The spiritual poverty of a society that minimizes the death of its elders

In times of panic, it seems that anything goes to exorcise fear. One of the subliminal messages that have been conveyed, especially in the first phase of the "coronavirus" crisis, in different ways to try to calm the population when the virus was not yet widespread is: do not worry, this coronavirus almost exclusively kills elderly people!

But it is precisely this "exclusively" that hurts in the soul. It hurts those who have elderly people next to them and those who have a minimum of sensitivity. Because the size of a society is measured by the way it treats its elderly. And a society that turns its elders into expendable pieces has lost all of its cardinal points.

The society that worships the body condemns itself to the decline of the soul

In "primitive" cultures , the elders enjoyed particular consideration because they were considered reservoirs of wisdom and knowledge. The decline began in ancient Greece and has only gotten worse since then, undergoing a veritable free fall in recent decades. The cult of the body promoted at that time inexorably continued its course. But a society that reveres the body is unable to see beyond appearances.

A society that worships the superficial condemns itself to the decline of the soul. That society is driving more and more people to worry - and fear - about their wrinkles, throwing them into the arms of the burgeoning cosmetic surgery business.

In reality, those people are not running away from their wrinkles but from what they mean. Because they understand, in the deepest reaches of their being, that wrinkles are the beginning of a condemnation of ostracism. And if there is anything worse than seeing wrinkles in the mirror, it is knowing that it no longer matters because during your life you have received so many subtle - and sometimes not subtle - messages that older people do not matter.

What we give to the elderly today is what we will receive tomorrow

The society that minimizes the death of the elderly has forgotten that it was built by those elderly, those who today have become a number that we look at with a certain amazement and in the distance, feeling falsely sure that it will not touch. we. It was these elders who fought for many of the freedoms we enjoy today. The ones who picked up the discarded pieces from many families during the crisis and who are now caring for their grandchildren - though that could mean a death sentence - because their classes have been suspended.

So even though it's the law of life for older people to leave first, I can't help but cringe for those older people that no one takes into account. For my elders. And for myself too. Because almost all of us will reach old age, including those who today boast of youth and flex their muscles. And while it is true that the deaths of children and young people are moving, it still does not give us the right to minimize the loss of those who have lived the longest. Every life counts. Forgetting about this numbs us and brings us dangerously closer to the dystopian society that Lois Lowry hypothesized .

So I can't help but cringe at the thought that I live in a society that seems to care more about slogans and the economy than about lives. In a society where progress is measured in terms of GDP and technology instead of talking about well-being and health for each of its members.

That's why I find worrying the tranquility with which the coronavirus is said to severely affect "only" the elderly - a half-truth because young and healthy people also die, as indicated by the largest study conducted so far - and people with previous illnesses, albeit under the definition "previous pathologies" does not hide terrible diseases but common problems such as hypertension and diabetes - as recognized by the Ministry of Health itself. In Italy 16.7% of the population suffers from hypertension, 5.9% and 5.4% from diabetes, according to the ISTAT . And they're not all old.

This means that this struggle belongs to everyone. It is not a struggle for individual survival but for collective survival. For the survival of the most vulnerable groups. And for the survival of what remains of human in each of us. Because even if it is true that in extreme circumstances the worst in people comes to light, the best we have inside also comes to light. The decision is ours.

So today I raise my voice for the elderly. For those old people who won't raise it. Because they can't, or they don't want to. Or maybe because they have the wisdom given to them by the years and they know that we will learn the lesson when life takes care to put everyone in their place.

Although perhaps mine is just a scream that won't echo in a too harsh and individualistic society that is deaf to everything but its narcissistic selfishness.

Sources:

Wu, Z. & McGoogan, JM (2020) Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in ChinaSummary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. JAMA :  doi: 10.1001 / jama.2020.264.

Fernández, E. et. Al. (2020) Informe Técnico. Enfermedad por coronavirus, COVID-19. Ministerio de Sanidad and Centro de Coordinación de Alertas y Emergencias Sanitarias; 1-27.

Trejo, C. (2001) El viejo en la historia. Acta Bioethica; 7 (1).