Your Golden Years.

Philosophy Forums Society, Government, and Economics
1

Much in a way that men are born as fodder to feed the gears of society by that of vicious pointless toiling labors as soon as they expire physically by age they are retired like an ass or mule who can no longer pull the reins of those who command it.

What are people thinking when they say that the golden age exists when people get older?

Are they nuts?

I have been around elderly family members as they get older and I can definately tell you there is nothing golden about it.

There is nothing golden about not being able to urinate, defecate or being able to walk out the front door.

There is nothing golden about heart disease along with a large list of diseases that comes with age.

There is nothing golden about memory loss, dementia, or mental confusement.

In my opinion it is better to die young and free.

Whoever believes that it is best to live the longest is insane and does not know what is in store for them.

Where does the line of thinking come from when people say it is the golden years of life amongst old age?

What is this cultural absurdity?

2

The golden years are those few precious years after retirement and before the body breaks down.

Some folks get more, some get none. Its all in the planning, luck and how you keep up your health.
People suck at planning now. So of course fewer and fewer people get those Golden years. With all the health issues today that dramatically decreases it too. So now you are just depending upon a lottery.

3

So it’s golden, if you have the money to make it so.

4

Nope, its golden if you have no worries.

5

There was a survey conducted with people in their 60’s. The majority of them agreed that their favorite decade of their lives thus far were their 50’s, followed by their 40’s, 30’s, and finally 20’s. The reason for this was because the older they grew, the better they understood themselves and life in general. I’m not sure how they’d feel if they were asked in their 80’s, but something tells me that life for the elderly baby boomer generation is going to be much different than that of the previous generation, as will Gen XY.

So don’t use old people now as the definitive way life will be in your elder years.

6

If people are born as fodder for anything its crocodiles, tigers and bears, or other humans. not ‘society’

And as another poster mentioned, studies consistantly show (when they don’t focus on depression) that old people claim that their favorite years are the recent ones.

7

I’ve seen both sides of the coin.

My gran on my father’s side is 75 and enjoys life to full. She goes on 3 holidays a year, socialises with her friends every day, helps in the local community either, and enjoys the company of her family every Sunday. With my two kids she is a great grandmother and her only ‘regret’ is that she can’t be as active with them as she was with me when I was young. She honestly is enjoying her ‘golden years’ to the full.

However, my granpa on my mother’s side is 85 and for the last 10 years has pretty much been confined to his house. He has bad arthritis and also suffers from dizziness and sickness. But perhaps worse than these conditions is that he is extremely lonely, which has demotivated him so much that he seems to have given up ever leaving the house. This is something that our family tries to help him with, but without meaning to sound cruel there is only so much we can do. He recently told me he was just sick of it all, and that really opened my eyes as to how miserable his life must be, and that’s with his family caring for him so much. I can only imagine how someone in that condition with no family must feel.

I think Kris makes good points. Planning is a part, in that you need money coming in from a decent pension to have a good quality of life. Both my gran and granpa have this, my granpa is actually loaded, he has more money than he will ever spend. Your social life is also a part. A large family and circle of friends will ensure you are never lonely in old age. My gran and granpa both have our family, but sadly for my granpa most of his old friends have passed away and doesn’t really have anyone. Health is also important. But I think more important than physical health is mental health. No one can stop the natural decay of our bodies, but its how you deal with that that ensures how ‘happy’ your old age is. Sadly my granpa has not dealt well with his declining health. And affecting all of this is luck. There’s only so much through out our lives we can control and by the time we get to retirement age, which for me will probably be 70, we have to hope that where we could we planned well, and where we couldn’t luck was on our side.

8

I’ve been around elderly people and I feel certain that there are two possible reasons they get senile: the last time they last time the exercised their body and their brain was, well, never; or they drew the short end of the health stick. I think we’re going to find out there’s a lot more of the former than we’d expect, if we expected any at all. In any case, if I can’t control my bodily fluids or even remember the important names in my life, I would rather be dead. But since I can’t arrange for a trigger point for my own euthanasia, I guess I’ll just go as far as I can while having arranged for the care of my undead corpse until it becomes dead.

