Why the ‘Cultural Narrative of Old Age’ Needs to Change

Our “cultural narrative of advanced age” has changed in recent decades, and that change may explain why we as a society don’t take better care of older Americans — that’s the thought-provoking case made in a recent New Yorker book review.

I was intrigued by the piece, which was written by Daniel Immerwahr and reviewed Duke historian James Chappel’s “Golden Years.” But I think the call for increased government spending devoted to the care and support of older Americans, while needed and well-intentioned, is both naive and doomed to fail.

I agree that long-term care and other benefits for older adults need more public funding. But what both Immerwahr and Chappel miss is that we’re never going to earn public support for these subsidies if older adults are seen as “net takers.”

Sadly, that’s a widely-held perception now. Older adults are seen as a drain on scarce societal resources while contributing little after age 65 or 75. Programs that could benefit us are framed as “handouts,” competing for dollars alongside programs for the needy and children — not to mention the military.

The New Yorker review frames the “narrative” of aging in the U.S. as having two parts. The first could be called the “Golden Girls” stage, named after the popular sitcom of the 1980s and 90s. We want our older citizens to live like the Golden Girls: acting youthful and finding fulfillment as they age in place, while not needing any form of government assistance.

The second half of the narrative, meanwhile, is “where the more disabling, restrictive stage of old age begins,” as Susan Jacoby is quoted as saying in the piece. This is where the “taker” perception kicks in, as the perception of older adults goes from “Golden Girls” to infirm and helpless burdens on the rest of us.

Obviously, aging is not so black and white. But if society continues to look at it this way, adequate support for older Americans will remain elusive, especially in periods where budget-cutting is prioritized.

What’s the answer? I think it starts with defining a new stage of life and all that it offers everyone in society. That is the topic of another post I wrote recently.