, dropping out of the larger society," Blechman said. "They can do this. It's legal and it's their right. It just calls a lot of things into question."

Blechman explains how Villages developer Gary Morse has maintained firm control over local decision-making in a community that sprawls across Lake, Sumter and Marion counties.

He highlights the complex political and economic arrangements that gave rise to The Villages, and he asserts that few of its 65,000 or so residents understand, let alone oppose, the limitations on their civic power.

"They move there because they don't want to deal with the daily hassles of traditional community life," Blechman said. "Many of them prefer a government by contract."

Becker, a New York City native who moved from Orlando to The Villages two years ago, didn't argue that point -- but he said there was nothing wrong with what he called The Villages' "benign dictatorship."

"We're a little bit of a company town," Becker said. "But it's a well-run company town. I have no problem with it."

Villages' spokesman Gary Lester did not return a call for comment.

Sue Michalson, who moved to The Villages from Westchester County, N.Y., six years ago, said Blechman should have spent more of his book on the kind of work she has done at the retirement community. Michalson said she helped quadruple membership in The Villages' Democratic Party club during the 2004 presidential election. On the local level, she successfully prodded development officials to adopt a recycling program.

Michalson said Blechman undermined that level of activism and focused too heavily on the sexual adventures of "Mr. Midnight," described in the book as a 63-year-old Villages bachelor with an uncanny appetite for women and parties.

"We're active citizens. We're not a bunch of lushes here," said Michalson, 72. "I don't think that's a true picture of the environment."

Blechman, who named a chapter after Mr. Midnight, said there's undue "prudishness" about one of his favorite Villagers.

"He's a great character," Blechman said. "He breaks a lot of the stereotypes about older citizens."

Indeed, some of seniors' migration from hometowns to retirement communities may stem from the growing health -- sexual and otherwise -- of 21st-century retirees.

David Downs, director of the Kornblau Institute for real-estate studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, said retirement communities such as those described in Leisureville have sprung up partly in response to demand from seniors who no longer depend on their immediate family members.

"In prior generations, people didn't necessarily have a choice in how they were going to change or evolve or define their lifestyle as they aged," Downs said. "Today, people self-select, and they choose to remake themselves. They have an opportunity for a fresh start."

It's that kind of opportunity that drove 67-year-old Eleanor Strickland from frigid Minneapolis to The Villages five years ago. She said that while she agreed with parts of Blechman's book, her decision to move there had less to do with an escape from civic responsibility and more to do with getting out of the house.

"It would be nice if people could live in their home communities when they retire and keep contributing, but when you get older, you aren't physically able to," Strickland said. "If you want to go see a play in Minneapolis, it's probably miles away from your house. And say there's a blizzard that day. You've got to go out and shovel your driveway. It's just too much for older people to handle."

The plays in The Villages aren't quite as good as those in Minneapolis, she said, but at least she can get to them.

"I can go in five minutes," she said. "I take my golf cart."

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

And a very different view from a young urban planner in Maine fearful about the impact on the towns left behind:

DEVONOMICS...the blog
May 5, 2008
Fear of a Laid-Back Planet: a book review
I just got done reading an eye-opening new book: Leisureville, by Andrew Blechman. This book rips the shiny veneer off of the age-segregated retirement cities of Florida and Arizona and shows them for what they are: corporate-run ghettos where fear-stricken old white people can escape from the horrible realities of modern society.

Mr. Blechman is very much like me–a thirtysomething professional raised in big city suburbia now raising his family in a small and semi-idyllic small town in New England. One day his childless and recently retired neighbors plunk a For Sale sign in front of their home and announce that they are relocating to The Villages, a 100,000 person age-restricted megalopolis carved out of Central Florida swampland. He hears his neighbors gush about the carefree, laid-back lifestyle behind the gates of The Villages, where the toughest life choice is “which golf course should we play today?” and immediately decides to write a book about the happy world of leisurely retirement.

