On Ageism
Published on AprĀ 16, 2023 (updated JulĀ 27, 2024), filed under misc, activism (feed). (Share this on Mastodon orĀ Bluesky?)
One may argue that the big ā-ismsāālike sexism, racism, ageismāgo back to speciesism, the idea that one was ābetterā than other living beings, or that other beings were inferior.Ā *
With that idea warranting a post by itself, there are two things that make ageism particularly stupid; so stupid that Iāve felt like briefly venting about it. Youāre certainly aware and I understand you to be no ageists, but letās call these two things out:
1. Everyone Gets Older
Everything is aging is how things work in our reality system. With the passing of time, we all get older, which means that sooner or later, weāre all, without exception, subject to ageism.
That means that discriminating against age is discriminating against oneself.
That is stupid.
2. Experience Has Tremendous Value
Also a perk of time, age usually comes with experience, which usually is valuable, and which usually can be shared. (Age correlates with experience and experience correlates with value, but itās possible not to have learned much of interest in a life time.)
With that, discriminating against age is a waste of learning and growth opportunities, forcing oneself and ourselves to learn things a hard way what others could have taught a soft way.
That may not be surprising, but is still stupid.
ā§ It seems to be in our interest to respect aging in general, and to honor the old specifically. (There were and there are groups of people whoāve been successful with that.) That would not only help prevent from sowing something one oneself would later reap; it would instead enable us to benefit more from the wealth of experience and wisdom age brings.
That is, how about we all cherish aging, and cherish the old,āand cherish saying ānoā to ageism.
* That is, it seems easier to be a sexist or racist if oneās actions already lead to the suffering or death of other living beingsāactions which, ruling out gross ignorance or negligence, appear only possible and tolerable if one deems oneself superior to others. Which is the assumption uniting the big -isms. (Per this thesis, there would be a substantial difference between, say, the percentage of vegans who are racists, and the percentage of omnivores who are racists. It doesnāt say, however,āfor it doesnāt follow logicallyāthat all omnivores were racists, or that there were no vegans who are racists. That is nonsense.)
About Me
Iām Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and Iām a web developer, manager, and author. Iāve been working as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies youāve never heard of and companies you use every day, Iām an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for OāReilly and Frontend Dogma.
I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)