No Country for Old Men or Women

Can we talk about Anton Chigurh for a sec? Well, vaguely at least. To make a comparison with regards to the title of this at least...

I’ll take any opportunity to bring up Chigurh not just for the hair. Or the most intensely emotionless human portrayal of psychopathology on film to date.

But it's more than just about Chigurh it’s about psychopaths, this country's treatment of old men and old women. Chigurh is the psychopath in No Country for Old Men. Keep reading, it will come together. Trust me.

There’s an unwavering, Anton Chigurh-level psychopathy in this day and age’s peak capitalist economy. Private health care has got that going on. It’s got this remorseless, without conscious, criminal neglect level type management sharing that pathology with Chigurh right down to the execution of that cold, emotionless tone in his voice. They aren’t gonna budge and they are on a warpath to make money at the expense of the suffering of others, cutting corners, and they don’t care. No remorse, Anton Chigurh-type silence if questioned. Hateful stare if not total annihilation as a result of questioning them. But the thing is Anton Chigurh – he’s fiction. One of the many genius characters from the pages of Cormac Mccarthy’s repertoire of masterpieces.

He’s also got a different goal and mission he’s on this warpath over. And his motives and actions technically hurt less people if they were real, what he did in the film, than what’s lingering around in long term care facilities just around here. Where I live in BC. I'm going to keep the city or town name private. There's a notorious long-term care facility here. If you're from where I'm from..You know what I'm talkin' about.

Chigurh also has the hair. That's another difference. The hair is everything to me. That hair is symbolic. So is the lack of humour, the deadpan voice of the character Bardem plays so well. It’s all symbolic and it’s meant to be because it’s a film, and there’s only so much time to make a point about who someone is. Distinctive costume, hairstyles, behaviours etc. often do that quickly on the big screen.

Chirgurh also operates absolutely beyond the boundaries of the law. And in a world where he’s lived deserted from nurturing relationships with other people, a pure killer, psychologically isolated even in the presence of other human beings. He has no interest in even being rich because he does not know how to enjoy a single thing. He’s a pathological monster. He’s not real, though. Great character, but he’s not real.

And that’s why we can’t see psychopaths in real people because we think they’re Chigurh-hairstyle type obvious. Like Chigurh with his bolt stunner obvious. And coin toss live or die game obvious. We can’t see psychopaths are running long term care facilities, bilking money off people who can’t even advocate for themselves, deliberately cutting corners to make more by not hiring enough people to care for them, because they’re not what we’re spoon-fed on screen to know are psychopaths. They look like professionals and present like that too. LinkedIn profiles etc. Buzzwords and copy and pasted articles shared with each other in senior management about how to change toxic workplaces etc.

They are psychopaths though. They are stealing money for a service they claim to provide but don’t to people who can’t advocate for themselves to get better care. Because they’re too old, or can’t talk, or have no advocacy. Completely vulnerable without any way to defend themselves from predators of this kind. The promise to care for them was made by the lying psychopath who lured them in. Site manager, whoever. The guy looks and seems nice - he's a salesman. Then once they’re in, they’re stuck. They’re hard to get out because there’s not enough places for them anywhere else and process takes time, and not many other places are that much better.

Long term care facilities where dementia care is something they sell, beware of those, because they can take advantage of those people and get away with it real easy. They want them. Easy money. And no responsibility towards them because they can’t do anything about it. They can do whatever they want to them, the staff can, the staff who want to care for them don’t have enough to do anything to change it. And management, the psychopathological money-grubbing scumbags at the top don’t care and have enough in the bank to stop anyone from complaining. They’ve got institutions supporting them, chamber of commerce certificates, they’ve done the bare minimum when it comes time for inspection because they’ve got people on the inside too. Bought and paid for, rats telling them when it's coming - To make them appear and legally legitimate in standards despite being absolutely not in real operations.

