The case for experience
reproduced with thanks to Greater London Pensioners' Association and Tony
Benn)
Experience is the greatest and best teacher of all and one advantage that
older people have over the young is that they have had a much longer
experience of life, and a bit of time to think about it.
I am very proud to have been asked to become a patron of the Greater
London Pensioners' Association, but must admit that the word pensioner
offends me for it is as if when we have had a lot of experience the only
way in which we can be described is by reference to our age and the fact
that we no longer have a full-time paid job.
Older people who have been trade unionists are experienced trade
unionists, and older women who have raised a family are experienced
mothers and may be grandmothers - and even great grandmothers as well -
with a lot to offer the young.
Older Doctors are experienced medical men and so on and we ought to
give a lot more thought to what experienced people can do to contribute to
society.
Old people who are always talking about the past are boring, those who are
always complaining about the present can be intolerable, and older people
who want to keep control and run things are a bloody menace.
The best role for the old is to encourage the young and most of us
remember with affection those teachers and others, who, when we were young
took an interest in us and gave us the confidence to carry on when we may
have felt discouraged.
The campaigns on which older people should now be concentrating should, in
my opinion, be focused on helping others in the community who feel ignored
and.. isolated and there are many ways in which that can be done.For
example students facing terrible top up fees which will plunge them in
debt would really appreciate any support that we can give them, and
workers facing redundancy when the public services are privatised would
also welcome those of us who can find the time to give them a hand.
As we are the generation which remembers the war we must, like
ex-servicemen's CND want to be active for peace and that also extends our
influence and wins support for our own cause.
Obviously the fear of poverty in old age is a huge problem for many people
and the pensioners are necessarily campaigning for a change of policy, but
the support that we need for that should be founded on the principle of
the solidarity of the generations, and if we have helped others they will
be more ready to help us.
In short, older people are a valuable resource for the nation and we must
never accept that because we have a bus pass we can be patted on the heard
and told to keep quiet.
That is my interest in the pensioners movement and why I am proud to be
closely associated with the London members, since I was born here, lived
in London during the Blitz, and worked here in Parliament for over fifty
years.
I was in the cabinet when Barbara Castle linked pensions with earnings.
If we could do it then, we can do it now - and so we
must.
Tony Benn
Patron, Greater London Pensioners' Association
(reproduced with thanks to Greater London Pensioners' Association and Tony
Benn) |
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The case for experience
