Don’t Go Down That Road Young Man

 

Photo Credit: Tuân Nguyễn Minh. 2018.

By Cale Gressman

One of my favorite lines from G.K Chesterton is from (in my opinion) his magnum opus Orthodoxy, it goes “He admired youth because it was young and age because it was not.” As the Good Book states, there is a time for everything. I take that to mean that there is an intrinsic value given to each moment and thing; though for different reasons. That is, they are all essential parts of one whole. However, I think this balancing act has been upset in our culture (and in the opposite way in our politics), we overvalue youth and denigrate age.

A verse that comes to mind is Proverbs 1:15, “my son, don’t travel the road with them or set foot on their path[.]” The verse is a warning by a father to his son to not walk down the path of sin. An older coworker of mine once said something that his grandfather said to him, “I’ve backed out of more bridges than you’ll ever cross.”  They know because they have experienced it. 

I believe that modern culture states that elders have nothing to teach. Being young is glorified. Recently the founder of Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for fraud. The story goes that investors, inevitably older men, thought that something stunk but that they had convinced themselves that they were just old fogies who needed to get out of the way of the youth. While I’m honestly not sure if that story is true or not, it cannot be denied that Holmes was a media darling. Using the fact that she was a female in a male-dominated space and her looks to win the crowds over. Those who believed her abandoned wisdom because of this mistaken celebration of youthfulness. That she was the “new Steve Jobs.” 

Another, rather sad, example is what is going on with Madonna. Once upon a time, she was beautiful. Whatever your thoughts are that is the truth. However, has anyone seen her recently? As our former president stated, “not good.” She has done so much plastic surgery that her face is now, well, deformed is the nicest way of putting it. I don’t say this to be cruel, but the truth is unfortunately cruel at times. 

Why would someone do this to themselves? Fear. Her entire career, her entire existence is wrapped up in how she looks. Her sex appeal. But we all age. We all die. This simple fact dictates that we ought to figure out how we should age. There is an entire philosophical field surrounding the philosophy of aging. Life expectancy for many is going well past 80, so the question becomes what do we do with ourselves when we are so far past our prime? That is ultimately another essay or frankly series of treatises. But going back to Madonna, it is this fear of aging in a youth-centric society that leads to this. That combined with no one being willing to tell her the truth. Now it is far too late for her.

Ultimately, it isn’t right to denigrate the youth. They have their flaws (believe me I am one of them) but ultimately they have just as many flaws as anyone throughout history. The same sinners, different sins. However, I believe we are trending in the wrong direction in how we treat age. We live in a culture that values youth far too much and not youth in its proper place.