There is, of course, a dark side to all the sunshine, one that smacks a bit too loudly of fascism. You see, buying into The Villages (you are of course, not just buying a home, you’re buying a lifestyle) requires submitting to the draconian and sometimes downright evil law of The Villages corporation and, more specifically its ruthless and reclusive boss, Gary Morse. The Villages operates its own Soviet-style media empire (TV, radio, newspaper) and goes to great lengths to both limit the exposure of its residents to bad news from outside the walls and to stifle free speech and political participation. The sad truth is that “Villagers” are essentially subjected to taxation without representation: they pay their association fees to the “central district,” a quasi-governmental board basically run by the management which offers very little meaningful representation.

Beyond its control within the gates, The Villages has gone to great lengths to use its money and politcal muscle to effectively gain control of the local county government, to the point that the county’s public schools are strangled by the fact that an age-segregated community filled with people who don’t want to pay school taxes now effectively holds its purse strings. In the case of Sun City, Arizona, The Villages’ older western cousin, Sun City seceded from the local school district by mutual accord, as the school district grew exasperated at having every necessary expense shot down by the miserly oldsters next door. While this may seem to be a good solution, it sets an awful precedent–now a whole class of retirees can effectively avoid paying for the educational needs of younger people simply by moving behind the protective walls of a retirement fortress.

Mr. Blechman pours out dozens of other vignettes about life in Leisureville. On the amusing side, he goes undercover in the 55+ singles’ scene (which has resulted in shockingly high STD rates), sits in on a bingo game, and investigates the insidious rumor that The Villages’ “wine club” is really a front for a swingers’ group. On the not so amusing side, he befriends a troubled transgendered person who cannot seem to fit into the conservative culture of The Villages, chats up local teenagers outside the gates who are constantly put down by Villagers, and attends an intentionally confusing seminar on local governance run by an employee of the Villages. My favorite moment is his visit to the one and only playground at The Villages, which is all but deserted. During this visit, he spots two sheriff’s deputies asleep in their cruiser in the parking lot and asks them about their jobs. They reply by telling him that it’s pretty easy dealing with the “frogs”–so called because “they come down here to croak.”

After the alternating humor and harshness, by the end of the read I found myself fuming at the idea that a whole generation of Americans was not only allowed to drop out of society to live out their days on the golf course, but was choosing to do so. Members of this segment of society apparently believe that they have served society for long enough, and now it is their right to stop contributing to the maintenance of an orderly society and to the funding of public education. More troubling, as Mr. Blechman points out, is that the lifetime of wisdom accumulated by these retirees will not be passed on to the youth in their communities–because there ARE no youth in their communities. When a society cuts off these links, it risks losing its sense of history and falling into chaos.

I find it quite ironic that most of the denizens of The Villages, Sun City and their ilk are self-professed conservatives. I ask: what is conservative about willfully cutting off links to your cultural past and leaving your children and grandchildren to fend for themselves? Myself, I would call that a radical and thoroughly frightening notion.

While I respect the right of those who have worked hard all their lives to retire in comfort, I simply do not understand why people believe that, after a certain age, they no longer need to participate in society. The same society that educated them, employed them, and allowed them to retire at a relatively young age needs them to stay involved so that future generations may follow in their footsteps. If a whole generation of soon-to-be-retirees feels that playing golf while not paying taxes is more important than the survival of our society, then I fear for the future.

There is some reason for hope, however. Market research is showing that, for all the stereotyping of the Baby Boomers as the “Me Generation,” Boomers are not likely to embrace the Sun City model. Instead, Boomers want to live near cities, near family, and near cultural outlets. Mr. Blechman reviews research that shows that even Boomers that prefer age-restricted developments are seeking out smaller developments located close to their current homes, rather than far flung Leisurevilles like The Villages.

If you are contemplating retirement of know anyone who is doing so, I urge you to read Leisureville. You will not find a better written, more entertaining or more insightful account of the myriad implications of the segregation of our society by age and income.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

What an ignorant tirade by a blithering fool on a subject about which he know absolutely nothing. This clown claims that both he and Blechman are "thirtysomething professional(s)" but doesn't say professional what. That seems to be a self-awarded title taken on by those who have the diplomas but no accomplishments to accompany them. I thought Blechman was totally off-base with his book, but he looks brilliant compared to this "professional." Ah, the curse of the internet that allows anyone to claim to be a "blogger."

