The typical UK hoarder is getting on in years and may have a mental condition associated with aging. That’s a perfectly normal thing, because we have not evolved into living forever.
Besides, death is the only way to get out of this place and if it’s a gradual process the easing out is gentler. So what’s wrong with the most of us who think aging is something going wrong and hoarding is a sickness.
Many Older Folk Lived Through a Period of Scarcity
The Second World War was horrible thing for people in Britain, with bombs raining down. There was nothing to do but block your ears and hope the house didn’t tumble down on you. Food was scarce because the soldiers far away came first.
This situation continued for ten years after the war ended. Rationing was the flavour of the day while hoarding was a crime except for what you bought with your coupons. However, kids born in the sixties and later never had it so good or so the politicians said.
Out of this Divide Evolved Two Very Different Generations
Folk born in the UK from the sixties onwards through Gen Z to the millennials generally can’t relate to not having a full plate of food and loads of clothes. Of course, we agree a percentage of the population doesn’t have either of these. And of course this is wrong and we ought to fix it.
However the reality is 99% of the people in charge of administration and politics never went to bed on an empty stomach, or lacked a warm sweater on a cold day. It’s no wonder they can’t relate to an older person, who hoards although they have money because they know what it’s like not to have it.
Are Hoarders Really a Problem for Welfare to Sort Out?
There are times when we can’t figure out why there’s such a fuss about this. Hoarders seldom cause pain and suffering in others. Why hassle them with a ‘victimless crime’ while the law turns a blind eye to neighbours from hell because let’s face it they are tougher nut to crack.
Perhaps we should say as long as hoarders don’t harm themselves we should leave them alone to live their own lives. So what if they have dozens of pairs of shoes they never wear tumbling out of their cupboards.
Perhaps Hoarders are Just Expressing Shadows from the Past
We glance at old people who lost a limb in a war before turning away embarrassed. Few of us have travelled this far in life without a few bumps and bruises either.
If hoarding is pathology, then it’s most likely a condition something else brought on. If the majority of UK hoarders are getting on in years then it’s fair to say they helped build the society we benefit from today.
So perhaps, just perhaps instead of fretting over them we should say happy hoarding and have a great day. Some people watch soccer as a hobby while others fight with their computers. To each their own, we say. Long live the difference!
