What are people (not institutions or organizations)saying about AARP? 
I'm interested in public opinion, buzz, pop culture references, etc.
Please provide answers and sources.

---

Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 22 Apr 2003 16:09 PDT

When you say "public opinion", are you looking for polling data, or
something else?  By "buzz", do you mean, for example, conversations on
public forums?  ("Pop culture references" seems self-explanatory.)

About how many sources in total do you need citations from?

---

Request for Question Clarification by easterangel-ga on 22 Apr 2003 16:17 PDT

Hi! Just to make sure. 

When you say AARP do you mean the organization for senior citizens?

Hell Mike318. Here is a list of discussions and opinions about AARP
that I found around the web. I found a lot *by* aarp and a lot more
from organizations about  aarp (generally positive), but I had a
harder time finding peoples opinions and relied on Usenet (google
groups) for most of them.

 I did not put down all of the opinions that I found because it would
be too lengthy, but you can easily follow these links to find some
pretty good discussions of the organization. Most of them seemed to be
fairly negative, but I suppose people with grievances are more like to
want to share them than people who have good experiences. Anyway, hope
this helps you out.

-shiva777

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&safe=off&threadm=32acd34e.396597%40nntp.ix.netcom.com&rnum=11&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Daarp%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26safe%3Doff%26selm%3D32acd34e.396597%2540nntp.ix.netcom.com%26rnum%3D11

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&safe=off&threadm=697d4v4u27gqip6q0g1o0n5rs53dmcc80h%404ax.com&rnum=28&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Daarp%2Bopinion%26start%3D20%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26safe%3Doff%26scoring%3Dd%26selm%3D697d4v4u27gqip6q0g1o0n5rs53dmcc80h%25404ax.com%26rnum%3D28

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&safe=off&threadm=363a6f45.1314738%40nntp.ix.netcom.com&rnum=2&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Daarp%2Bopinion%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26safe%3Doff%26selm%3D363a6f45.1314738%2540nntp.ix.netcom.com%26rnum%3D2

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&safe=off&threadm=33a35fdc.17456546%40nntp.ix.netcom.com&rnum=2&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Daarp%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26group%3Dsoc.retirement%26safe%3Doff%26selm%3D33a35fdc.17456546%2540nntp.ix.netcom.com%26rnum%3D2

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&safe=off&threadm=363a6f45.1314738%40nntp.ix.netcom.com&rnum=3&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Daarp%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26group%3Dsoc.retirement%26safe%3Doff%26selm%3D363a6f45.1314738%2540nntp.ix.netcom.com%26rnum%3D3

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&safe=off&threadm=20021104165012.13217.00000065%40mb-cc.aol.com&rnum=21&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Daarp%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%26start%3D20%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26group%3Dsoc.retirement%26safe%3Doff%26scoring%3Dd%26selm%3D200211041650
2.13217.00000065%2540mb-cc.aol.com%26rnum%3D21

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&safe=off&threadm=u3ncnuos34n8c1k14n4ek962gls1ahnga4%404ax.com&rnum=33&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Daarp%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%2Bgroup:soc.retirement%26start%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26group%3Dsoc.retirement%26safe%3Doff%26scoring%3Dd
26selm%3Du3ncnuos34n8c1k14n4ek962gls1ahnga4%25404ax.com%26rnum%3D33

http://www.rv.net/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/CFB/1/Tid/648903/DoOnePage/Yes.cfm

http://www.epinions.com/trvl-review-6C35-45012B3-389C47D7-prod2
http://www.epinions.com/trvl-review-6C35-45012B3-389C47D7-prod2/show_~allcom

http://www.epinions.com/trvl-review-17B7-1270FC7B-38054E1E-bd4

http://www.epinions.com/trvl-review-4479-3BBAFA2-37F4B34B-bd1


Interesting Articles
http://www.senior.org/pr/aarp.htm

http://www.poop.org/www/news-f/aarp.html

Books(with short reviews): 

Trust Betrayed: Inside the AARP
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0895264854/qid=1051118207/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/103-3197373-5981430?v=glance&s=books

The Aarp: America's Most Powerful Lobby and the Clash of Generations
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0812927532/qid=1051118207/sr=1-10/ref=sr_1_10/103-3197373-5981430?v=glance&s=books

---

Request for Answer Clarification by mike318d-ga on 25 Apr 2003 05:41 PDT

This does a pretty good job of covering the online community's
perception of AARP.  Do you have any thoughts on how we can find the
larger cultural/pop cultural perception of AARP.  For example...How do
people refer to AARP on TV programming or radio programming?  Are
their many references to AARP in the book world?  Have their been any
songs made that reference AARP?

---

Clarification of Answer by shiva777-ga on 25 Apr 2003 10:03 PDT

Hi Mike. I did do a more general search as well and did not come up
with much. You'll find that the Internet tends to reference mostly
itself. You can't really do a search for radio shows etc.

I think pop culture mostly tends to focus on younger people so not too
much interest in a 'square' organization for senior citizens.

For books, there were those ones that I listed at Amazon which were
'exposes'.

I also did find this comedy song: http://www.seanmorey.com/lyrics.htm
but didn't think it was worth mentioning. My guess is that you're just
not going to find a lot in the media and pop culture outside of
occasional jokes about getting old.  I just spent another 15 minutes
looking around the net and found nothing else useful.  Wish I could be
more help in this area.  -shiva777

I can tell you what I'm saying about AARP. I'm saying "goodbye."

I joined AARP with high hopes five years ago, but I have found that
the organization's political agenda is very much farther to the left
than my own. In its publicity, AARP poses as an association that
represents the views of its membership. Given the leftist stance of
the organization, and the many senior citizens who are political
conservatives, I think AARP is pulling a snow job on its snowy-haired
members.

In general, the medical community regards the AARP as a pawn of the
pharmaceutical companies, who through ads paid for by "organizations"
deceptively named things like "The Association for Improved Senior
Care"  target seniors encouraging them to demand unnecessary drugs and
treatment. The only thing such "Associations" are interested in
improving is their own revenue, assisted by seniors who do not realize
that they are being used.

AARP is a smart political interest group. We are all going to get
older and unless you are very savvy on financial matters early on, you
are going to need someone looking our for your interests. Once you
become a senior, you are going to need political advocates fighting
for issues that impact seniors citizens. Those Seniors who appear to
be politically conservative often adopt a new view when a political
issue impacts their quality of life. Once that occurs they will be
more willing to rally around a reputable person or organization that
advocates on their behalf.

It is important to consider  that any organization that represents a
diversity of individuals is less likely to adhere to a more
conservative bent simply because it is less representative of his
targeted audience?  In politics you want an 800 lb gorilla in the room
representing you, and though flawed, the AARP is the 800 lb gorilla
working on behalf of seniors.

I wouldn't want an 800-pound gorilla working on my behalf if the net
result of its efforts is to cause higher prices on prescription
medicine and health care for me, which is what is happening here...