The United States of Shame

Something is seriously wrong if old people are bad.... I barely even know how to respond to such a statement. Is it such a bad thing to become old, retire and live off of your well earned 401Ks, social security, and/or pensions? We shouldnt be considering old people "bad" simply because they are no longer in their prime and probably retired.

From the state's point of view, old people are bad. They cost more to take care of and they don't have as much economic value.

Well duh old people aren't "bad people" because they're old. No one's going to tell an old person they should've dropped dead the moment they left the workforce.
They just cause a problem in terms of government planning and resource allocation when there is a substantially higher density of elderly in an area. Japan's got a problem with this for example, and the US is starting too as well with the baby boomers aging. We've had a second baby boom going for the last decade or so and it should balance out over the next two or three decades whereas Japan's birth rate is somewhat dismal and is not improving. If you're in healthcare or the funeral home business, Iowa might be a great place to move to. But having an proportionally large chunk of your population out of the workforce is not conducive to a diversified, growing economy.

And for what it's worth
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/
http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh...09-01.html
I kinda question the claim that Iowa's the oldest state. Compare with Florida and even Pennsylvania.

Here's the original source. I guess Iowa's just not that bad in many things. It's a bit of a stretch.
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/peo_per...years-over (Based on a 2004 survey)

Using the Census Excel graph for 2009
Percentage of pop. 85+
Iowa 2.53%
Pennsylvania 2.45%
Florida 2.78%
South Dakota 2.49%

Also note that social security perpetuity relies on there being a larger proportion of workers paying into the system through a small bit of their paycheck being put into the social security fund than is being paid out to retirees.
They certainly deserve their Medicare and Social Security, it just becomes more challenging with poor age distribution.

@Best map:
IMMUNIZATION IS A SPECTACULAR THING AND ALONG WITH PENICILLIN AND THE TRANSISTOR IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY.