Are old people not respected enough in our societies?

[noname223]

It is often said the youth has not respect for old people and their wisdom. But I think this crticism is told since centuries. Still I am ambivalent about it. I think there is not enough respect for other people in general in this world.
We often don't care about the strangers we meet. And the more different the other person is the less empathy one has for them. This is at least my impression.
I think it is hard to live with an old body. With sensitive bones and stuff like that.

Though when I compare the life of my grandma with mine she has the better life quality. I think she is way more resilient than me. I am very vulnerable and fragile instead. She always has been through a lot but life did not break her. I try to treat her well because I know she is old and this can make life quite hard. But at the same time I envy her. She had so many decades of life without torture. Me instead I have now suicidal thoughts daily for the half of my life and there seems to be no end of it during my lifetime. She did not intervene in my abuse so she is also responsible for it.

Though I don't start an argument with her there is no really benefit of doing that.

It is said the pensions are too low in my country. But the same goes for welfare for unemployed people. I think unemployed have it worse. The politicians always give the pensioners a lot of money because they are the ones who vote the most. It is the most important target group in my country. But the system might collapse due to demographics. I am kind of scared because of that. But I have to emphasize there are still retirees who barely can live with their money. This is quite unfair. But there are also others who live a quite comfortable lives.

 

[Smart No More]

Elderly people are definitely given less consideration overall. As they're people, much like all of us humans their deserving for respect is quite varied. Unfortunately people in the prime of life rarely give them enough consideration to discover whether they deserve respect or not because ultimately nobidy eants to be bogged down or face by old age at their peak of life. They're trying live in blissful ignorance to to their inevitability. To most people there's no pay off to extending themselves out toward someones suffering. Whether it's the elderly or the sick. Think about it. Even amongst humans of a prime healthy age they're particular about who they give their attention. Usually putting famous people on a pedestal and worshipping at their feet. Elderly people are the exact opposite of that and represent the inverse of humans instinct to covet celebs.

 

[chronicphysicalpain]

In the country where I live, Spain, they're pretty much worshipped almost everywhere even in cases where they don't deserve it. No idea on other places.

 

[Smart No More]

In the country where I live, Spain, they're pretty much worshipped almost everywhere even in cases where they don't deserve it. No idea on other places.

That's a good point. Different societies have different values. I'm glad they're still treated better in some place.

 

[justtoojaded]

I worked at a nursing home in Los Angeles in my early 20s. Elderly people are not respected. They're abused. I would never want to grow old. It seems miserable.

In the country where I live, Spain, they're pretty much worshipped almost everywhere even in cases where they don't deserve it. No idea on other places.

That's interesting.

 

[Celerity]

Depends. I think people aged 50-70 get too much respect, but that may be clouded by my experience with Boomers. My retail experience has revealed just how petty and childish that generation is.

 

[Poor Stargazer]

I think the Boomers had it easy. They could walk out of highschool and if they chose to not go to a free state university, they could land a high paying manufacturing job. They could make enough money to have a single parent work, usually the man while the mom got to stay home with their family and raise the children. They made enough money to actually buy a house, have 4 or 5 kids, take a couple of vacations a year and retire with a generous pension. Then they sat on their asses while the programs that gave them the opportunity to be economically mobile were systematically voted away, all the while calling my generation lazy and the trophy generation. They definatly left the world way worse off then they recieved it. I have no respect for old people simply because theyre old. I know this isnt every Boomer also, just the majority of them id say.

 

[Smart No More]

Well what about when we're old? Will we be unworthy of respect just because we're old?

 

[Poor Stargazer]

Im not sure if youre asking me or not? In my opinion people dont deserve respect simply for being old, they deserve respect for their actions and doing respectable things, young or old. Just as they deserve no respect for not doing respectable things. I guess i reckon you were talking to me because i said i dont respect Boomers as a whole for the way they left the world in a worse state than they got it.

 

[summers]

I think she is way more resilient than me.

This is absolutely not something to be proud of or hold on some pedestal. It simply means you can adapt to a tough situation. Criminals are resilient for being able to deal with being in jail. An MMA fighter who can take a lot of damage is resilient.

We want to celebrate someone's ability to overcome adversity. Who gives a shit about the criminal being able to handle 20 years in prison. It's the person who, in the face of tough odds, did well in school, learned valuable skills, and made something of themselves. Same with the fighter. Someone who can take a lot of hits kind of sucks. A good fighter learns to anticipate and doesn't get hit a lot.

These are just two examples, but you get the point. I'm sure your grandmother was a wonderful woman. Celebrate her accomplishments, not her ability to deal with a shitty situation without changing things.

