In 1957, Oslo Kinematografer produced an informational film entitled “Oslo and the Elderly” (Oslo og de gamle). It proudly showcases the new social measures for older people. The welfare state was young, the oil adventure still decades away, and yet they were already speaking about what the future would hold for our mothers and fathers.
“Our society today faces the problem that the proportion of elderly people in the population is steadily increasing,” said Jan Frydenlund, the narrator of the video embedded at the end of this article. “By the end of 1970, it is estimated that more than 500,000 people will have passed the age of 65, and 328,000 will be over 70.”
Back then, they did not use the derogatory term “the grey wave” (eldrebølgen), which first appeared in the 1980s. At its core, the term is stigmatising and shifts the blame onto grandmothers and grandfathers.
Since then, the concept has been put on steroids. It is no longer a wave, but a demographic tsunami, which NRK has naturally picked up on: “Municipal Director believes Hvaler Municipality is experiencing an ‘elderly tsunami’: ‘Putting pressure on our services’.”
Imagine the state broadcaster using terms such as “immigration wave” or “immigration tsunami”. You will see pigs flying across our long country before that happens.
It is moving to watch the film from 1957. One notices the pride and genuine concern in everything they did to improve life for Norway’s elderly. Then, when we hear the latest report from the Office of the Auditor General, we can see with complete clarity how badly the government and politicians have failed elderly care in recent years.
You had ONE job!
Seven decades later, the Office of the Auditor General has published a report concluding that the ageing wave has arrived, yet municipalities are still unprepared. As early as 2018, the Office of the Auditor General pointed out that municipalities lacked adequate plans to meet the challenges, Nettavisen writes.
You had one job!, as the saying goes when someone has one simple task and nevertheless fails completely. Normally, that one job does not stretch over several decades, but in the case of politicians and elderly care, it does.
The Office of the Auditor General states that municipal health and care services are not dimensioned to cope with the sharp increase in the number of elderly people. There is a risk of service failure, and municipalities are criticised for not planning systematically for the future.
Think about it. In 1957, Norwegian authorities were already concerned that there would be more elderly people. It was the same year that King Haakon VII died at the age of 85 and was succeeded by our beloved King Olav V, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, and Elvis Presley was at his peak.
Since then, we have built the world’s richest sovereign wealth fund, gained 350,000 more people over the age of 67, sent hundreds of billions in foreign aid, organised the reception of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, produced action plans, white papers and committees, and promised the moon and stars during election campaigns.
Yet we have not managed to provide enough nursing home places or recruit enough people to care for those who built the country. This is no longer a political mistake. It is a national tragicomedy, without a happy ending.
Oh no, there are more elderly people! Who could possibly have seen that coming?
The very definition of insanity
Health Minister Vestre says that “the warning lights are flashing”. Yes, they have been flashing since 1957, Vestre, when your great-grandparents belonged to the generation the film was caring for.
Perhaps it is time to admit that this is not a warning light but a permanent national smoke detector that you have ignored because the world and new fellow citizens always come first. Always.
I have said it before, and I will say it again: Norwegians are third-class citizens in their own country.
As they have done for decades, the government blames the municipalities. “They must take responsibility for this,” says Vestre. Meanwhile, the state will “take action when the warning lights flash”.
That is nothing but empty words and the shifting of blame.
Many municipalities have made poor priorities, but ultimately it is the government that bears supreme responsibility. And the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result next time.
For more than a century, Norway has made provisions for improved elderly care. A state old-age pension was established as early as 1936. The first home-care services were developed from the 1950s onwards, and the 1957 film demonstrates concrete plans for a growing elderly population.
Those governing the country therefore knew that there would be more elderly people, yet they chose to ignore it. And the paradox is that the richer Norway became, the less important elderly care became.
At the same time, we have imported an entirely different demographic challenge without speaking of a catastrophic immigration wave. Because it is apparently more politically correct to blame elderly Norwegians, who paid for everything, than to admit that we never adapted the welfare state to cope with either challenge.
We have more than seventy years of knowledge, yet conditions only grow worse and worse. It is deeply tragic and a disgrace. Above all, it is a national failure towards those who gave us everything.
“That the elderly should enjoy the best possible conditions in the evening of their lives is something on which there is only one opinion,” said Jan Frydenlund in the film seventy years ago. One wonders what he would think of today’s tragic state of elderly care.
I spoke with my 86-year-old mother today and told her about the report from the Office of the Auditor General. She knows very well where her tax money is going. Two years ago, she was informed that the waiting list for sheltered housing was long because the municipality was expecting an influx of asylum seekers.
“The sheep’s heads running this country won’t stop until the coffers are empty,” she said.
I did not reply: “But Mum! You can’t say that. That’s contempt for politicians!” Because I completely agree with her. And that is sad as hell.