The elderly are victims of an "abominable betrayal" as the generation who set up the welfare state are now being told there is no money to look after them, incoming president of the Faculty of Public Health, Prof. John Ashton said. A "debt of honour" was due to elderly people who, despite being bankrupt after World War II, set up the welfare state.
Politicians of all parties were shying away from funding social care adequately. "The elderly are frightened of what is going to happen to them. There is a debt of honour we owe the elderly. They fought in World War II or contributed to the war effort and wanted to create a secure environment that came to be known as the welfare state which is now being portrayed as dependants and layabouts. It is an abominable betrayal," he said.
The anthropologist, Jared Diamond, in his recent book, highlighted the fact that Western societies do not value the elderly and treats them '"horribly" compared to the standards of traditional people in developing countries. Elderly people in the UK and America tend to have "lonely lives separated from their children and lifelong friends", he said. Diamond recounted a meeting with a friend from Fiji who told him: "You throw away your old people".
Prof. Diamond explained "The repositories of knowledge are the memories of old people,” Diamond said. “If you don’t have old people to remember what happened 50 years ago, you’ve lost a lot of experience for that society...In East Asian cultures steeped in a Confucian tradition that places a high value on filial piety, obedience and respect, Diamond said, “it is considered utterly despicable not to take care of your elderly parents.” The same goes for Mediterranean cultures, where multigenerational families live together in the same house — in stark contrast to the United States, “where routinely, old people do not live with their children and it’s a big hassle to take care of your parents even if you want to do it.” In America, Diamond said, a "cult of youth" and emphasis on the virtues of independence, individualism and self-reliance also make life hard on older people as they inevitably lose some of these traits. Then, there's America’s Protestant work ethic, “which holds that if you’re no longer working, you’ve lost the main value that society places on you.” Retirement also means losing social relationships, which, coupled with America’s high mobility, leaves many old people hundreds or even thousands of miles away from longtime friends and family.
Politicians of all parties were shying away from funding social care adequately. "The elderly are frightened of what is going to happen to them. There is a debt of honour we owe the elderly. They fought in World War II or contributed to the war effort and wanted to create a secure environment that came to be known as the welfare state which is now being portrayed as dependants and layabouts. It is an abominable betrayal," he said.
The anthropologist, Jared Diamond, in his recent book, highlighted the fact that Western societies do not value the elderly and treats them '"horribly" compared to the standards of traditional people in developing countries. Elderly people in the UK and America tend to have "lonely lives separated from their children and lifelong friends", he said. Diamond recounted a meeting with a friend from Fiji who told him: "You throw away your old people".
Prof. Diamond explained "The repositories of knowledge are the memories of old people,” Diamond said. “If you don’t have old people to remember what happened 50 years ago, you’ve lost a lot of experience for that society...In East Asian cultures steeped in a Confucian tradition that places a high value on filial piety, obedience and respect, Diamond said, “it is considered utterly despicable not to take care of your elderly parents.” The same goes for Mediterranean cultures, where multigenerational families live together in the same house — in stark contrast to the United States, “where routinely, old people do not live with their children and it’s a big hassle to take care of your parents even if you want to do it.” In America, Diamond said, a "cult of youth" and emphasis on the virtues of independence, individualism and self-reliance also make life hard on older people as they inevitably lose some of these traits. Then, there's America’s Protestant work ethic, “which holds that if you’re no longer working, you’ve lost the main value that society places on you.” Retirement also means losing social relationships, which, coupled with America’s high mobility, leaves many old people hundreds or even thousands of miles away from longtime friends and family.
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