Senior citizens are not selfish

I cannot believe that a copy editor would allow such an insult - "Cult of selfishness" - to headline an editorial comment (Jan. 18) on local property tax exemptions for people 70 and older.

There are not too many senior citizens living alone in private homes anymore. Most are in assisted living facilities or retirement homes. Most seniors are on stringent budgets, and the places we choose to live are not cheap.

Most of our lives were spent paying for homes, raising children, buying groceries, clothes, shoes, school supplies and paying taxes. How dare you use a word such as "selfish" in regard to senior citizens.

Many grandparents are still helping their children with a lot of financial contributions. "Largely well off." Wow!

Special discounts were indeed well-earned. Most of us over 70 do not have IRAs or stocks or bonds or mutual fund investments. We spent - at least I know I did - all of our income contributing to the economic success of Richmond and Columbia counties.

The Chronicle editorial page owes senior citizens a public apology for using such an insulting word as "selfishness."

Jim Galvin, Augusta