Gosh, I was piqued by some of the discussion toward the end of class that intimated that other professors teach that elderly people are a drag on the economy.
So, while dinner is cooking I want to expound a little.
The elderly are not freeloaders. Most working people in our economy contribute to their retirement with every paycheck via a social security account. For those lucky enough to be earning a pension, additional amounts from their pay are contributed to a retirement account. These are not bonuses, but are deferred wages. So, when people receive their modest social security or pensions, they are receiving back money they earned. (For clarity, the only people who get money they are not earning are the very wealthy who take it from people who are working. And also undocumented workers pay into social security and other funds with no hope of ever collecting.)
Elderly people without sufficient income are still working for pay and healthcare into their 70s – you see them every day as grocery baggers, department store greeters, retail clerks…
The elderly are not idle. It was a funny truism that when a member of my senior exercise class would be wondrously happy at the prospect of being a grandparent, we others knew that we were seeing the last of them. Because as soon as the baby was born, boom!, our friend would disappear to be enmeshed in fulltime baby care.
But we don’t all do child care. A quick survey of what people like me are doing yields volunteer hours at food banks, animal shelters, gardens, teacher’s aides, hospital and hospice assistants, crossing guards, in-home healthcare givers, tax advisors. Many of us are in the streets and legislative meetings demanding graduated taxes, decent schools and healthcare and police accountability and an end to wars. We work hard to keep and extend the public services we know young and not-so-young people will continue to need.
Our society depends on the unpaid work of elderly just as it requires the unpaid work of women in the home.
One time I went with a group of retirees to talk with then-Boeing CEO Phil Condit. We were seeking cost-of-living increases for pensions. (Without that, the value of a pension decreases every year.) He had the temerity to tell us that our pensions were a drag on Boeing’s ability to compete with Airbus because European workers got old-age pensions from the state, rather than a company. He demurred about demanding such as system here. And he got an irate earful about all the wealth former workers had created for the company.
Uhoh, I smell peppers burning so I need to close, but I think you get my drift.
I showed the post to my elderly brother who is supporting refugees and the Starbucks organizers in NY. He has a thought for classmates who, with luck, will grow old sometime. ” a word in defense of idleness and freeloading, precious life skills we savor and can teach newbie capitalists about appreciating a full life, stopping to smell the roses, and supporting a more humane society.”
Henry,
thank you so much for sharing. You are so right, elderly people so greatly contribute to our society and it is fully unfair to write this off. I have sincerely appreciated your presence in this course and you always bring in such insightful perspectives. Thank you 🙂
The elderly are absolutely not freeloaders, while it is true that they are earning their money back they are also still contributing to society in way that most people forget. As my grandmother neared the end of her life, she could not work or make any money but she still contributed to those around her. She was one of the wisest people I’ve ever met and through stories about her experiences, I gained greater understanding into the current socio-political climate than I ever would have without her. Her knowledge was not textbook appropriate, but it was insightful and accurate. She taught me some of the nuances of racism and how familial feelings that existed in the 1950s are passed down from generations and still exist today. I learned this when I was in elementary school, before I read any textbooks or had any formal academic experience with complex social studies. The knowledge and experience that those older than us possess is a form of wealth all on its own. It is to be given with love and not to be dictated by a set curriculum. It is invaluable.
What you wrote is a lovely tribute to your grandmother. She sounds like a really wonderful woman and mentor.
Thank you so much for telling us about her and the wealth she bestowed on you.
I’ve enjoyed being in this class with you. Good luck with all your studies..
I personally would never believe that the elderly are freeloaders in any aspect. I believe that in many ways we are able to succeed through their experiences, wisdom/knowledge, traditions etc, and in many ways we as the current generation have the opportunity to pass on knowledge from our elders to future generations. Coming from an Armenian family I can say without a doubt that elders are amongst the most respected community for their services and also being the keepers of knowledge, a type of knowledge that no book could ever express. For example, the Armenian Genocide, many people fled and survived the horrors that were set upon them and lived to share their stories. It is thanks to them that the Armenian community is able to grow and carry on thousands of years of traditions and knowledge. Every elder I’ve come across never failed to challenge my current knowledge and to also be taught something new. The different sacrifices and innovative ideas that elders bring to the table unfortunately can be highly underestimated these days, but I can only hope that when I’ll be considered an elder that I would be able to pass on current and future knowledge to my own children, and others in my community.
Thank you Monica. I think that when the economists who see oldsters as drains, they don’t consider their relations with their own grandparents. Too much is lost when every thing and person is seen only as a commodity to be assigned a dollar value and cast aside if it’s too low.
Your Armenian community is a good case in point of elders being the “keepers of the flame of knowledge”
When someone tries to pit youth vs elders I am suspicious of what they hope to gain.
Thank you for your support.
I personally would never believe that the elderly are freeloaders in any aspect. I believe that in many ways we are able to succeed through their experiences, wisdom/knowledge, traditions etc, and in many ways we as the current generation have the opportunity to pass on knowledge from our elders to future generations. Coming from an Armenian family I can say without a doubt that elders are amongst the most respected community for their services and also being the keepers of knowledge, a type of knowledge that no book could ever express. For example, the Armenian Genocide, many people fled and survived the horrors that were set upon them and lived to share their stories. It is thanks to them that the Armenian community is able to grow and carry on thousands of years of traditions and knowledge. Every elder I’ve come across never failed to challenge my current knowledge and to also be taught something new. The different sacrifices and innovative ideas that elders bring to the table unfortunately can be highly underestimated these days, but I can only hope that when I’ll be considered an elder that I would be able to pass on current and future knowledge to my own children, and others in my community.
In conversation with Henry on Friday, I mentioned that my grandma is part of a Western swing band. (My grandpa was as well, before he passed away.) The genre is a bit of an acquired taste, but I enjoy it because I grew up with it. I have fond memories of spending weekends and my grandparents’ house growing up, composing songs on their guitars, exploring my grandpa’s record collection, and being tucked into bed by my grandma with a Western swing song as a lullaby. The genre is slowly dying out as its audience grows older and older. It doesn’t appeal much to people in our generation–no fault of ours, tastes just change as the music industry develops–and you have to know what to search for in order to find it online. It makes me sad to think that someday, perhaps in the near future, there will be no more Western swing artists nor listeners; I’ve always felt unsettled at the thought of the vast quantities of knowledge, culture, and personal experience that have been lost to history, from ordinary people’s diaries and recipes to entire languages and genres of music. After this course, I find myself wondering why it’s so important to me that every piece of information survives indefinitely (could it have something to do with the Internet and the rise of recording everything we do?), and I’ve been considering what it would entail to come to terms with the “mortality” of knowledge. I need not cry over the fact that most people who have lived and most songs which have been sung have also been forgotten. At the same time, there’s no harm in singing “Move it on Over” to my friends’, my siblings’, and potentially my own children.
http://thesundownersband.com/
https://youtu.be/nKOKXSxrIMc
I hope your Grandmother has a chance to read this, Hannah. I love it. Grandmothers come in different styles and flavors and they all have lasting impacts. What a treat to be descended from an entertainer who’s still active.
I like that you are concerned about lapsing cultural items. Some smart person once said that when a person dies, an encyclopedia is lost. But, I think Hank Williams’ songs will be around a long time. Certainly, he’ll be remembered every time someone gets fleas from having to spend the night in a doghouse.