P1 Most old people in the U.S. end up living separately from their children and from most of their
friends of their earlier years, and often they live in separate retirement homes for the elderly, whereas in
traditional societies, older people instead live out their lives among their children, their other
relatives, and their lifelong friends. Nevertheless, the treatment of the elderly varies enormously among
traditional societies, from much worse to much better than in our modern societies.
P2 At the worst extreme, many traditional societies get rid of their elderly in one of four increasingly
direct ways: by neglecting their elderly and not feeding or cleaning them until they die, or by abandoning
them when the group moves, or by encouraging older people to commit suicide, or by killing older
people. In which tribal societies do children abandon or kill their parents? It happens mainly under two
conditions. One is in nomadic, hunter-gatherer societies that often shift camp and that are physically
incapable of transporting old people who can't walk when the able-bodied younger people already have to
carry their young children and all their physical possessions. The other condition is in societies living in
marginal or fluctuating environments, such as the Arctic or deserts, where there are periodic food
shortages, and occasionally there just isn't enough food to keep everyone alive. Whatever food is available
has to be reserved for able-bodied adults and for children. To us Americans, it sounds horrible to think of
abandoning or killing your own sick wife or husband or elderly mother or father, but what could those
traditional societies do differently? They face a cruel situation of no choice. Their old people had to do it
to their own parents, and the old people know what now is going to happen to them.
P3 At the opposite extreme in treatment of the elderly, the happy extreme, are the New Guinea
farming societies where I've been doing my fieldwork for the past 50 years, and most other sedentary
traditional societies around the world. In those societies, older people are cared for. They are fed. They
remain valuable. And they continue to live in the same hut or else in a nearby hut near their
children, relatives and lifelong friends.
P5 The other set of reasons for variation in the treatment of the elderly is the society's cultural
values. For example, there's particular emphasis on respect for the elderly in East Asia, associated with
Confucius' doctrine of filial piety, which means obedience, respect and support for elderly
parents. Cultural values that emphasize respect for older people contrast with the low status of the
elderly in the U.S. Older Americans are at a big disadvantage in job applications. They're at a big
disadvantage in hospitals. Our hospitals have an explicit policy called age-based allocation of healthcare
resources. That sinister expression means that if hospital resources are limited, for example if only one
2
donor heart becomes available for transplant, or if a surgeon has time to operate on only a certain number
of patients, American hospitals have an explicit policy of giving preference to younger patients over older
patients on the grounds that younger patients are considered more valuable to society because they have
more years of life ahead of them, even though the younger patients have fewer years of valuable life
experience behind them.
P4 There are two main sets of reasons for this variation among societies in their treatment of old
people. The variation depends especially on the usefulness of old people and on the society's values.
First, as regards usefulness, older people continue to perform useful services. One use of older people in
traditional societies is that they often are still effective at producing food. Another traditional usefulness
of older people is that they are capable of babysitting their grandchildren, thereby freeing up their own
adult children, the parents of those grandchildren, to go hunting and gathering food for the
grandchildren. Still another traditional value of older people is in making tools, weapons, baskets, pots
and textiles. In fact, they're usually the people who are best at it. Older people usually are the leaders of
traditional societies, and the people most knowledgeable about politics, medicine, religion, songs and
dances.
P6 There are several reasons for this low status of the elderly in the U.S. One is our Protestant work
ethic which places high value on work, so older people who are no longer working aren't
respected. Another reason is our American emphasis on the virtues of self-reliance and independence, so
we instinctively look down on older people who are no longer self-reliant and independent. Still a third
reason is our American cult of youth, which shows up even in our advertisements. Ads for Coca-Cola and
beer always depict smiling young people, even though old as well as young people buy and drink CocaCola and beer. Just think, what's the last time you saw a Coke or beer ad depicting smiling people 85
years old? Never. Instead, the only American ads featuring white-haired old people are ads for retirement
homes and pension planning.