Treat them well: retirees with a conscience

There is a group of people worth listening to, yet frequently ignored.

They are retirees with a conscience who speak up in the face of idiocy and lunacy.

Of course, there are several problems with this sweeping statement. For example, would you say that a former vice president who saturates the airwaves long after retirement with the righteous claim of speaking his conscience in the face of grave danger to his country is such a person?

It depends. Not on the country, you find these folks everywhere, but on what the man says compared to his time in office, his time on the job.

If he reiterates the same old views without nuance or enlightenment, nothing is gained. It is just your run of the mill expert who can not let go of power, of fame, or of the pretty ladies attracted to either.

See, you can safely turn off the television and never turn it back on.

It does not mean old people like this one should be despised or ignored, even though a select few might deserve it. They should be able to enjoy their final years as much as the next person. The blogster admits to not being fully on board with the whole revere your elders mandate in cultures around the world, the thinking being: if you are a dick at age 50, 60, or 70, don't imagine for a second that a well intentioned cultural mandate will sway me.

But credit should go to those who have learned from the past, who have gained understanding and who offer to share it. That's still a reasonably big group. No, we will not name names, realizing that it keeps these lines more abstract than giving examples you can possibly relate to. The blogster trusts you enough to find your own examples.

Tempting as it is to use a superlative, to say "even more credit" should go to those who look back on a long career and have the greatness to say they were wrong, they regret their role in whatever work or function, the blogster will only recognize that these humans are rare indeed.

Unless such a huge change in a person is brought about by a bolt of lightning**, it is a laborious process which requires nothing less than re-arranging "who you are". It involves leaving the relatively safe space of convention, of a social environment you thrived in, or at least felt reasonably comfortable in - and achieving this without ending up living under a bridge or diving off of one.

One more thing:
We suspect the tone of this post was heavily influenced by hearing the incomparable Emmylou Harris sing Bod Dylan's Shelter from the Storm.

** The positive role of a bolt of lightning in making someone a better person is rather over hyped.