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopi
 

Funny thing about all this....I thought after we'd paid our dues we could enjoy a few years doing what WE want.

Let's see, self employed business, town politics, volunteer EMT squad, finance committee, numerous other volunteer activites, school PTA, etc.etc. We've done our bit...now it's time to ENJOY.

Perhaps Mr. Belchman, Ooops, Blechman would prefer we live near "Killadelphia" or Baltimore with their daily menu's of murder and mayhem.

Has it occurred to him that it's time for him and his friends to pickup where we left off??

As I am still working around the aforementioned cities, I look forward to my monthly "vacation" at home in the Villages with all it's "hokiness".

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Tell us how you really feel! Muncle-you are not going to win the "Nice"
award. :)

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Muncle, I couldn't agree with your accurate assessment and indignation more.

Both of these self-ordained social critic Gen X fools (Belchman and Blogster) reflect a vivid gulf between the generations.* The greatest generation (ages 80's and 90's now -* our parents), the "lost generation (ages mid-60's to 70's) and the boomers have gone down in social history as being hard working, dedicated, principled, family oriented, patriotic souls who built and defended our nation.* Of course there are exceptions.

On the other hand, the Gen X'ers, who these protagonists typify, have already developed a reputation among human resource professionals and corporate executives as being self-centered, undisciplined, irresponsible, nihilstic, rebellious slackards who care only about their own self-indulgence.* (Of course, there are exceptions - our military is a big one - but most of these are under 30 Gen Y's who have matured beyond the egoism of Gen X'ers .)*

But the rest of them are prone to a disdain for the characteristics of their elders, with a pinch of jeolousy.* They feel they are "owed" by society without having earned anything.* They are resentful of those in our 60's and 70's who have earned our right to live as we choose.* These characterisitics, along with their criticism of the choices made by those 20 to 40 years senior to them cause them truly to be worthy of the label "fool."* Many of these are the same ones who fawn over politicians who promise a federal government that will parent and regulate its helpless, clueless, insatiable population.

Now, ask ME how I really feel.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Or it could be said that with Mr. Blechman there is undue "sleaziness" in his obsession with abberant behavior.* Mr Blechman is proving his amorality - his "nihilism" - his own warped character.* So, some of us are prudish because we are critical of Blechman's prurient and misrepresentative obsession with a male whore? [My wife read the book, too, and this is her label for Blechman's favorite character.]*

Any misrepresentation of an entire community to sell a book, eh Blechman?* Sooo Gen X.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Muncle, Gfmucci: :agree: Villagers play golf while not paying taxes? What a misleading rant.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

OK OK How do YOU really feel?

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Barefoot,
Compare your Canadian taxes to Florida's. I know I pay alot more in NY.
I am not defending the book. I was just trying to joke.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

With age comes wisdom. He is nothing more than a kid with a big mouth who has not lived long enough to come in out of the rain.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

You know, in my view a person should not reduce another person's impassioned and articulate comments with such a very dismissing sentence.

I looked back at other comments and realized that you had disagreed with Muncle about politics.

When a person is right, it does not mean they are always right.
When a person is wrong, it does not mean they are always wrong.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopi
 

We lived in a Stepford community for kids called Ladera Ranch in South Orange County, CA. It wasn't age restricted, but it might as well have been since in catered to 30-somethings with 2.5 kids. We moved there because it had great walking trails, parks, and a little town sort of like a mini-TV town without the entertainment. It took about a year to realize we didn't belong there. Every activity was for kids. The only adult activity was one cocktail party where everyone exchanged business cards. We didn't go since we hate that kind of thing. Kids were spoiled and undisciplined. Everyone was very paranoid about their kids, too. Kids didn't walk to any of the three elementary and one middle school, they were driven in SUVs by a mom with a cell phone in her ear. No kids played alone in the park without their parents present. If a man was alone in any of the parks and children were near, the police were notified. The last straw for us was when adults were kicked out of the Fourth of July parade and only kids were allowed to be in it. We loved to decorate our wagon and be in the parade. So that was it for us. We moved to a retirement community as fast as we could, and now will move to TV as fast as we can because TV will have parades we can be in, plus all the other fun stuff. All this to say that the 30-year-olds have their communities too, complete with water and skate parks, and us old guys aren't particularly welcomed there. I used to say I wanted a Ladera Ranch for adults. Well, I've found it now... only 1000 times better!

