The negative paradigm of aging continues to imbue our civilization. I recently had the opportunity to discuss the concept of getting older with my class of fifteen-year-olds at a local high-ranking high school. These young people are all from good families with mostly well-educated parents. Though there were some exceptions, the vast majority continue to view aging as a disease, not as a celebratory time of deep wisdom and societal involvement. It was a tragic wake-up call: we must educate more. Where does this misconception come from? Firstly, it is from the aged themselves: many old people are apologists for a life poorly lived: they are physically, spiritually and intellectually unwell. These attributes are many times, chosen by a dissolute life and not arbitrarily given by the heavy hand of an “unjust” God. Secondly, our concept of retirement as an institution is from Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), Chancellor of newly formed German Empire (1). His policy was to remove older, hence less productive, workers from the labor force and to prevent poverty (and probably a revolution), the old industrial employees were awarded a small stipend or pension. The main motivation here was capitalism (2) and productivity, not caring and compassion.
What is perplexing is that older people are like our grandparents. They define what it means to have strength in the self, power in the world and love for humanity. If they are removed from active participation in the society and then, at some point, simply warehoused in some old folks prison (sorry, I mean “home”) to die, it is the community, that suffers. The vast majority of society’s ideas, thoughts and inventions were, and are, created by older and not younger individuals. (3) Someone once asked the playwright, Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) what, in his opinion, is the most beautiful thing in this world. “Youth,” he replied, “is the most beautiful thing in this world — and what a pity that it has to be wasted on children!” This was eventually reduced to the more concise expression: Youth is wasted on the young. (4) The problem is that our contemporary world is in love with the newness of things: a new cell phone, a new computer game, a new boy band, and a newly minted boy-band, for example. “In the west, scholars present the current century as ‘the century of old age’: there are fewer children and an increase in elderly people. This imbalance is a great challenge to contemporary society. And yet, a certain culture of profit insists on making the elderly appear to be a burden, an extra weight. They are not only unproductive; they are an encumbrance and are to be discarded. And discarding them is sinful. We do not dare to say this openly, but it happens. There is something cowardly in this ‘inurement’ to a throwaway culture. We want to remove our growing fear of weakness and vulnerability, but in this way, we increase in the elderly the anguish of being inadequately supported and abandoned.”
“ … We are all a little fragile, the elderly. Some, however, are particularly weak, many are alone, and affected by illness. Some depend on the indispensable care and attention of others. Will we take a step back for this? Will we abandon them to their fate? A society without closeness, in which gratuitousness and selfless affection — even among strangers — are disappearing, is a perverse society … Where there is no honor to the elderly; there is no future for the young.” (5)
We must find a way to create a diverse community in our neighborhood. We simply cannot be a mono-generational civilization. Without the imagination of the young and the analysis of the old, we are finished as a thoughtful and intellectual species. The playwright, Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) leaves us with a thought: It is well to believe that there needs but a little more thought, a little more courage, more love, more devotion to life, a little more eagerness, one day to fling open wide the portals of joy and of truth.”
A closing thought: The only way our community of men will grow and blossom is to live in an integrated community. The young, the middle-aged and the old must all cohabitate in a society. This is ideally created in a village atmosphere. Many cities are trying very hard to create livable communities based on this model. One of the great gifts that I receive on a weekly basis is my exposure to literally hundreds of young ideas from a multitude of young people. They are not all well thought out or even clever, but they are novel and fresh. Society is much like a forest. The old oaks shelter the undergrowth so that the new saplings can find nourishment and are, therefore, able to mature.
To sum up: This week we spoke about agedness. We discussed why it is not a disease but a blessing. Our society needs all members, the young, the middle-aged and the old to contribute to its growth. The old have a lot to contribute if we will only listen.
An educational encounter: There is an archaic expression in English that we have adopted as part of our regular parlance: “Let’s go Dutch.” There is only one way to view this expression: a negative one. You are not generous, so you will only pay for yourself. This is because money is very important and you are Dutch, after all: we all know they are very cheap.
Just for fun – Elvis Presley
This week, please think of your own life as you age. Are you happy for each and every day?
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Quote: Whether I am six or sixty-one, I must celebrate every day of life. The dawn signals an opportunity to, once again, affect change in the world.
Footnotes:
1) How Retirement Was Invented
2) Capitalism
3) 13 Most Intelligent People In The History Of The World
4) The expression was first ascribed to George Bernard Shaw in the syndicated newspaper column called “Cook-Coos” by Ted Cook in February 1931.
5) Pope Francis: General audience, St. Peter’s Square, March 4, 2015