How old is too old? It’s a bit of a strange question, but one that apparently some serious people are asking and answering. Some are opinion leaders and influencers, persons in prominent positions who shape public policy. How old is too old? When do you cease to be a contributor to society and become a leech? Is there an age at which we would all be better off if you just died?
To me, it is bizarre that we are having this conversation. There was a time when to be old was to be revered, respected, and honored. There was a time when an elderly person was looked to for her opinion on important topics, like how to raise a child, what makes a marriage work, how to achieve a meaningful life. Now, it seems, elderly people are incapable of having meaningful lives, so we would just rather they go away quietly so we can remember them as young, vital and worthwhile people.
You may think I’m exaggerating. I wish I was. None other than Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the National Institutes of Health and the head of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, has questioned the value of older adulthood. Dr. Emanuel served as a chief adviser to President Obama’s and an architect of the Affordable Care Act. Emanuel is not someone of the fringe of academia, he is in the very center of two massively influential institutions and remains an important figure on the American health care scene.
Emanuel argues that seventy-six is too old. After seventy-five, according to him, we lose our creative potential, our health declines and the ratio of contribution to drain on society reverses. We’re better off, and so is society, if we are dead.
He writes in The Atlantic that living too long:
renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived. It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work, society, the world. It transforms how people experience us, relate to us, and, most important, remember us.
There are so many things wrong with his argument that I do not have time, literally, to deal with it all. But I do want to say two things.
First, this is a symptom of the cheapening of life in our society. A deprived version of Utilitarianism is at work. If you have a use, you matter. If not, too bad for you. Thus, an unplanned child’s life can be snuffed out because her parents do not have any room for her in their lives. The other end of life is cheapened as well. If the elderly are a burden then they need to move along and make room for the younger generation.
The ridiculous notion on which his argument is founded is that older people don’t have anything, or much, to contribute, at least not enough to merit their continued existence on this planet. He points to the simple fact that there are more old people now and their numbers are growing. I guess a few old people are okay. He goes on to say that we are inordinately sick when older, we can become disabled, and we grow mentally less sharp. Children and grandchildren want to remember their parents and grandparents as vital, healthy people, so we should not intervene medically and allow people to die after age seventy-five.
The biggest failure of his argument, which is a failure of his philosophy, is that he ignores the biggest contribution older people have to make: wisdom.
In some cultures, namely Asian, older persons are venerated for their wisdom. Their opinion matters. Though they may not keep up with the latest and greatest gadgets, the things that matter most: human nature, relationships, success through hard work, these things do not change and this is where younger people have much to gain through cultivating relationships with the more experienced. Instead of shuffling them out the door toward the sunset, how about pouring a cup of coffee and sitting down and actually having a conversation?
It saddens me that Emanuel is even taken seriously enough to have his article published, much less in as respected a publication as The Atlantic. It saddens me that our society is going down this road. Perhaps we will have a fresh awakening to God’s truth and begin to take our cues from Scripture rather than empty philosophies that have no power to improve life.
We might actually learn something, our lives might be enriched and blessed if we learn God’s attitude toward older persons:
“‘Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:32 (NIV)