I recounted to the crowd of assembled business leaders and Eskaton partners how America had come to adopt an attitude about society’s elders that’s relegated them to relative irrelevance. To summarize: prior to the Industrial Revolution, elders were valued for their wisdom and occupied a place of societal esteem. They were the keepers of wisdom, experience and historical knowledge – all highly regarded attributes. With the Industrial Revolution came the concept of labor and earning power. Incrementally, this grew into ideas about ‘retirement’ and, well, being metaphorically put out to pasture. The value of a person shifted from intrinsic to extrinsic – inner worth to earning power. The collective view of retirement made elders (our seniors) seem irrelevant – older people no longer contributing to society and doing little more than taking up space.
With the new Baby Boomer demographic rising on the horizon, there is promise this may change. Baby Boomers hold 77% of the nation’s wealth, for example. We make up nearly one-third of the movie-going audience; we buy more online products than any other group and our expectations of retirement are quite different from those of our parents. We like to work and intend to contribute to society for decades beyond retirement age. By becoming economically relevant, older Americans may regain the place of esteem they’ve earned by virtue of long life experience. We may Go Back to the Future.
I was reminded of this on a recent trip to the West Midlands of England – a land of men and women from hardy stock that worked coal mines and canals and pounded out hand forged nails. Though I’m not fond of bars and lounges here in America, I was a frequent guest at cozy pubs in Short Heath where friends met as ritual repeated over decades – every Thursday night, the British Legion Club, a few pints, tales recounted, buckets of laughs, losses shared, high points celebrated. One gentleman joked that the sum of the ages around the table was about 1,200 years! I was surrounded by the wisdom of age, and those younger than myself deferred to their elders, not with condescension but out of respect. We don’t get to experience that here in the States so much and, alas, we have no real ‘pub life’ that compares.
I find it regrettable that the U.S. dollar promises to be the currency of change for America’s perception of aging – I’d rather we honored age for more altruistic reasons. But, in the end, the means may not matter. They say business should not see “gray” when considering older consumers, instead business should see “green.” Indeed – picture a wadded-up $1000 bill that, when unfolded reveals 76 million men and women anxious to share their wealth of life experience.
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| British Legion pub-friends share respectful life experiences |
