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The rhetoric about intergenerational warfare is spurious. There is no guarantee that cuts to services for one generation would go to support services for another generation, not with many competing economic priorities such as fiscal uncertainty, war, homeland security, and tax cuts.
A holistic approach to grantmaking is needed, a compelling frame that uses a common language of inclusion and shared values. This approach recognizes the profound impact that the generations have on each other.
For example, if older adults do not have health insurance, the financial burden will fall on the middle generations and society as a whole; if children do not get the immunizations and treatment they need, we will have parents and grandparents missing work to care for sick children.