One of the clearest trends for the coming years is demographic aging. Hippocrates, one of the great sages of ancient Greece, divided the human life cycle into periods of seven years, a number always associated with magical properties, with the most critical point being the transition at the end of the ninth segment or the great climacteric. At this age, 74 years, the threshold of old age was crossed according to the classical canon: an age, then, reserved only for a few. Since then, humanity has democratized progress and old age, which makes the ars senescendi (art of aging) increasingly important. To address this universal theme, the great Hellenist Pedro Olalla proposes a profound dialogue, the most appropriate genre for freely discussing ethical and political issues – as we know from Plato and Socrates – with Cicero on philosophy in the twilight of life, in the delightful opuscule De senectute política, edited by Acantilado.
It is an empirical fact that more and more people live longer, but are these years truly lived, or on the contrary, has old age been institutionalized as a kind of social parking lot where life is no longer lived but simply transpires? Through the thought of Cicero and other thinkers of the classical world, the author reveals to the reader how old age is not so much a matter related to age but to character: thus, the ambitious endeavor of "aging well" is, essentially, an ethical undertaking. Therefore, one thing is the third age, the last climacteric, and old age is a very different thing. Being old is determined by our vitalistic or hopeless attitude we may have towards tomorrow. That is why there are young people (and old people) of all ages.
For the great Cicero, philosophy and politics are prerogatives of the free man, prerogatives that require action, will. To age well, to live well, which, ultimately, are the same thing, is an endeavor whose success rests on our own will, a force more powerful than the biological process itself. Many times we associate old age with a lack of action. However, too often we forget that the most valuable actions are not carried out with the impetus of the body, but with practical knowledge, criteria, and good judgment that are only achieved with old age. Attitude and activity are important at all stages of life. Good habits (a reflection of our will) are our best defense to keep our talents in good condition over time. An inalienable individual responsibility.
The above invites us to ask whether, at a social level, we are prepared to face with solvency the challenges that arise from an aging society. A challenge that not only demands financial solvency, having good foresight and savings policies, and balanced accounts (all of them, pending subjects), but also a certain emotional solvency and solid values. In this sense, our low literacy rates, for example, are not a good symptom.
Developing good habits, whether physical or mental, is a lifelong task. Having a solid emotional education and a high culture will allow us to enjoy life vitally and intimately until the end, regardless of the circumstances that may surround us in old age. Intelligence, a smile, or affection towards those close to us are perennial attributes over the years. But this requires constancy in cultivating an emotionally rich and disciplined life. Preparing for a good old age tomorrow requires developing good habits today. Another form of saving, if you will.
Good old age is the natural corollary of a life well lived and that finds sustenance in continuing to learn, continuing to interact with others, feeling useful, not neglecting oneself physically, cultivating a humble purpose, and trusting in an ultimate meaning (in this case, the generosity of caring for family and friends)Aging does not only mean losing. With age we gain experience, judgment, virtue, nobility, prudence, we become more just, more compassionate, more benevolent, and also, without a doubt, more intelligent and practical. Yahweh's followers attribute indiscriminate wisdom to all elders simply by virtue of becoming one. An idea that the proverb collection also reflects in its own way: "the devil knows more for being old than for being the devil." There is even who is capable of aging by learning, learning to grow old, as the wise Solón. Sophocles, who lived to be 92, wrote at 90 Oedipus at Colonus, one of his many famous tragedies. Olalla shows us how old age should not be seen as something fatalistic, strictly defined in numerical terms, associated with a basically passive stage and a prelude to death. Another example is Catón. Active and participatory elder, he had a dignified and exemplary old age.
Good old age is the natural corollary of a life well lived and that finds sustenance in continuing to learn, continuing to interact with others, feeling useful, not neglecting oneself physically, cultivating a humble purpose, and trusting in an ultimate meaning (in this case, the generosity of caring for family and friends). The only shadow in Olalla's very interesting book are some reflections on economics, where concepts are dangerously mixed. As when the capitalist system is criticized, which is associated with the current consumption pattern, also fueled by cheap credit on a monetary system lacking an anchor, debased by politicians and bankers – the author does have some accurate intuition about the perversion of money but does not manage to concretize it – which has little or nothing to do with prudence, saving, or capital accumulation, on which capitalism is based. A warning that can also be made about some observations regarding direct democracy that are at least somewhat utopian (especially given the current scenario). All in all, a wonderful book and a magnificent summer read.