 

[noname223]

Im not sure if youre asking me or not? In my opinion people dont deserve respect simply for being old, they deserve respect for their actions and doing respectable things, young or old. Just as they deserve no respect for not doing respectable things. I guess i reckon you were talking to me because i said i dont respect Boomers as a whole for the way they left the world in a worse state than they got it.

No my question was for all members. Cannot remember whether I read your post about Boomers.

 

[hamvil]

I think the Boomers had it easy. They could walk out of highschool and if they chose to not go to a free state university, they could land a high paying manufacturing job. They could make enough money to have a single parent work, usually the man while the mom got to stay home with their family and raise the children. They made enough money to actually buy a house, have 4 or 5 kids, take a couple of vacations a year and retire with a generous pension. Then they sat on their asses while the programs that gave them the opportunity to be economically mobile were systematically voted away, all the while calling my generation lazy and the trophy generation. They definatly left the world way worse off then they recieved it. I have no respect for old people simply because theyre old. I know this isnt every Boomer also, just the majority of them id say.

I feel your words. I am from the generation after the boomers (is it call gen X right?). My father retire at the age of 48, my mother sort of retire for health issues around the same age but killed herself shortly after. As you said, safe job, no economical problems, house. Still they managed to have a terrible marriage and did not manage to raise me. I think boomers had it easier than me and some of them still managed to fuck it up.
Define older. I am 43 and I see teens in this forum. Do I consider myself wiser than them. Not really. I learned some lesson maybe but I have no idea if the are applicable nowadays. Older people tend to become more ossified, they think that because they are old whatever they say is correct. They tend to be unable to admit their mistakes nor to say "I am sorry". No respect must be earned and just being on this world for a longer time does not earn respect IMO.

 

[Un-]

I'm young so maybe this invoices influences this opinion, but I was raised to give everyone respect - trust is earned. Treat everyone like a decent human being.

I have a particular fondness to older people. Yeah, some of them are shit. No doubt. They don't make up the entire population of older folk. And the majority of older folk are probably the only human beings I actually like. They're kind. They have some of the most interesting stories - and even if they don't, they could describe the process of grass growing and it would still sound interesting.

They have a lot of life experience. That's fact. Call me arrogant, but I think, in every case scenario, someone who's age is double of yours, knows how this world works better than you do. That doesn't mean that they're smart. I think younger people are smart.. That's the difference.

You can be smart - absolutely intelligent - and have no life experience. You can have a rich supply of experience but be stupid. It's better to have both. One without the other is like a dummy without a ventriloquist. With that being said, I'm yet to meet an older person who is straight up dumb.

It's based on my experience, obviously, but I give a lot of reverence to older people. I don't think I'm some sage or whatever. And, even besides that, I hold a lot of sympathy for them. Actually, if you know me well, you know that there's little holding me back from doing something horrible. But my heart softens for older people.

Just my thoughts.

 

[chloramine]

If you mean respect as in "treated as a human being" then I think most people don't get enough of that. As for respect meaning "treated as an authority" then I think it depends on the person. There are definitely older people who have knowledge and wisdom that are ignored. There are also racist bigots who are old. I don't really want people taking their words as authoritative. I never want to treat someone as knowledgeable or wise solely because of their age (old or young). I think we should take people's experiences into account and older people are more likely to have experienced more, but not to blindly follow anyone just because of any one factor. I think the bigger problem is old people not being treated as having value. There are way too many stories of elder abuse or the atrocious conditions of nursing homes.

 

[Celerity]

Well what about when we're old? Will we be unworthy of respect just because we're old?

No, but you won't be any *more* worthy of respect either. Also, at a point when you cognitive performance diminishes, others are justified in discounting your opinions.

 

[Julgran]

It is often said the youth has not respect for old people and their wisdom. But I think this crticism is told since centuries. Still I am ambivalent about it. I think there is not enough respect for other people in general in this world.
We often don't care about the strangers we meet. And the more different the other person is the less empathy one has for them. This is at least my impression.
I think it is hard to live with an old body. With sensitive bones and stuff like that.

Though when I compare the life of my grandma with mine she has the better life quality. I think she is way more resilient than me. I am very vulnerable and fragile instead. She always has been through a lot but life did not break her. I try to treat her well because I know she is old and this can make life quite hard. But at the same time I envy her. She had so many decades of life without torture. Me instead I have now suicidal thoughts daily for the half of my life and there seems to be no end of it during my lifetime. She did not intervene in my abuse so she is also responsible for it.

Though I don't start an argument with her there is no really benefit of doing that.

It is said the pensions are too low in my country. But the same goes for welfare for unemployed people. I think unemployed have it worse. The politicians always give the pensioners a lot of money because they are the ones who vote the most. It is the most important target group in my country. But the system might collapse due to demographics. I am kind of scared because of that. But I have to emphasize there are still retirees who barely can live with their money. This is quite unfair. But there are also others who live a quite comfortable lives.

