Why Are There So Many Elderly People
And so few elders?
Everyone ages. Few become elders.
Western Culture
Western society devalues the potential contributions of people once they have attained ohhhhh, say around age 50. Several Fortune 50 companies I’m aware of make a practice of regularly offering early buyouts to people in their 50s — to provide greater opportunities for younger people. The depth knowledge a long-term employee has obtained about business-related processes, what works/what doesn’t, and all the corporation’s training investment in that individual is disregarded. A younger person may be more up-to-date with technology, but so much valuable knowledge is lost as a result of this practice.
Having said that, there are older people who become a drag on corporate resources because they are just treading water until retirement. That should be the basis for a performance review, not painting all older workers with that brush.
The joking expression “Over the Hill” is readily applied to anyone from age 40 up. It’s rarely a joke. When it’s used it’s because the speaker believes it, whether or not he/she is willing to admit it and the joking tone in which they couch a discriminatory belief.