Think about it, making money off people who are old, who have less ability to advocate for themselves and are easily taken advantage of due to physical decline, dementia, memory loss, etc. To these psychopaths its free money. The top guns make over 7 figures. Easily. The ones at this facility, they have a couple of other ones that aren't as bad but the top guns here they make bank.

They're not thinking about the conditions, and if they do see them, it doesn't phase them at all. No conscience. It doesn’t matter how they care for the elderly, or the quality because not one of them or any outcry from staff is financially strong enough to take ‘em on. Their bolt stunner The Chiguhr has as his weapon of choice is the money they have in the bank. And lawyers to lay down a twisted loophole in the law to get away with anything. So, they can get away with taking everything away from the elderly. Who cares right? They can’t use it. They’re dying, so why not pretend to care for them while they die and charge them for it. Without remorse.

Now this is where it gets ugly. When we go back to Chigurh. Chigurh on his own did less harm. In numbers, yes, he’s done less harm than neglecty-a** long term care facilities like one notorious big one in this town. Less kills. And he had the hair. At least he wore his psychotic up front with that haircut. He identified as one with that hair. He told us he was one with that hair. That’s one reason why Chigurh, this exclamation point of a psychopath, is a better man than someone who profits from corrupt long term care facilities. Chigurh has no time for old men who aren’t in his way. He’s only interested in Lewellyn and gettin’ that cash from him back. And he doesn’t care about people he could easily take advantage of for no reason who aren't about that cash Lewellyn has, elderly people who need help caring for themselves are not his target. Good for him. You know what, great for him. That's one good thing you can say about this soul devoid of any mercy.

LTC places got a target on old folks, though. And it’s not just this one place in this town. They’re all over this country because there’s no control over privately owned ones - especially if they got enough in the bank to look good on purchased certificates of authenticity and inspections on paper. This country gives no f***s about the quality of care inside privately owned facilities because they can get away with it. Because the victims have no voice. They can’t defend themselves. They were sold a place to be cared for, or their family's were, then royally screwed and can’t do anything about it. That’s ok because there’s no laws taking care of it. No systems really dealing with it in Canada.

Some private facilities are staffed so well that they’re good. They do well because they are staffed with nurses and care aids that are the top of the line. I’ve been in one. Wish I never left it.

But Canada has a big problem with health care quality inside and out of private facilities especially when it comes to the elderly. And its psychotic in its intensity.

You are psychotic if you're profiting from poor care-giving facilities, and especially if they’re able to operate within the boundaries of the law doing so.

Perhaps Chigurh and his bolt stunner and hair could have been given a worthy target to turn his relentless pursuit towards something productive, like the culling of this evil if he weren’t fiction. He’s a hitman.

The site manager at the place in this town I’m talking about was always in his office playing games on his phone. You could hear the coin sounds blinging off it. Imagine if Chigurh walked in there and suggested his coin game. You know the one. "What's the most you've ever lost on a coin toss?"

What's the most that site manager ever lost gambling on the dime he makes off neglecting elderly people? He could lose a lot more. Anton would ask him, and if he plays he'll find out. Or it'll happen so fast he won't after the coin is flipped. That bolt stunner is efficient, clean, and fast. Chigurh has every right to play a game at the expense of this site manager guy's everything. The old-fashioned way. N’est pas? Site manager's also creeping young female employees and offering opportunities in exchange for "romance." That's not right, folks. This guy's not doing it right. He's not taking care of the old men or women in there. No people there are getting adequate or even subadequate care. It's lower than substandard. Its criminal neglect.

The way things are being done in those places in Canada, especially from what I know…confirms that this aint No Country for Old Men. Or women. Or people who aren't psychopaths.

How much have you ever lost in a coin toss? One side is your integrity, safety, life, and right to say no to unsafe work, and the other is to bleed yourself nearly to death trying to get by working there because your own old man said you have to (mine did). Your money earned there all going to rent and food. I picked the side where I wouldn't have to work in no place suitable for no old men or women in this country. No thanks.