Whether they occupy the village squares or sit on their doorsteps all day or whether they spend their time quietly indoors or even spend their time travelling from country to country on a dwindling fund, the elderly make for a very significant portion of the population. It is also only a matter of time, and a little luck, that separates the youthful generations of today from the coming period when we wind down and settle in anticipation for that final slumber.
The venerable also conduct themselves in a fashion that sets them apart from more youthful generations and in a way other than that caused by the loss of the more sprightly physical condition of earlier times. For behind the calm gaze of the eyes of one who’s mind is still ‘all there’ one can glimpse the experiences that only a full life can truly bring the self to appreciate. The pain of loss, the pride of achievement, the knowledge of truths and of fallacies, sometimes even the wistfulness of missed opportunities echoing through to the present, can all be found within the elderly person, if one were to search enough.
And that brings me to an important observation. In the context of an ageing society, where a combination of improved health-care and an increased improvement in labour technologies and techniques, the elderly are increasingly regarded by younger generations as being a number of none too flattering things indicative of being a burden. The younger generations, perhaps due to a streak of rebellion or due to the feeling of the pinch of a regressive and unsustainable pension scheme adopted within a number of developed nations, are liable to regard their elders as being entities parasitic in nature or ‘old fossils’, in reference to a staunchness in opinion that a life-time can also bring.
Yes, the generational gap seems all too real, the competitive attitude even seeping into certain cultures where the structure of society promotes a more cohesive relationship, such as can be found in parts of Asia. There the elderly person generally was and is respected and seen to be a well of knowledge and wisdom. They served their societies well in passing on the fruits of their experiences to the younger generations so that they use it to live an easier and productive life.
I would be beneficial to one and all that a shift begins in order to redefine the way that the youthful and elderly generations perceive each other, as well as the underlying conditions that help to determine them to be so, with the elderly person no longer regarded as a social parasite past his or her time but ultimately reinstated as the natural teachers of society, imparting their knowledge and experiences and proving a benefit long after the bones have gone frail.
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