Behavior: The Old in the Country of the Young

(10 of 10)

The ranker injustices of ageism can be alleviated by governmental action and familial concern, but the basic problem can be solved only by a fundamental and unlikely reordering of the values of society. Social obsolescence will probably be the chronic condition of the aged, like the other deficits and disabilities they learn to live with. But even in a society that has no role for them, aging individuals can try to carve out their own various niches. The noblest role, of course, is an affirmative one quite simply to demonstrate how to live and how to die. If the aged have any responsibility, it is to show the next generation how to face :he ultimate concerns. As Octogenarian Scott-Maxwell puts it: "Age is an intense and varied experience, almost beyond our capacity at times, but something to be carried high. If it is a long defeat, it is also a victory, meaningful for the initiates of time, if not for those who have come less far."