Go to your favorite music source, don’t listen to the clip, just buy “I’d rater be dead” by Harry Nilsson on his Son of Schmilsson album.

9

:smiley: I am pass 60 and still going. When I passed 50 my life became noticable better and I expect it to continue to improve. Aging successfully is a matter of adjusting to change, and sure helps to be financially secure, and also free! I enjoy eating well, exercising daily, gardening, working in the community, learning and being on the Internet. It is much better than when I was young and life seemed to be something outside of me that I needed to consume, instead of feeling like history, and feeling filled with life, and like I have something valuable to contribute. Acceptence is nice, but like most old folks, I won’t sell out to be accepted, I will just move on until I find the right place for me.

A good diet and exercise are essential, but even with the best, we can expect to run out of health and energy gradually when we pass 80, so I am planning now for that time when I give up driving and my social responsiblities, and focus on just being comfortable. I have an electric scooter, and situated myself where everything I need is in walking distance, or an easy bus ride. My 90 plus year old neighborhoods frequently are loosing both their hearing and sight. That really sucks, but one of them can out walk me, and these people teach us about adjusting to life and living with courage and dignity.

One old guy is so cool! Man, I think everyone would like to be like him. I deliver Meals on Wheels to him, and he came to door all happy about getting a lunch. He didn’t remember someone brings him a lunch everyday, so he was delightfully surprised when I gave him a lunch. He wanted to know what day it was, and who I am, even what season it is, we go though this memory routine often and he doesn’t remember the answers for more than 5 minutes. I praised him for how well he is in the now. The rest of us are so full of thoughts of life past and life future, we are not in the present, and with his memory problem, he can only be in the now. He is native American and says all these wise things, even though his memory can’t tell him what day of the week it or what season it is. He said something about loosing all his memory, and I told him he still has his wisdom, and he smiled and said “That is a wise thing to say”. My words just don’t do justice to what I want to convey. The man’s spirit is beautiful, and if I can become as him, nothing else will matter. Sure people will then have to help me, but with a spirit like his, I would be such a great person to be around, that people would take pleasure in helping me. That is my final goal in life. What a testamony to how worthy we are, just as human beings. Do you get my meaning? You don’t have to be anything but a good spirited person to be delight to those around you.

10

I think the golden years refer to incontinence dont they?

11

Being in a mental state where you can just sit in a pile of your own shit, and really not care what the people around you think must feel pretty amazing. I’m looking forward to it. Nothing like playing dominos, eating pudding and shitting yourself to make you feel like a really old American.

12

and with your viagra prescription paid for by medicare, you can be erect for 4 hours too…

-Imp

13

Dude cialis is better than viagra!

14

Yeah, who wouldn’t want a lobotomy?

15

Has any of you guys seen/read about those old-age pensioner body-builders? They still die, of course, but not from diseases/in an incontinent state - a clean/natural diet and muscle-maintaining exercise can stave off most age-related illnesses.

16

No I don’t think I have. But here’s a site that I occasionally visit that sounds similar…It basically mimics eating and exorcising habits of hunter gatherers.

http://www.arthurdevany.com/

http://www.arthurdevany.com/webstuff/RevisedEssay.pdf

17

That’s exactly what I was on about - the guy on that site looks nowhere near 70 and as fit as a 30 year old. We have become lazy in our modernity, and then wonder why we can’t even get out of a chair without aching: once we reach 30/40.

I know that some US hospitals prescribe gym membership for some OAPs: rather than meds etc. and these OAPs are able to throw away their walking sticks, walking frames, and stop taking most meds that they were on!

18

Yes, exercising and eating right is important.

Don’t kid yourselfs, no matter how well you eat/exercise, only a very very very small percent of the population will look that good at 70. genetics.

even then it requires *massive dedication.

19

I’ll be ok on both those counts, then!

But it’s not just about looking as good as the guy in that vid: it’s about maintaining a good quality of life, no matter what age we are.