Blog archive
April 2024
Stimulated by "Caste"
04/22/2024
Tulsa reparations, Religion and Politics
04/09/2024
March 2024
Trumps War with Black Women
03/31/2024
Addressing The Needs of Older Adults Through Pasadena Village
03/25/2024
Coming Soon: More Resources for Older Americans, Online and in Person
03/25/2024
Community Building Locally and Nationally
03/25/2024
Preparing for the Future with Ready or Not
03/25/2024
Volunteering is at The Heart of the Village
03/25/2024
Women's Liberation: Then and Now
03/25/2024
Writing Memoirs Together
03/25/2024
Current Views on Current Events
03/20/2024
Unchained
03/18/2024
Rumr of Humor issue # 2409
03/10/2024
Blacks Portrayed by European Artists
03/03/2024
Rumor of Humor #2408
03/03/2024
February 2024
Caring for Ourselves and Each Other
02/27/2024
Doug Colliflower Honored
02/27/2024
Great Decisions Connects Us to the Worldwide Community
02/27/2024
Letter from the President
02/27/2024
Pasadena Village's Impact
02/27/2024
The Power of Touch
02/27/2024
Villages as a New Approach to Aging
02/27/2024
Addressing Gang Violence in Pasadena-Altadena
02/21/2024
Rumor of Humor Issue 2407
02/19/2024
Thank You For Caring.
02/12/2024
Rumor of Humor 2405
02/11/2024
Curve Balls
02/10/2024
Sylvan Lane
02/10/2024
Rumor of Humor 2404
02/09/2024
Larry Duplechan, Blacks in Film
02/03/2024
January 2024
Pasadena Village Joins Community Partners in Vaccination Campaign
01/29/2024
Rumor of Humor #2403
01/28/2024
Pasadena Village Joins Two Healthy Aging Resource Projects
01/25/2024
Decluttering: Do It Now
01/24/2024
Village Volunteers Contribute to the Huntington Magic
01/24/2024
Villagers Creating Community
01/24/2024
Villagers Reflect on Black History Month
01/24/2024
Walk With Ease, 2024
01/24/2024
Wide Ranging Discussion on Current Issues
01/22/2024
Wide Ranging Discussion on Current Issues
01/22/2024
Rumor of Humor # 2402
01/21/2024
Rumor of Humor # 2401
01/15/2024
Re- Entry Programs, a Personal Experience
01/08/2024
Eldership: the Last Opportunity
By Bruce ChristensenPosted: 08/30/2022
Men's Time Topic Discussion for Tuesday, September 6 at 9:30am Pacific time.
A Reassessment of the role of elders in Society
By John Bing - From his newsletter
Thanks to Village Member Monica Hubbard for suggesting this article.
Warning: expect a highly generalized perspective.
The elder members of traditional societies were valued for their knowledge and wisdom. Those who had gathered and hunted the longest were thought to best know the ways of plants and animals. Those who longer knew the “Gods,” were expected to better handle prayer.
Doubtless, this was true in part. However, it may not have been the whole story.
I suggest that elders in such societies played a further critical role in the life of their communities. And understanding how might cause us to reconsider the potential value in this century of the men and women who are living healthy productive lives well into their 80s and 90s to their societies
I suggest that the “old” are essential to all societies—-not just as grandparents and actors in cranky codger films. And not just for the stories they can tell, or the fishing spots they know.
They are a source of creativity and innovation. They provide essential guidance to their societies.
We live in communities where positions of authority are held by a “middle group.” They represent, on the whole, those who have benefitted from the social order, from the structures of custom and law that allocate roles and determine rewards. They are an elite, a privileged class, and should not be expected to challenge the norms and rules that facilitated their “rise.” And they may not have seen the failures and suffering that were an essential part of the triumphs and successes of the past, and well understood by preceding generations.
Furthermore, when challenged, they are likely to use established approaches to problems that have not only changed but were never met satisfactorily by these solutions in the first place.
And they will be hesitant to hear the voices of the “rising” generations, the younger men and women more attuned to the risks and possibilities of a changing world.
A senior generation, essentially having put aside ambition and the economic and social interests that structured their lives, are able to reinforce these new voices. The old can listen to the young in ways that established leaders, for many reasons, cannot.
They can ally with each rising generation and provide them with the resources and encouragement to be reckless, as well as cautious. They can patronize new forms of art and music and be the source of many truly imaginative ideas.
Increasing numbers of men and women are retiring early and living healthy lives into their nineties, with opportunities for further learning and with the personal resources to spend well beyond their own material needs.
If only more of us, in our “golden” years, would become aware of the nature and extent of the role we could play in the years ahead.