Valued Elders

After the recent massacre of Muslim worshippers by a white supremacist in Christchurch, New Zealand there was a call by many leaders for harmony between disparate groups in society. We need, it was suggested, to engage more with people of different faiths and customs, in order to increase social cohesiveness and counteract intolerance. But there were few suggestions as to how this could take place. Public schools enroll children from many backgrounds and provide the opportunity to start the process. Unfortunately, this is counteracted by the existence of single-faith schools and private schools catering for the children of wealthy ‘anglo’ families. The time demands of work and rearing of families also mitigate against the mingling of people from different cultures.

Older retired members of society, free of the time constraints of having to provide an income and care for children, are in the best position to help create societal harmony. And this only one of many opportunities provided by being retired. It is unfortunate that in ‘western societies’, retirees are largely ignored. Once they leave work, older people are considered of little value to the community and allowed to drift away into senility. What a waste of ability, knowledge and experience! Less ‘advanced’ societies greatly value their elders and regularly include and consult them when planning and making decisions.

There is a vast range of activities within which our Elders could and should contribute to society. At present, this mostly takes place on a voluntary basis – if you feel like helping out with a community activity it’s OK, but don’t step on the toes of the professionals! We need more formal structures which validate and enable retirees to make significant contributions to society – promoting racial harmony; helping settle and informing refugees; mentoring youth and released prisoners; educating and training; contributing ideas; supporting the democratic process and, of course, advising those who are approaching retirement or already there and not coping with the change of pace in life.