Is the End of the Decade the Fin de Siecle?
It’s only a little over a month until we leave the 2000s and enter the 2010s. We never came up with a good name for this first decade of the millennium, but it’s certainly been eventful, starting with millennial fears about computer meltdowns, continuing through 9/11, two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a global financial meltdown.
Many of us who got into elder law when it was young are now part of a mature specialty with more competition than ever. And we’re more mature as well. I see many more gray hairs and wrinkles at NAELA meetings, but also many fresh faces as newer attorneys join the field.
What’s the French saying? Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose — the more it changes, the more it stays the same. Not sure if that’s true in elder law or the world at large, but it’s better than the supposed Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times,” which definitely applies to this past decade.
What will happen in the next decade? Have Americans become savers? Will we adopt a more European-style health system? Will we withdraw from Afghanistan and stay closer at home in the future?
We’ll only know in retrospect whether the end of the year simply means we add a numeral 1 to the calendar or, switching back to French, it’s the fin de siecle — the end of an era — and we’ll see big changes in the coming years. One marker will be whether the CLASS Act remains part of the health reform bill. This would be the first step by Congress to truly address the long-term care needs of Americans and would be a fitting legacy for Senator Kennedy, who was one of its strongest proponents.
Tags: CLASS Act, Elder Law, fin de siecle