IN this month of March I will celebrate my 86th birthday and 68th year as a journalist. Having arrived at this milestone on foot, I optimistically hope for empathic understanding as I take a stand for senior citizens, especially those who are willing and able to continue contributing wit and wisdom to the salad bowl of life in Jamaica. Age ought not to be measured in years, but in terms of performance and capability.

I have always been impressed by youth when it surprises society with remarkable achievements, and also by the elders who perform with distinction despite advancing years. Those old folks must surely have had their ‘senior moments’, even as some of the younger had their occasions of ‘youthful exuberance’. Human existence was not deprived of development because either of these surrendered to the traditional traducers.

I write this now only because of the current resurgence of calls for the retirement of so-called dinosaurs still active in areas of public affairs. I am not so biased as to think that there are not stubborn, stagnating seniors who should have been retired and withdrawn. Nor am I so foolish as to believe that the young, just because they are young, will necessarily be more beneficially creative or perform mental tasks better than their elders.

Good governance comes more by exercises of mind than exertions of muscle. Reason and experience allow me to balance the advantages of both; and it is by this balancing that we must come to judgement on the question.

Today, as in previous times, there is a spasmodic demand for older politicians to be replaced by younger persons. It is a debatable point from which most seniors will bashfully resile, even if they do not agree with the sentiment. However, in good humour, and with respect, I take up the challenge today.

Grey matter of greybeards

To begin, please note that the call to put seniors in the pavilion is not as strong in the business community and in academia where the grey matter of greybeards is still prized around the boardroom tables, in the seats of learning, and sometimes on the shop floors of industry.

Good balance in these places results in good balance sheets and certificates of high degree. It is in the sphere of politics and public affairs that the cry is most often heard; and it is associated with failures and disappointments, which discontented voters readily attribute to longevity rather than to the incapacity of the targeted individuals.

Claude Pepper, a United States congressman, was one who for a lifetime stood up for the value of the elderly in general. He served for more than 60 years in the Senate and the House of Representatives and stayed in office until he died at 88-plus. In his view: “Age-based retirement arbitrarily severs productive persons from their livelihood, squanders their talents, scars their health, strains an already overburdened social security system, and drives many elderly people into poverty and despair. Ageism is as odious as racism and sexism.”

Having tried to make a reasonable case for my age group, I hasten to affirm my faith in youth, but in particular, youth that comes with promise and preparedness based upon prior performance. Not youth that comes with only dreams, untested theories, and an appetite for authority. I respect youth such as seen from time to time serving in communities, excelling in education, breaking ground in various fields of endeavour and, more than all, making the most of every opportunity to succeed.

If we need examples of great people who achieved as seniors, and also others who performed excellently in their youth, we have only to look at two of our national heroes — Alexander Bustamante and Marcus Garvey. Busta was 53 when he launched his political career, was in the forefront of the fight for Independence at age 77, and retired as prime minister when he was 83. Garvey, at age 27, founded the UNIA which amassed a following of millions worldwide when he was still in his 30s. He was only 53 years old when he died, leaving an immortal international legacy. Farther afield, we might recall legendary figures as Napoleon conquering Italy at age 25; and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, who retired from the US Supreme Court when he was well over the age of 90.

Of course, real genius can span the years from youth to age. Antonio Stradivari, famous craftsman of stringed instruments, made his first violin at age 16 and was still at it when he died at 93. Long after his death, one of his pieces was auctioned off for US$1.3 million and another in the British Ashmolean Museum is valued at US$15 million.

There is much in these examples for those who mistakenly believe that the troubles of this country will be better handled if only we get some younger people in Parliament. In, fact the records do not support this theory. The most controversial and divisive period in our history was at a time when the average age of our leading political representatives was about 45 years. Michael Manley became prime minister at age 48 and, though he was an outstanding thinker and leader, those around him were youthful men with good intentions: Deputy Leader David Coore was 47; Tony Spaulding, 42; D K Duncan, 38; Hugh Small, 35; Arnold Bertram, 32; John Stephenson, 38; P J Patterson, 41; and Carlyle Dunkley, 37. We may differ on how we assess their contribution, but we must agree that they were young, and that the cry for young parliamentarians is nothing new, nothing creative, and nothing more promising than anything else.

What hampers our progress is not the age of parliamentarians, but the bankruptcy of ideas, the distraction of political tribalism, the unwillingness to make radical but positive changes, and the lack of that burning nationalism that allows our representatives to put the interests of the country above their loyalty or rather subservience to party politics. These infectious diseases apply to both the young and the old in our present form of politics. The question we need to ask: Is there a doctor in the House?

I move on with this thought: Growth is vital and we cannot grow younger. We can only grow old.

Ken Jones is a veteran journalist, public relations consultant, and is the author of books on Marcus Garvey, Alexander Bustamante and other leading historic figures. Comments: kensjones2002@yahoo.com