The American Association of Retired Persons Essay -- essays research p

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Founded in 1958 by Dr. Ethel Percy, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) has been dedicated to addressing the needs and interests of older Americans. Percy felt that older Americans could attain a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment by remaining physically and intellectually active in society, thus came about his idea to form the AARP. The AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization open to anyone, working or retired, over the age of 50. Based in Wash-ington, D.C., the AARP pursues its goals through service, advocacy, and education. The AARP's ultimate goal is to help older Americans achieve lives of independence, dignity, and purpose. The AARP is spread nation wide through local chapters and is run mainly by volunteer board members at the local and national levels.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The 33 million members of the AARP can expect many benefits as well as support from the AARP. The wide range of services span anywhere from movie tickets to grants for re-search. The AARP also has many publications in the form of audio and publications. The most famous of these publications is the bimonthly Modern Maturity which targets all readers inter-ested in AARP issues.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The issues and goals the AARP advocates span a great deal throughout the political, economic, and social arena. While diverse in its areas of interest, the AARP mainly concentrates on social issues. Being a nonpartisan organization, the AARP does not nationally endorse or contribute any money to the campaigns of any candidate running for national positions including presidency. Politics in the AARP is basically left to the individual to decide whom he/she will support. The only participation the AARP takes is through the AARP/VOTE program. The goals of the AARP/VOTE program are to educate AARP members and the general public about important economic, health and consumer issues, and about the positions taken by candidates for public office on these issues. They also inform candidates and elected officials of AARP's positions on key policy issues and help elected officials be more responsive to the needs of their districts or states by promoting effective communication with their constituents. AARP/VOTE is successful because of its effective methods used t... ... Security and private pensions by increasing the amount of contributions with more people working and by delaying payments. Finally, the AARP stands firmly against age-related driver testing. They say it is discriminatory and isn't the solution to the elderly's driving problems. The solution the AARP proposes is education. They would like to educate the elderly more about driving as well as having tougher tests when renewing driver's licenses. Another suggestion is to have more conspicuous and highly visible road signs. These ideas all together, says the AARP, would make roadways safer for all drivers. Thus, through this small sample of their large interest for social issues, one can get a better idea how the AARP stands.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Being a member of the AARP has it's many personal benefits as well as having the satisfaction that as an older person, one is still involved in society at the political, economic, and social levels. The AARP has been around for 38 years strong, being very effective and providing a solid voice for older Americans, and its success so far will assure its survival into the 21st century becoming one of the most well rounded organizations.