Abstract
Legal and ethical debates about aging reflect powerful but simplistic metaphors that lie at the root of the public imagination and language about aging. Two popular images shape and motivate political statements and policies on aging. The first of these is a pessimistic metaphor that depicts older people as a heavy burden on the young with a suggestion that aging is a state of “sinful decay.” The roots of this imagery have been traced back to Victorian morality of the nineteenth century (Cole 1995). Extreme pessimistic views on aging, such as those of some economic “rationalists” or other moral conservatives, now tend to be “politically incorrect” in academic and government circles, but remain nonetheless the views of many in the population. These views are widely broadcast in the media, newsprint, radio, and television.
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Mccallum, J. (2001). Health in the “Grey” Millennium. In: Weisstub, D.N., Thomasma, D.C., Gauthier, S., Tomossy, G.F. (eds) Aging: Culture, Health, and Social Change. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0677-3_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0677-3_3
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