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Gracie, I generally agree with you, but this time I think McHelney's post needs some explanation. Muncle has posted some absolutely demeaning and quite mean spirited comments to some members of the political forum, myself included. Its one thing if you disagree with someone's opinion and let them know it, but to attack them personnally with name calling, etc., as Muncle has done, is way over the line, in my opinion. I think there are a number of us who have just had it with him.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

OH. :redface:

I just hate it when someone says "tell me how you really feel" to ME and it is generally when I am all fired up about something that really matters deeply, and I don't let that show very often.

I can see that I am NOT aware of frictions here. I am sorry for sticking my nose into something I know nothing about. I am embarrassed too.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Gracie,
Thanx for your attempted defense of me. I certainly didn't take mcelheny's comment as any kind of attack. As I admitted elsewhere, I was afraid I might have gone a bit too far in my reaction to the blogger's review of the book. Evidently, however, many agreed with me. I took mcelheny's comment as nothing more than a jesting gibe.

Now the other one is a different matter. Needless to say, I was shocked, shocked I say, that she might think I'd gone over the line. And to think that she, and "an number of us" whoever "us" might be, had just had it with me is absolutely devastating. I'm crestfallen, and you know how much that can hurt. For the last hour, I've been going over in my mind what I possibly could have done or said that could have been so devastating to such a logical, intelligent, and well balanced individual, not to mention, "the number of us." Could I have poisoned their children, burned down their homes, or killed their dogs? No, don't remember doing anything like that. Then it dawned on me. I remember what I'd done. Yes, yes, I admit it. I had committed the ultimate sin. I had gone well beyond my station. I had done the unforgivable. I'd disagreed with her.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

"...While I respect the right of those who have worked hard all their lives to retire in comfort, I simply do not understand why people believe that, after a certain age, they no longer need to participate in society. The same society that educated them, employed them, and allowed them to retire at a relatively young age needs them to stay involved so that future generations may follow in their footsteps.."

gfmucci, you read the book. Did the author talk about his OWN involvement in City Council, the Parks Department, or any other civic institution in his quaint little town? Or did he expect the retired folks to take care of that for him, since THEY DON'T WORK?

I worked for the first 15 years of marriage, but after our daughter was born I stopped working "for pay." As a stay-at-home mom, and now retired, I grew mighty tired over the years of hearing that I should serve on committees, volunteer my time, or make all the phonecalls because I didn't/don't work. Keep in mind that I did more than my share of volunteering, but it seemed to me that "you don't work" was often an excuse to pass off the jobs that nobody else wanted to do. I also found that I was often working harder "not working" than I ever worked "working." ;)

It will be interesting to hear if the author wrote anything about his OWN civic involvement. Or maybe he felt justified in not participating in society because he was too busy "working"? :dontknow:

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Muncle, Muncle, Muncle.* Tsk tsk tsk. We shall crawl into our man-caves and never utter another sound.

Oh, by the way, when I say "now tell me how you really feel" after someone gives me an impassioned opinion, it's my light-hearted way of saying "I agree with you.* Speak it, brother."

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

I don't recall the author mentioning anything about his own involvement in his community. But I will check the last chapter or two where he reflects on "community" and let you know if he says much about his own altruism. :o

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Now Muncle, you know there is more to it than that. Have you forgotten comparing me with the 3 stooges? Or how about your comment: "There are a few posters from whom I've come to expect such tripe. She happens to be one of them. "

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

I have a wonderful idea. You pretend I don't exist. I'll pretend you don't exist. That way, you and I can both be happy and we'll spare the rest of the people on the forum all the hassle. It's just not worth it.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Oy ::) Admin...helpppp!!!! We need a separate location for complaining about one another. Some forums call it "Take it outside" and allows the haranguing to continue without screwing up the continuity of worthwhile threads. That feature alone might increase our clicks by 50% - like watching the Friday night fights. ;D

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Oh sure, GF, make fun of me while I'm down. :yikes: Need me to clear out a spot so you kick me, too. :duck: 040

