Aging and Political Theater
People from all walks of life were participating in the recent debate about candidates for political office and how they were aging. With all this talk, I still found it difficult to follow the lines of argument. One could readily find arrogance, bombast, and even denial in them. Some journalists insisted that one politician seemed stronger and more dynamic than another. Others felt they could look at a politician’s gait and deduce whether he had the ability to carry out his duties. Observers demanded to see the medical records of the politicians they disliked. They believed they could make solid predictions about a specific person’s future performance from yesterday’s mental-status examinations.
I wanted to put some structure back into my thinking. Luckily, I came across a biographical story by French journalist Charlotte Herzog called “Raconte-moi ta vieillesse” (“Tell me about your old age”), published recently in Le Monde, and I thought it worth sharing. Herzog begins by reminding us of a quote from Simone de Beauvoir: “La vieillesse, c’est ce qui arrive aux gens qui deviennent vieux” (“Old age is what happens to people who get old”). That statement reestablishes a sense of orderliness, even while it is full of circularity. Not many politicians easily admit to growing older. Could it be true that they gain experience while remaining young? Are they that different from us?
La Vie en Nicole
Herzog then introduces the reader to Nicole, an 84-year-old divorcée who spends every day in the same café in the Belleville section of Paris, sitting in the same seat at the same table from two to seven o’clock. Nicole has short, white hair, complains of sciatica in her left leg, and is surrounded by a pile of newspapers, a glass of water, and an espresso diluted by a bit of water, which the French call “un café allongé.” She does not sleep well these days. She has a new printer that is complicated, and she is unable to handle certain maneuvers on her computer. She is worried that she may have to pay her taxes online this year.
From time to time sitting at her table, Nicole feels cold. She recognizes that her troublesome old person’s chill starts from the inside and does not respond to the warmth offered by sweaters. But every day, she leaves her residence for the café, in part to avoid suddenly dying alone at home. That is what happened to her mother. Nicole admits to detesting all types of emptiness. She had a twin sister who died about 20 years ago in a train accident. Memories no longer come to her easily, and the days are not always pleasant. Sometimes she has arthritic pains, accompanied by anxiety and a touch of vertigo as she anticipates tomorrow’s arrival.
She runs through her list of life events for Herzog: three children, an abortion, separations, a depressive episode at retirement, broken connections with two daughters, and grandchildren she knows only through photographs. She is familiar with physical solitude, as well as the isolation that is so difficult to put into words. She tells Herzog: “Les gens viennent et s’en vont” (“People come and they leave”).
Here Today, Gone Today
Enough about Nicole! However, I still want you to keep in mind the literary tableau of pathos and humility that Charlotte Herzog evokes: the memory lapses; the arthritis and sciatica; the secret fears of this and that; the search to retain dignity; the loneliness and reconsideration of a past life. Not every old person’s story goes down this path. Nevertheless, I found it a good exemplar of growing old.
What a contrast with the narratives of aging offered by the individuals seeking high political office in the United States. Some of them tend to avoid discussing the subject, even as they confront life anchored by the age-80 mark. They want to control the pace and direction of the aging process, which may include intellectual deterioration. Their advisers tell anyone who will listen that if their candidate can effectively handle a specific cognitive task in the present, it is evidence that they can execute other functions as well. That is wishful thinking.
There is an amusing clamor, by fierce television critics, for testing opponents who are, say, near age 80. Younger candidates, still in their seventies, escape these demands, especially if they can talk confidently about their good health. This bluffing style is disarming and convinces the naïve that good health today necessarily means good health tomorrow. Those who espouse this view have never heard the Barbadian dialogue between two men chatting on a street corner. One says: “Boy, here today, gone tomorrow.” The other replies, “No, man, it is here today and gone today.”
The two men are reflecting on the uncertainty of life, which should temper arrogance in talking about aging. However, we cannot say about a particular person that the process will proceed in a certain way, with stops here and there for reflection and time to say goodbye to friends and enemies. Neither do we know the day and time when the end will come. But when we pursue political objectives, we find it easy to distort stories of aging to reach our desired goals.
Nicole’s life story naturally seems chaotic and unpredictable, partly because of her minimal resources and pronounced isolation. Nevertheless, we should not be fooled by status, access to wealth, or the presence of witnesses and social support. Father Time eventually has his way when he is ready, despite the candidates’ insistence on overseeing their lives. Their claims are mere political theater enjoyed by demanding audiences. ■
Biographies
Ezra E.H. Griffith, M.D., is professor emeritus of psychiatry and African American Studies at Yale University.
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Published online: 27 August 2024
Published in print: September 1, 2024 – September 30, 2024
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