Health in the ‘grey’ millennium: Romanticism versus complexity?
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Health in the `grey' millennium Romanticism versus complexity? John McCallum* Professor and Dean, College of Social and Health Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Campbelltown NSW 2560, Australia 1. Introduction: the `big' metaphors of ageing Legal and ethical debates about ageing reflect powerful but simplistic metaphors that lie at the root of the public imagination and language about ageing. Two popular images shape and motivate political statements and policies on ageing. The first of these is a pessimistic metaphor, which depicts older people as a heavy burden on the young with a suggestion that ageing is a state of `sinful decay'. The roots of this imagery have been traced back to Victorian morality of the 19th century Cole, 1995). Extreme pessimistic views on ageing, such as those of some economic `rationalists' or other moral conservatives, now tend to be regarded as `politically incorrect' in academic and government circles. They nonetheless are the views of many in the population and widely broadcast in the media, newsprint, radio, and TV. Some current political and ethical debates arising from such pessimistic views are: Concern over the burdens on the young of paying for the elderly and the fairness of public entitlements of older people; Support for public welfare cuts and lower taxes by exclusion of the elderly from publicly funded health and welfare programs; and Social marginalisation of older, disabled people from `normal' life by committing them to institutions. Counteracting this pessimistic view of ageing is the `romantic' or modernist view that, rather than being a social burden, each individual is responsible for his or her old age. Closely 0160-2527/01/$ ± see front matter D 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. PII:S0160-252701)00065-6 * Tel.: +61-02-46203306; fax: +61-02-4620379. E-mail address: [email protected] J. McCallum). International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 24 2001) 135 ± 148