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Muncle, I knew you'd appreciate my comment. ;D
You should see the Politics forum under "CNN Debunks Obama Lies" :duck: :chillout: :duck: :barf: 024

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

Muncle, so, now are you gonna tell us how you REALLY feel? ;D

Shame Mr. Blechman didn't take as much time talking to the average TVer as he did to the "male whore" and his ilk. I always love when someone tells me what I have to do yet doesn't seem to follow the same advice. Those of us who can should stay in our communities whether we've found something more to our liking or not. Let's see, Mr. Blechman moved to his little town because he didn't like his previous community but his elders should stay put. Talk about hypocrisy!

Whatever, I'll happily live in my self-imposed ghetto of age for as long as I can. I've earned the right to choose and if I choose to accept that children cannot live here on a permanent basis, well, so be it. If I choose to move away from urban blight and suburban sprawl (okay, maybe I haven't really moved away from that), it's my choice.

If Mr. Blechman and his generation in general don't like it, tough. They can become the new pioneers in building a community that will teach morals, ethics to their young as they see fit without the interference of town elders saying that isn't right.

(And now you know how I feel!)

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

:agree: :agree: :agree:

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopi
 

I have read all of the posts in this tread and could not agree more with the statements about the people in the New England area. After living here for over 40 years the people here is the second biggest reason we are moving to The Villages. The first is the weather. As the years get short and the light dims why does one want to waist the precious time shoveling snow and hoping that bones will heal after falling on ice. The other thing I have noticed as I age, when living in a mixed generation neighborhood is how busy the younger people are trying to survive their lives. I can remember the day when old people were looked up to and asked for their advice. I am finding that today the younger people feel that all I am is in the way and my ideas as well as thoughts do not pertain to today's world. So why should we be so concerned about not interacting with younger people when they could not be bothered with us. I realize that not all young people are that way and one can not make blanket statements about everyone. I guess I just have run into all the bad ones here in the Boston area. :dontknow:

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias'
 

I bought the book today. Borders emailed me a 40% off coupon. So away I went to the bookstore, clutching my 60%. If I don't stop opening my email from Borders, I am going to be broke.

In the last week I have bought the Hiaasen book that I went on and on about in a thread, and Amy Sedaris' I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, and now, Leisureville.

Well, I am going to see just what this little whippersnapper has to say.

And my guess is that I will see his Leisureville and raise him a Boomer-in-Residence.

Boomer :read:

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopi
 

Check out this blog following a magazine article by Blechman.

http://www.forward.com/articles/13374/ :clap2:

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopi
 

This is an article in the Orlando Sentinel about the book firing up an outrage in TV It has a Photo Gallery of TV and 143 comments, most of which are infuriating.



http://www.orlandosentinel.com/commu...,4287752.story

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopi
 

Wiw, just read all of the 143 comments. Scary! Not only are the comments infuriating, there is so much misinformation, hatred of northerners, and distain for anyone who choses to stop working and retire. Comments such as "The Developer owns the land and everyone rents, perhaps they'll all be evicted", "Villagers are egotistical, selfish morons", "Grandchildren are only allowed to visit for 3 days at a time", "One of the fastest growing rates of HIV/Aids in the country", "Villagers do nothing to contribute to the economy" (no mention of volunteer organizations or tax dollars contributed).

Why did the author write this book? He is laughing his way to the bank! I hope no-one in TV puts more money in this author's pocket by buying his book.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopi
 

I am always amazed that it is the human condition for many to be jealous of another's happiness. I feel that the infuriating comments were made by people that have not yet realized that the happiest people SEIZE THE MOMENT and try to concentrate on the positives in life. I think that for the most part life dishes out bad things almost equally, some in our youth, some in our middle life and some in our dotage. We can't escape them, so we need to live in the good moments. I also found that good luck came more frequently to those who worked hard and planned ahead.

GracieGirls sermon for THIS Sunday morning.

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopi
 

:agree: :agree: :agree:

Re: Wall Street Journal: 'Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopi
 

I read some of the comments and found them so off base that I didn't continue. The ignorance exhibited by many of the posters was amazing in it's scope. Poor babies.