Going On and On

What do we owe future generations? And how do we act now to support them? One way is to think – hard – about the damage our obsession with longevity is wreaking on the economy, our society and our future. Australia’s aged care crisis is escalating as Baby Boomers grow old. According to latest research, our ageing population is as great a risk to Australia’s future as climate change and looming geopolitical risks – yet we’re refusing to talk about it. As Lucinda Holdforth argues, we have become defined by a narcissistic refusal by ageing leaders to grow old or give up the reins of power – or even squarely face the fact that we must eventually die. The disastrous consequences include blocked political progress, disenfranchised young people and death of the essential cultural renewal that once occurred with the natural blooming of each new generation. As we strive to extend our lives to the maximum, we must ask ourselves difficult questions. What is our social contract with those who come after us? Why is ‘ageism’ unacceptable while age-based prejudice against the young is commonplace? And what price will our younger citizens pay for the rest of us going on and on? ‘A courageous, witty, compelling and often beautiful argument for my generation to hurry up and let go.’ CHARLOTTE WOOD