Biden, Jagger, Mirren… as celebrity septuagenarians (and their seniors) steal the spotlight, we salute the resilience of those who have lived long enough to know good times always return
Among the many effects of the pandemic is the attention that has been given to senior citizens, who have been disproportionately affected by death and illness from Covid-19. Broadly speaking, the focus has revealed two opposing impulses: to protect and to abandon. But neither reaction necessarily involves respect for the older population.
One of the hallmarks of western modernity is the celebration of the new and a concomitant devaluing of the old. It’s all part of a highly successful system of thought, at least in material terms, that prioritises progress over tradition. Inevitably, the new is associated with youth, the outdated with age. Thus the solemn duty of the elderly is to get out of the way, and allow the next generation to make its mark.
