Ancient rockers help change public perception of ageing competence

A big thanks to you, Macca! And also, slightly less enthusiastic to Nancy Pelosi, William Shatner and Henry Kissinger.

This rogues’ gallery has one thing in common: they are old. Not just objectively, OK boomer old, but really old, with ages of 80,  82, 91  and 99 respectively.

And look at ‘em! McCartney’s set at Glastonbury might not have been his finest musical hour, but after a ragged start he didn’t sound too bad, and he played for two and a half hours. Take note, Barbra Streisand, Van Morrison and other famous entertainers who have left their crowds wanting more after barely a half-hour.

All of these oldies are still goodies; although it might make those of us decades younger wince at the prospect of still having to deliver our professional and social contribution so much longer, they are doing fantastic work in raising the age bar for relevance.

 

Whereas you were on the scrapheap in your forties a few years ago (I speak from experience, more or less), the gradual realisation that these physically aged individuals are still capable of hard work and great entertainment is chipping away at the mass human psyche. How can business mentally sort the over-55s into the irrelevant basket when Pelosi is still playing a fierce game at the top of US politics? One would hardly give Warren Buffett his P45 if he was heading your bids or investment departments.

 

Financial Times columnist Pilita Clark did of course have a point in her 2020 piece complaining that these oldster stars were making the tired 60-somethings look bad. (BTW I think Pilita is younger than that.) Her take is amusing, and no doubt shared by many.

 

But at the same time, people are living longer and wish to retain their relevance in wider society. More than one friend of mine has either stated or showed  by their behaviour that they cannot bear to give up work, which gives them social status and allows them to use skills they’ve built up over decades. It seems to me that there is a lot of lip service paid to the concept of valuing older workers, but when push comes to shove the over-50s will be the ones getting the shove.

 

“Old” is pretty close to a pejorative term in western society. Think of all the jokes about Joe Biden (80 in November) stumbling around and forgetting names etcetera; but George W. Bush was in his mid-fifties when he voiced zingers such as his “fool me once, shame on you; fool me ….ummmmm”. A good brain is a good brain, if illness passes it by, for the duration.

 

With falling birth rates everywhere, older people are increasingly going to  be needed to perform many of the necessary duties of a society. Old has to become good. And Macca’s 2.5 hours on stage at Glastonbury is part of the creeping campaign to accustom the world to that reality.

 

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