Friday, April 22, 2011
Crazy Old Age
Until recently, I dreamed of achieving a certain level of “dignity” in old age. The lifestyle I had in mind for myself included the ability to travel in business class, to afford nice suits and a good hair cut, new shoes, cab fare, restaurant meals. It would help, of course, to be able to walk unassisted, to chew food, and so forth. When I told my seventy-year-old friend about my goal, he replied flatly, “Good luck.” His pessimism comes from his experiences with disease, intensive medical treatment, daily pills, financial trouble, and other common indignities of aging. He said, for instance, that he has now become invisible to young people. If they notice him at all, it’s only to pity him, baby him. In their eyes, he isn’t a person. After thinking for a while about the troubles of old age, I began to feel fearful and depressed.
The more I considered my likely fate, the more I thought I should talk with the rest of you who are slated for retirement around the year 2030 – and maybe come to some agreement with you about how things will be. I’m worried about conditions in society and, eventually, at the nursing home where we may all wind up bunking together. I don’t want to just give up, plopped in front of a blaring television.
Reviewing my aging cohort today, I’ll tell you what I’m most afraid of. I have this vision of nursing homes populated by totally plugged in, wireless, multi-tasking elders – people who might as well be suffering from Alzheimer’s for all the social and physical energy they’re able to muster. Can we make a pact right now to continue to talk to one another face to face? Can we agree to use our computer gadgetry to accomplish extra-personal goals and not just as aids to a more reclusive fantasy life?
Above all, can we agree to continue to educate ourselves? Why is it so rare to see retirement-aged people studying at universities? Let’s demand programs and scholarships for the elderly. Although I don’t mean that in a purely selfish way, still, let’s face it: at 65, people have a lot of time on their hands. If at 21 we completed degrees for our careers, at 70 let’s become students of the world, for the world.
The more I think about it, the more I’m willing to throw aside my desire for aged dignity in favor of wily activism. Old people should be activists. We should put our accumulated cleverness and deviousness to work for the common good.
Chances are we’ll be politically powerful. The American Health Care Association reports that in 2007 the total population of Americans over 65 years old was almost 38 million, or 12.6% of the overall population. By the year 2030, that retirement-age population will reach 71 million, or almost 20% of the overall population. I want to live long enough to be part of that group. I hope the super-rich 1% of Americans don’t force the rest of us to work at Walmart until we’re ninety. By all means, let’s do what we can to protect the middle class dream now, and let’s sock away as much money as we can, meanwhile protecting Medicare and Social Security. Let’s get in the habit of voting so that politicians will have to listen to our demands. If today’s young people continue to shirk their civic responsibility, we can hope by retirement time to make up the majority of the voting population. But because our own selfish dreams of riches will be behind us, we can use our votes to give our nation universal health care and dependable child care. We can use our lives to encourage young people to take responsibility for the nation. Let’s remain useful. Let’s not fade away. But let’s remember that to renew our usefulness, and to use our power responsibly, we have to keep learning. We have to keep going back to school.
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A random pick from more than 460 Michiana Chronicles -- refresh the browser to see another set:
April Lidinsky -- More essays by April
Joe Chaney -- Crazy Old Age / More essays by Joe
Ken Smith -- More essays by Ken
Jeanette Saddler Taylor -- More essays by Jeanette
Heather Curlee Novak -- More essays by Heather
David James -- More essays by David
Elizabeth Van Jacob -- More essays by Elizabeth
Jeff Nixa -- More essays by Jeff
Louise Collins -- More essays by Louise
Jonathan Nashel -- More essays by Jonathan
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About the series
Michiana Chronicles is a series of radio essays by Jonathan Nashel, Louise Collins, Joe Chaney, Jeanette Saddler Taylor, Jeff Nixa, April Lidinsky, Ken Smith, Heather Curlee Novak, David James, and Elizabeth Van Jacob.
Michiana is the region of north-central Indiana and southern Michigan roughly centered on South Bend, Indiana.
Michiana Chronicles airs on Fridays at 7:35 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on WVPE (88.1 FM), the home of public radio in Elkhart / South Bend, Indiana.
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