Throw Away

I was intrigued with Doug Fabrizio’s interview with Jared Diamond, professor of Geography at UCLA, this morning while I was exercising.  Jared Diamond spent many years studying the cultures in New Guinea.  Doug interviewed him a few months ago prior to his coming to Salt Lake City to talk about his newest book.

His most recent book, The World Until Yesterday, published in 2012, asks what the western world can learn from traditional societies.  The book discusses Diamond's belief that the West can still learn something from the lifestyles of traditional people.  It surveys 39 traditional small-scale societies of farmers and hunter/gatherers, organized in tribes or bands, with respect to how they deal with universal human problems. The problems discussed include dividing space, resolving disputes, bringing up children, treatment of elders, dealing with dangers, formulating religions, learning multiple languages, and remaining healthy. The book suggests that some practices of traditional societies could be usefully adopted in the modern industrial world today, either by individuals or else by society as a whole.

“We treat the elderly horribly,” says Jared Diamond.

“Western societies do not value the elderly and treats them 'horribly' compared to the standards of traditional people in developing countries,” the anthropologist stated.

Diamond said elderly people in the UK and America tend to have "lonely lives separated from their children and lifelong friends, where as in many traditional societies elderly people are of value and they spend their lives next to their children and their friends."

He contrasted the lives of the elderly in the West to those in more traditional societies in developing nations, where he said older people are considered to be "of value".

Diamond recounted a meeting with a friend from Fiji who told him: "You Americans throw away your old people."

Old people typically have been a repository of knowledge.  Before the written language, they were imperative.  Now everyone just googles for information.  Still experience and wisdom should count for something and be valued and respected.

He does concede there are traditional societies where the elderly are killed, abandoned or encouraged to commit suicide. 

He talked about where people every day are packing up and moving, if someone can’t walk or keep up, they have no choice but to leave them.  They generally leave food and water and if they get feeling better than can catch up.  They have to carry their children and possessions; they cannot carry their parents too.  They did it to their parents so they expect it. 

Of course, in America and England, we are permanent and have better options for our old people – like isolating them in retirement homes and visiting them once in a while.