WHEN IS OLD TOO OLD?

 

 

The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom

H.L. Mencken

 

Native Americans still venerate their elders, and that is amiable; at the same time, white people worry: What are we going to do with grandma?

 

When society and technology moved at a snail’s pace, the wisdom of oldsters and their reminiscence of things past had relevance. However, as technology constantly evolves almost daily, it is increasingly challenging for older people to keep pace.

 

It is a fact that we all lose a step as we age.  Things are harder to recall, our physical abilities decline, our health becomes a concern, and we find we live more in the past than the present. 

 

At a time when humans are capable of world annihilation, it might be an advantage to have a stable, older person with life experience at the helm, making decisions – but that would depend on the individual. 

However, there comes a time when most older people are not equipped for that level of responsibility.

 

Strom Thermond, the Senator from South Carolina, died in office at age 100.   That is ridiculous. 

 

It is not ageism when I suggest that an age limit for public service, in all capacities, should be set at seventy-five years of age.  No politician's or judge's term should extend beyond their eightieth birthday. 

 

Of course, this leaves me beyond my sell-by date – and rightly so. 

the very old Ol'Buzzard