There's a discrimination nobody talks about
- Not authored by myself, but thoughts that resonated with my own! -
| There's a discrimination nobody talks about. It's not in the headlines, it's not on the protest signs. But it's everywhere: age. When you're young, the world loves you. You're "productive." You can grind, hustle, stay up all night. The bodies move faster, the sex is rampant, the energy seems endless. Nobody questions your value. But the moment you hit 70 or 80, society quietly files you under done. Doesn't matter if you're writing, recording, teaching, creating every day. The assumption is: you've had your time. You're expendable. The root of it is Darwin's old program - survival of the fittest, natural selection. Somewhere in the back of people's minds, they justify it: "The old ones are weaker, so they don't count." That's ageism. And it's nastier than racism or antisemitism in one way: at least those are visible. People call them out, protest them, push back. Ageism hides in silence. No outrage. Just the quiet delete key. And silence is deadly. Because what really kills people isn't just the body slowing down - it's the feeling of being banished. Vanished. Like you no longer exist. Here's the truth: older people aren't finished. We just operate differently. Younger people run on speed and hormones; older people run on clarity and organization. What they burn in stamina, we multiply in leverage. One sharp hour at 80 can outweigh sixteen scattered hours at 20. That's not decline - that's a different kind of power. The antidote isn't marching or shouting. It's refusing to vanish. Staying funny, creative, alive, visible. Showing up. |
