Elderly People
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the invitation to speak at this conference today. There are many issues I could address, but I feel the need to discuss something that I feel has been mostly swept under the rug for too long. So today, I am delivering this speech on behalf elderly people who are constantly being misrepresented in various forms of media and as a result, are often verbally and sometimes physically abused by ageist (mostly young and immature) people. I am, of course, talking about ageism. This, to me, is an outrageous form of discrimination. Why? It is disrespectful, it is disheartening, and it diminishes people who deserve appreciation for their service and experience. Yet elderly people are misrepresented as technologically unaware, slow-moving and slow thinking. If all elderly people are worthless, as they are so regularly portrayed, then why is America seriously considering making Joe Biden, a 77-year-old man, the president. Why? Because he has much more experience and knowledge than the younger people running for president, so he, presumably, would make a better president. Ageism is an example of a negative perspective and bias preserved and fuelled by the internet and society as a whole. I am here today because I believe this can stopped.
Ageism, like any other form of discrimination, has existed since the beginning of modern times, but how many times do you hear about this form of discrimination? The attitude towards old people is one of utmost disrespect. Disrespect is fuelled by the media. Recently, social media has spread a lot of ageism around the world using memes and other mediums. According to the WHO (World Health Organisation) old age starts at about 65, with different experts considering around 72 to be the start of old age. When you get to the age of 70, you live by yourself and nobody visits you anymore because they are afraid of you dying in front of their eyes or because visiting you is uncool, when you turn on the television to watch some stand-up comedy, do you want to witness some immature young person mocking the elderly, saying things like “Hurry up grandma!” or “Hurry up and die!” I am a major fan of memes and satirical comedy but telling poor defenceless elderly people to hurry up and die or making rude and ageist remarks like OK Boomer definitely crosses the line. My problem lies with the people who are constantly being ageist. My problem lies with the media spreading ageist – dare I say – propaganda. My problem lies with the people who are too immature to realise that they too will grow old. The ageist population is a minority but a virus that’s needs to be contained, nonetheless.
According to a study conducted by National Seniors Australia, last year, and participated by 50,000 seniors, ageism is one of the leading areas of concern. According to statistics from December last year, 23.2 percent of pensioners struggle financially. It is believed that this pensioner poverty is caused by ageism. It is very common for employers to deny people jobs purely for being “too old”. The AHRI (Australian Human Rights Institute) released a report stating that 1 in 10 businesses would not hire somebody older than a certain age, the average age was 50… 50! There have also been many reports of ageism within retirement facilities.
Why is it that many young people feel superior to the elderly? Why is it that people seem to become less valuable with age like used cars? According to UnitingCare, the number of elder abuse related calls rose by 15 percent between February and the end of March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This is because, as UnitingCare General Manager, Luke Lindsay reports, “In many cases the victim was completely dependent upon the perpetrator.” According to statistics from the Queensland government, 72 percent of perpetrators were sons or daughters and 32.4 percent of theses perpetrators lived with the victim. The victim was dependent on the perpetrator in 21.6 percent of these cases. And, finally, the most common age group for victims was 80 to 84 years, and 50 to 54 years for perpetrators. What kind of world are we living in if this is normal?
As I mentioned before, social media is undoubtedly the biggest culprit for ageism. Prejudice and negativity is kept alive by social media, the news and through other mediums – negativity sells. There is a myriad of popular ageist memes, such as the viral “Ok Boomer” meme that, according to Google, started and spread from a Reddit post back in 2009. The memes throw fuel onto the fire, that is racism, and turn such prejudice into a normality. But maybe it is just me, maybe when a phrase becomes popular enough, it becomes perfectly acceptable. Lots of people say memes like this, even some of my favourite YouTubers say it. It is a meme so that makes it perfectly acceptable, right? I remember a meme saying that the pandemic is fine because it is just a boomer remover. This, at least to me, is outrageous, how is the idea of people who have a weak immunity system due to their age dying funny. Some of you, if not most of you, may be staring at me, wondering if I know what a joke is. I always speak my mind and I also respect other opinions unlike some people who have such a fixed mindset that they would rather die than take a different perspective. Within reason, I believe in respecting everybody regardless of any differences.
There are many cruel stereotypes based on the elderly in movies making them a cliché, such as the ‘old people are deaf’ or ‘old people are boring’ stereotypes. You must be joking if you say you have never seen the cliché in which an old person shows a young person lots of photos of their grandchildren who are bored and itching to escape. There is, however, some sad truth behind these stereotypes, since many elderly people are avoided by young people and usually have nobody to talk to so they often talk for a long time when they get the opportunity. These stereotypes do have a small amount of truth behind them but, in general, they cannot accurately describe all old people. These stereotypes are detrimental for well-being and cause mental health concerns, as many people seem to believe that old people decrease in value as they age.
There are countless so-called old people who have accomplished great things. Take Colonel Harland Sanders, the man behind Kentucky Fried Chicken. After KFC bloomed to a franchised concept, Sanders sold the business in 1964, at the age of 75 as the chain rapidly grew. The $2 million, plus an ongoing salary to remain the face of the brand wasn’t a terrible deal. Anna Mary Robertson Moses did not begin painting until she reached the age of 76. She decided to give painting a go when she could not hold an embroidery needle due to arthritis. Her works caught the eye of an art collector who bought her paintings and displayed them at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Now, her paintings are hung in museums all over the world. Age is just a number; it does not make anything impossible.
I believe that when somebody is nearly on their deathbed, they deserve extra respect, they deserve to spend the rest of their life being happy and respected. I ask you, why are young people better than old people? Some of you may be thinking: “What could we possibly do to change this?” The truth is, we alone cannot end ageism or any other serious issue, but it only takes a spark to start a wildfire. You will all forget this speech, all of you – but if I have inspired anyone to act out against ageism, then I have at least accomplished something. Everybody ages, nobody is immortal, so why is it that ageism is an entrenched attitude throughout society.
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