A Call to Wisdom Part II

The “Wise Elder” In History

In the first installment of “A Call to Wisdom” I’d asserted the following conclusions regarding the way we currently view our senior population:

1. True respect for our older population is generally absent and any real contributions from our senior population are generally discounted.
2. Our current population of seniors from 1960 and before readily accept this attitude of disrespect as they are quietly “let out to pasture”.
3. For reasons yet to be discussed, I believe we deserve this negative standing.
4. Our current world desperately needs the contributions of a wise and highly respected “Elder Sage Constituency”.

In this segment I’d firstly like to look at some history to identify a source of hidden treasure in our current senior population and then I’d like to compare what we currently have with how, in history, one particular society successfully drew upon their significant reserve of wisdom and experience.

I was born in Oct. of 1953 and readily identify with being a “baby boomer”. I’d therefore address this group as being my generation and why I believe we have a special potential to fill these shoes and this station I promote. Our parents were affectionately and (in my opinion, accurately) labeled as "The Greatest Generation". We were brought up to respect hard work, honesty, God and Country. They fully exercised their right to worship as they saw fit and, in industry, took full advantage of our free markets to ultimately grow the most abundant economy the world had ever seen. They did it by partaking in the simple and effective implementation of supply vs. demand. By simply focusing on providing what others needed, they were able to utilize their myriad of skills, gifts and talents to not only divide a "Pie of Limited Size", but to expand that pie so that everyone could partake. When faced with a world threatened by fascism, they ultimately devoted their all and with courage, discipline and ultimate denial of self (to the death), to defeat the enemy and make the world again safe. Safe for us, the “baby boomer” generation.

Another important element to consider that influenced both our “baby boomer” population and our parents as well (that “Greatest Generation”) is their parents or our grandparents. Do not think for a minute that the hardship faced by those adults alive in the 1930’s during the great depression hadn’t had a profound impact on making this “Greatest Generation” who they were as well. Those of us who grew up in the 50’s and 60’s were certainly witness to the effect these times had on both our parents and grandparents. We’ve all heard of and seen examples of thrift displayed as a result of that period. In my grandmother's home for example, nothing was thrown away; Leftovers had numerous levels of incarnation until they were entirely consumed. Old clothes were handed down and re-purposed as handkerchiefs, patches and even used in patchwork quilts. We all have recollections as such and these are the fruits of hardship. Waste was the enemy and the struggle to squeeze every bit of usefulness out of whatever resources they had was real. Their struggle was in fact, the stimuli that made them who they were (and ultimately us through three generations), and in reality, resulted in the very marrow of wisdom that transcended any facts regarding the great depression. They had to be witnessed to impact us and that wisdom, born of our experience of that testimony, from both generations, is about to be lost to the world.

Please do not think I’m advocating a view of the “good old days” as idyllic. I’m not suggesting that in any way, shape or form, and yet, our parents & grandparents character and resolve to make the world a better place for you and I can hardly be questioned. They were refined by the fire and though far from perfect, they were a far better people because of their trials. As a result, they accomplished their goal and created a world of unmatched prosperity and health. Our lifespan increased greater than any other in history, and this generation has, without question, been blessed with a material success previously unseen.

And true to the aforementioned quote from part I, we, having been “Brought up easy, let it slip away again”. We then compound the effects of our comparatively easy lives by succumbing to the siren of “early retirement” and an extended life of leisure and enjoyment. With hardly a care, we’d accept the inevitable decline and make the most of our retirement years. After all, we’ve earned it, hadn’t we? And with this acceptance of a life that is “Out to Pasture”, we’ve simply turned over the problems of our children's generation to a world so different to us that we’d hardly known where to start. And by accepting this second conclusion of mine, that we’d accepted this “senile” and “bumbling” stereotype of aging without the slightest contest, we’ve begun the transition to a status of derision among our world as being anything but wise.
Instead of belabouring the reasons why I believe this to be accurate, I’d like to visit some kindred history that I feel may be useful in demonstrating an entirely different manner in which old age is viewed. While it is my belief that historical comparisons will never quite provide accurate parallels to our own technology influenced world (whose rate of seismic level change is something never before seen), I believe the Ancient Roman Empire may provide some direction for us to work with and compare.

One particular resource I’ve found which covered the topic perfectly for the purpose of this article was a transcript from a presentation by Dr. Karen Cokayne entitled “Old Age in Ancient Rome”.  I’ve found numerous points that I’d like to use specifically from it.

“Old age was seen as a period when accumulated experience could bring increased wisdom and good judgement. Cicero wrote: ‘for there is assuredly nothing dearer to a man than wisdom, and though age takes away all else, it undoubtedly brings us that’ (Tusculanae disputationes 1.39.94; cf De Senectute 6.17). ”

“Rome had, traditionally, faith in their aged and believed that society should make practical use of the experience and wisdom of the old. They were seen as teachers and counsellors. This goes back as far as early Rome: Livy (1.9) described how Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome, in his organization of society, had created a body of hundred older senators, senes, capable of ensuring continuity of policy. The old, therefore, still had a public role to play. Cicero wrote, for example:

‘The old…should have their physical labours reduced; their mental activities should be actually increased. They should endeavour too, by means of their counsel and practical wisdom to be of as much service as possible to their friends and to the young, and above all to the state’ (De Officiis 1.33.123; De Senectute 5.15ff).””

