In the past the elders recalled the world that they had lived. They became the respected historians, the wise men.
Today history is already recorded and interpreted by young historians. The elders no longer have any worth except as to the value of their holdings. And these are usually only of family interest.
Society has no place for them. Except that they become commodities of their care keepers and those who will bury them.
Some cultures developed high respect and gave comfort to these the frail people as each family knew the contribution they had made.
Today the everyday relationships of young and old have been dissipated. Few members of the family live together. Even with today's communications, members become strangers without the feeling and sensitivity of daily contact.
The poorest are seen as the most costly to society, with their undeserved Social Security and Medicare. They are as returned soldiers from war, only symbols of past glories, social display pieces only at ceremonies. Many times, they are much in the way.
Yet they are part of what we proudly describe as the great accomplishment of longevity. Where is the usefulness of longevity? The answer is in the question.
So the old must walk slowly and sit if they cannot walk and wait until they become frail in their final states, their death God preparing them for their return to the earth from which they came.
They must cease looking to the future and learn to forget the past. Their past was their only reality and their future now only illusion.
