We North American seniors may feel like Rodney Dangerfield. Like we “don’t get no respect.”
Our culture is youth-oriented. Workers over 40 have difficulty finding jobs, although things may be a little different these days in regions where the economy is booming.
Unless you’re a judge or a doctor, as an older person your chances to decide what happens in your life can be limited. Only recently have some of the provinces begun to cover us over-65’s against discrimination in employment under human rights legislation.
A man with a microphone took to the streets of a major city recently and accosted young folks. “What do you think about the fact that some day you’re going to be old?” You can guess the response -- a lot of discomfort. One young woman replied, “I try not to think about it.”
Let’s look back to the Dirty Thirties. With the Great Depression in full swing, the U.S. government enacted the Social Security Act. Retirement was to be at 65. The law provided for a measure of financial security for older people, but it also carried a hidden message: people older than 65 are in the way. If older people could be moved out of the work force, so the thinking went, then there would be jobs for some of the millions pounding the bricks.
In many ways our culture is ambivalent about old age, but people are in no hurry to get there. Things are different in other cultures, not necessarily better, but different. Here are some examples.
The Chinese Confucian ideal of filial piety and ancestor sanctification is well known, and it is still a factor in China, though as more and more Chinese flee rural poverty to crowd into the big city this ideal is becoming frayed.
Among Arabs, the oldest male in a household rules the roost. If you’re an older man, that may not be so bad, but a senior woman would need to take orders from a son -- or even a grandson. While circumstances might lead to a similar situation in our society, it would not be the cultural norm.
India has long since outlawed the tradition of suttee, in which a widow threw herself on her husband’s funeral pyre, but there are still isolated instances of the practice.
You have undoubtedly heard of the polar Inuit sending old people off on ice flows to die. While the situation has occurred, it has only been in extreme circumstances where the community is threatened with starvation.
More generally, in traditional Inuit culture, before the onslaught of southern influences, the local community followed the directions set by the elders. They were given respect and their views were followed on when to go on the hunt and how to maintain boats and other equipment. They were in charge of food distribution, which assured that except in extreme circumstances they would get a reasonable allotment.
Older Inuit would pass on to the children games, rituals, stories, and songs. The children turned to them for affection, and seniors and children helped each other out with chores. As southern ways impose themselves more and more, the power and influence of seniors is declining in the Inuit social order.
As opposed to the young woman who didn’t want to think about being old, Samoans see old age as the best time of life. In Samoa, old age is determined by when a person can no longer perform agricultural work. At that point, a man can work or not, as he pleases. Work is less strenuous: weeding, trapping fish in shallow water, sewing thatching for roofs. Older women weave mats, baskets, tapestries, and fans. Chiefs are usually old, as are prayer-leaders and those who teach the traditions. Older men also help out with “women’s work,” an undertaking not seen as in any way diminishing their stature.
While killing older people in Inuit culture was a rare event, in cases of extreme deprivation and desperation, among the Samoans it used to be much more common. An old person in poor health would ask to be put to death. A preferred method was to be buried alive.
As a final example, we have the Pennsylvania Amish. Based on their strict adherence to the Bible, they honour not only parents but also grandparents. Honouring also includes obedience. Older people tend to be in control of the community. More weight is given to their views than to those of younger people. They are sought out for their wisdom.
When an Amish farmer retires, he sells his land to a son or son-in-law, often in installments, but he keeps a house on the property. He also assists in the running of the farm until he feels assured that the new owner knows what he is doing.
The Amish senior then settles on a new trade, perhaps handicrafts. Senior years are seen as a golden time for women. They use their time to make quilts, cushions, and suits.
Older Amish are autonomous yet integrated in the lives of their children and grandchildren. They keep their own horse and buggy. And after they have to give up their second trade they may still do household chores such as emptying the garbage. The Amish have no insurance and gained exemption from governmental support programs, so their retirement is self-financed. If they end up in need, they rely on the church.
People in different cultures deal with the universal fact of aging in different ways. Perhaps we would like more respect, but we might not like some of the other things that go with it. I certainly would prefer not to be buried alive.
Written by Reuel S. Amdur
Source : http://seniorsdaily.net
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
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