David Brooks on 'Being Old'
In a column in today's New York Times, conservative pundit David Brooks talks about a fascinating book he discovered on a road trip. "Autobiography of an Elderly Woman" was published in 1911, and contained what Brooks considers to be true insights into aging in an earlier era. He quotes the author:
“I do not know when the change came, nor do they, if indeed they realize it at all,” she writes. “There was a time when I was of their generation; now I am not. I cannot put my finger on the time when old age finally claimed me. But there came a moment when my boys were more thoughtful of me, when they didn’t come to me anymore with their perplexities, not because I had what is called ‘failed,’ but because they felt that the time had come when I ought to be ‘spared’ every possible worry. So there is a conspiracy of silence against me in my household.”
The column is thought-provoking but oddly ambiguous. And what does Brooks mean when he concludes "I don’t know how many of her opinions will ring true to today’s oldsters. Now, elderly are richer, more active and more engaged than their cohorts of a century ago, but are they still living in a different dimension?
“I do not know when the change came, nor do they, if indeed they realize it at all,” she writes. “There was a time when I was of their generation; now I am not. I cannot put my finger on the time when old age finally claimed me. But there came a moment when my boys were more thoughtful of me, when they didn’t come to me anymore with their perplexities, not because I had what is called ‘failed,’ but because they felt that the time had come when I ought to be ‘spared’ every possible worry. So there is a conspiracy of silence against me in my household.”
The column is thought-provoking but oddly ambiguous. And what does Brooks mean when he concludes "I don’t know how many of her opinions will ring true to today’s oldsters. Now, elderly are richer, more active and more engaged than their cohorts of a century ago, but are they still living in a different dimension?
"Is it now a dimension of their own choosing?"
If you subscribe to Times Select, you can read the column here. We'd like to find out what you think. Send us comments and we'll post them.
Labels: aging
posted by Prime Time Radio Staff at 10:16 PM
3 Comments:
(originally posted on Encore.org at http://www.encore.org/news/david-brooks-being-old-t)
Brooks is putting his finger on a key feature of the social invention we now know as “retirement.” A century ago, people who were “too old to work and too young to die,” in Walter Reuther’s famous phrase, were shoved out of productive roles. As Marc Freedman describes in Encore, it took savvy marketers eager to tap pensions and Social Security payments to rebrand retirement as “the Golden Years.” Their concerted efforts convinced old folks they weren’t castoffs at all, but rather America’s new aristocrats, able to live a life of leisure centered around the golf course. The push out of the labor force became a pull; people rushed not only to retirement, but to early retirement.
As Brooks suggests, that mindset of withdrawal has persisted even as the direction of underlying forces has reversed. People are living longer and healthier lives. Surveys shows that most want to remain productive and engaged at the same time that disappearing pensions and inadequate savings mean many people need continued income. Corporations, government agencies and nonprofit organizations, meanwhile, are hungry for talent.
“Imagine this new compact,” Freedman writes. “If you sign up for a significant new stage of work and if you invest in and prepare for this phase, society will meet you halfway,” clearing away barriers, providing effective pathways, offering opportunities to use your skills, experience and know-how in areas where they are genuinely needed. “In short, people will have a chance at an encore career, a body of work that offers continued income, social connection, and the promise of purpose and significance in the second half of life.”
Nearly everyone knows a fifty-, sixty-, or seventy-something (and many even older) doing amazing work in this new phase of life. Indeed, in the last two years, more than 2,000 people have been nominated for the Purpose Prize, awarded by Civic Ventures, which recognize innovators over 60 who are tackling significant social challenges. This year’s winners include men and women who are using their experience to come up with creative solutions to infant mortality, hunger, the dropout rate among Hispanic youth, inadequate disaster preparedness and foster care.
Just as the Golden Years turned the push toward retirement into a pull toward a life of leisure, meaningful and satisfying encore careers can turn the push toward longer working lives into a pull toward sustained engagement and impact. Yes, that will help ease the government’s fiscal crisis and employers’ talent shortages. But more importantly, it will enable a class of people “to exercise their capacities” on things that really matter.
A century from now, a columnist stumbling on an autobiography of an older adult of today will likely be surprised that such encore careers were once considered novelties at all.
David, thanks for your thoughtful and engaging answer. We are trying to start conversations like this with our radio programs at AARP and elsewhere in the organization, as you know.
As soon as it's finished, we will post links to next week's Prime Time Radio segment with Marc Freedman discussing exactly these issues. (to air August 14th)
Meanwhile, feel free to send people here to the blog, to create links from here back to your content on the sites connected with the new "Encore" book, Civic Ventures, and the Purpose Prize... and to link from those places to relevant content on our radio site.
Let's keep talking...
I am old (70+)and thus must be considered well-entrenched in old age. Old age is a diverse and dynamic world with many truths, not all of which seem compatible. My mind is failing. Not conspicuously, not yet dangerously, but I no longer do fluent mathematics in my head when walking and I now make written shopping lists where once I did not.
Money is important-very important. It is nice that I can supply money to a few others, but better yet that I rely on no one, and never will, for my ordinary and extraordinary expenses.
Old age is a learning time. About the aging body, of course. But also about reading hundreds of fascinating books. "The Logic of Life," by Tim Hartman is 2/3 read, and is in front of me. I gifted economist tells of the economic realities behind part of our messy world. "Over a Barrel," by John S Duffield is now completely read. It is a fascinating story of how deeply we pay for our imported oil.
Old age, if one is fortunate, is a time when all the painful wise decisions of early years pay off. Weight control then means a healthier body now. Waiting to marry the right lady, as I did 41+ years ago, now brings the delights of that many happy years, with more to come.
Aging is a journey with only one end. But until the end, there are many possibilities and it is up to each of us to make the most of our opportunities and the least of our misfortunes.
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