Let me state here however that I don’t think our society is inherently ageist! I personally know of examples where the elderly are appreciated and valued. This is precisely where I find fault with our current crop of “Baby Boomer” elders. You see, the value and respect of experience did not automatically infer to an individual the moment he or she became a certain age. The respect and value had to be earned and demonstrated.

Cokayne continued:

“But, and this was frequently emphasized, wisdom did not come automatically to the old; ‘Wisdom comes haphazard to no man’, said Seneca (Epistles 76.6). Not all old men were therefore wise men. Wisdom had to be worked at - by hard work, study and especially by virtuous living.”

“The old had to be an example to the young, as it was thought the young learned by example. This was ingrained in Roman society. A proverb found in Publilius Syrus, 1st century BC (Sententiae 590W) proclaims: ‘When seniors blunder, juniors learn but ill’. It was made abundantly clear: flamboyance and extravagant behaviour should only belong to youth.

It immediately becomes obvious to me that the once highly esteemed mantra of our early parenting years “Your children learn more by your example than your words” remains a principle that we’ll never outlive. The world is watching, and rightly so. It is my honest belief that the world is hungry for wisdom, and ready to be lead. Humanity is looking for a way to put our civilization on track and will respond only to that which is real and those whose actions and lifestyles embody and exemplify such wisdom. Let’s only hope, we’ve not strayed so far that its’ recognition is beyond the grasp of the many.

In reading further, we find that they earned their respect by being examples of moderation and taking care of themselves.

“Of course only the fit and able were still capable of being of use to society. Many of the old therefore made considerable efforts to keep physically and mentally fit. Cicero even thought that it was an old man’s duty (my italics) to fight old age by taking care of himself through following a regimen of health - so he could be useful to the state (de Senectute 11.35-36). It was believed that living a moderate lifestyle with regular physical and mental exercises would preserve health and delay the symptoms of ageing. “

Even the elderly’s attitudes towards leisure in retirement was diametrically opposed to our modern inclination to live in a state of continual ease and comfort.

“But even in retirement idleness and mental inactivity were frowned upon. Otium, often translated - for lack of a better word as ‘leisure time’ - was a highly charged word in the moralistic texts and was often associated with a degenerate lifestyle. Retirement was seen as the right time for study and other learned activities. The possibility of a mental decline in ageing was not considered in these contexts. Seneca, when in his late sixties, wrote that he never spent a day in idleness; he even appropriated part of the night for study (Epistles 8.1). Ideally, one should set aside a certain part of every day for improving one’s mind by reading, writing and serious conversations.”

Her expert opinion is then summed up with the following statement (emphasis mine):

“How the old are treated is a cultural phenomenon, but my research has shown that attitude towards old age was also influenced by the old themselves, and was dependent on their personal health and constitution and especially their attitude to life.”

And so we see that our attitudes toward what we do with our lives in our later years can (and should) be the defining attributes that mold our place in our modern society.  We currently have a “Baby Boomer” generation that was not only raised by the “Greatest Generation”, but were witness the resulting sensibilities which were born of the Great Depression. It is my contention that our very makeup begets a most fertile stock from which a magnificent harvest of wisdom could develop. I think of a quote by the greek philosopher Plato who said:

There are three classes of men:

Lovers of Wisdom,

Lovers of Honor, and           

Lovers of Gain

In considering this quote I find it interesting to perhaps attribute each of these classes to a “Scale of Nobility”, if you will. “Lovers of Gain” would indeed take the lowest rung on this scale with the “Lovers of Honor” considerably higher. Those “Lovers of Wisdom” however, I see as paramount as I believe wisdom would encompass both honor and gain in the process. to consider myself one to correct Plato himself, I believe there to be a lower class than those who love gain (In, reality, probably a subset of the “gain” motivated group), and that is those who are “Lovers of Pleasure”.

It is here, amidst this call to pleasure, being masterfully sold in the market driven electronic agora in which we continually dwell, that the quest for wisdom, “worked at - by hard work, study and especially by virtuous living” has been deflected and our entire future sold, for nothing more than a pot of beans as it were (or Burgers, of course).

In the next installment of this “Call to Wisdom”, I’ll address how we have succumbed to the siren of pleasure and currently value it even more than gain, honor, or wisdom combined. I’ll specifically point out where we’ve gone wrong and I hope to set forth why, I believe, our current elder generation (the baby boomers), have both the largest challenges in regards to becoming the resource of wisdom we need and simultaneously, the only one with the capacity, so far, to meet the most pressing challenges our humanity has yet to encounter..

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Best Regards Until Then,

Daryll