Two old hags, sitting on a tree… D-I-S-S-I-N-G… each other. The famous presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump has been in news recently. An 81-year-old bloke versus a 78-year-old guy. Who's to choose?
But the people of America chose, not their president, but to call out their old president on being incapable of holding his post for another term. I wanted to know what the fuss was about and went through an hour of Mr.Biden unable to hold his thoughts or his mind and Mr. Trump, unable to hold his bullshit.
I wondered if this was ageism I was witnessing or is age a real thing? We might hide behind the guise of experience, but as a 40-plus woman in media, I find it increasingly tough to compete with the 'New Kids on the Block.' Technology has changed, so have economies and the consumption pattern of each and every industry. Not just in media , we see the convergence of brands across platforms. Today radio is consumed as much on social media as it is on-air. My personal consumption of news does not come from physical newspapers but their digital YouTube channels. The amalgamation of brands across channels has challenged experience when we come to new media or the Web 3.0, where currency has a new meaning.
So what is ageism? According to the WHO’s ‘Global report on ageism’, Ageism refers to the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) directed towards people on the basis of their age. It can be institutional, interpersonal or self-directed.
To quote The Wire, “according to the global ageism report, at least one in every two people held moderately or highly ageist attitudes.”
So are we relevant as millennials? The answer lies in the question. Relevance. How relevant are we in the scale and scope of things? "Old is gold", an old proverb used as a grab to cover age insecurities comes to the rescue of experience. We have years behind us. But what is the use of any of it if I do not understand my playing field. A recent conversation with the Head of sales of a newspaper brought about this topic. This gentleman was struggling with his CTR’s and CTC’s as much as a child with his ABC’s and why not? It’s not the silver spoon we were born with. We have to work our way up the ladder and adapt with the new lingo of selling.
So, Is age a thing?
Age is not just a number. The aches in your body and your soul leaving it exactly around 9 pm are witness to it. But Age is a thought. Today, your age is good as your thoughts. A thought that is faster, cheaper and happier makes most difference . From my observations, I have come to figure a couple of thoughts that don’t work in favor of age.
The thought that I know it all. I learn therefore I know.
The thought that it is too late to learn. The best way is to ask and there is no shame in it.
The thought that things will not change because they will change again and again. New softwares to new algorithms. Updating Knowledge should be as organic as growing up.
Everything has a trend, from the markets to social media and we just need to just keep up. Our experience will do the rest. As Joe Biden defended himself “ But I do know how to do the job”.
Hinduism has divided the human life beautifully into 4 ashrams which are age driven. Brahmacharya ( Bachelorhood ), Grihastha ( Married life), Vanparastha ( Giving up world pleasures) and Sanyasi ( Being ascetic) . Today these ashrams have merged with each other but to conclude, age is real thing but so is inexperience. And here we use our ‘Trump’ phrase - Old is Gold.
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