From the viewpoint of developed societies, the elderly may seem not to be treated with dignity, but you could compare their living standards today, to how people lived centuries ago - they would simply just die, or they would simply die young and not grow old at all.

I personally believe that today's people have too high expectations of life, which our current global political circumstances have shown us. People will need to learn to fend for themselves and make due with less.

 

[Smart No More]

If you mean respect as in "treated as a human being" then I think most people don't get enough of that. As for respect meaning "treated as an authority" then I think it depends on the person. There are definitely older people who have knowledge and wisdom that are ignored. There are also racist bigots who are old. I don't really want people taking their words as authoritative. I never want to treat someone as knowledgeable or wise solely because of their age (old or young). I think we should take people's experiences into account and older people are more likely to have experienced more, but not to blindly follow anyone just because of any one factor. I think the bigger problem is old people not being treated as having value. There are way too many stories of elder abuse or the atrocious conditions of nursing homes.

Exactly. This whole topic is open to interpretation and that shines a light on just how wires can be crossed dependant on miriad factors. Age, point of view, interpretation, things learned so far and ability to be subjective/objective.

Everything on individual merit is the only way you can judge things.

For me, I interpreting this question of respect as caring and consideratiin for the old, sick and frail. On that level I think elderly people are cruely forgotten regardless of who they happen to be. Same with sick people who don't fall into an obvious diagnosis. For example all these people auffering chronic fatigue which can't really be quantified and ultimately relies on taking people at their word. It hurt nobody to take that leap of faith but it's a reluctance that permiates through medicine and humanity. Similarly elderly people are of course falling towards death and whilst there's only so much you can do for them it doesn't justify the heartless treatment many of them see in later years. They become a burden nobody is prepared to take on inless there's money to be made and the money ends up circumnavigating their best interests for the sake of the path of least resistance. We live in a pretty harsh society that like to pretend it's something it isn't. So naturally, when hokding one's self aloft (care homes for instance) you expect them ro meet their self agrandising claims. It's not unreasonable to do so. Much like any service you pay for you expect to get what'a promised, as advertised.

I'd agree that humans expect more than they should from life. This is no truer than in the young. Though young and old are relative terms. But all this "anyone can be what they want to be" mantra is bullshit. Everyone should bw accepted, warts and all but telling someone they beautiful as they are whilst simultaneously upholding unobtainable beauty standards which you clearly steive for yourself is just bare faced disingenuous behaviour. Praising idiots and emulating them is insanity. I think most elderly people can see this with ease but the very young are sucked in by the enticement of a being able to live some life that's not only unnatural and self serving but is essentially the equivalent to being put on a heroin drip for life. Whilst looking down your nose at addicts. Worlds gone nuts!

 

[Mr_House]

I think with the advent of information development like Cell Phones, Computers and E-Information (Think PPeH) elders were no longer needed in terms of wisdom… Back in the age of Tribes there was no such thing as a Library for knowledge, or the Internet, only old village elders who knew of the struggles and solutions to other young tribesman's problems. But nowadays there is nothing new under the sun, all information that is vital to survival is already learned and read. In short the old Folks wisdom is outsourced to books and technology, Thus they have nothing to give society anymore, Except money (Hospital Bill, and more)

At least that's my theory on why nobody respects them anymore.

 

[gomenasai]

Respect is earned. I don't know why I should respect someone I don't know, just because they're old. The same goes for other people. I noticed that the kinder you are to people, the more they abuse you. Sad reality.

 

[makethepainstop]

It is often said the youth has not respect for old people and their wisdom. But I think this crticism is told since centuries. Still I am ambivalent about it. I think there is not enough respect for other people in general in this world.
We often don't care about the strangers we meet. And the more different the other person is the less empathy one has for them. This is at least my impression.
I think it is hard to live with an old body. With sensitive bones and stuff like that.

Though when I compare the life of my grandma with mine she has the better life quality. I think she is way more resilient than me. I am very vulnerable and fragile instead. She always has been through a lot but life did not break her. I try to treat her well because I know she is old and this can make life quite hard. But at the same time I envy her. She had so many decades of life without torture. Me instead I have now suicidal thoughts daily for the half of my life and there seems to be no end of it during my lifetime. She did not intervene in my abuse so she is also responsible for it.

Though I don't start an argument with her there is no really benefit of doing that.

It is said the pensions are too low in my country. But the same goes for welfare for unemployed people. I think unemployed have it worse. The politicians always give the pensioners a lot of money because they are the ones who vote the most. It is the most important target group in my country. But the system might collapse due to demographics. I am kind of scared because of that. But I have to emphasize there are still retirees who barely can live with their money. This is quite unfair. But there are also others who live a quite comfortable lives.

Old people are regarded as disposable, cause we don't have decades to live. Sad but oh so true.