by FRANK DA SILVA

IN THE 19TH CENTURY in the more developed countries, the average life span was 47 years. By 1910 in the United States it was still less than 50 years. The average life span has gradually increased over the years well into the 20th century. Research also indicates that from some time in the 1950s (I believe in Britain) the average lifespan grew by 20 per cent every decade.

Many of us grew up believing that if someone was in their 30s, they were middle-aged and certainly I still hear people in their 50s talking about being in the departure lounge. We were therefore influenced into developing preconceptions about aging.

Having given this issue a lot of thought, I recognise that we are making judgments about now as it was then. The way we regard aging and the expectation that we will retire at the relatively young age of 67, should be scrapped altogether, because our country needs the experience and talent we have developed, whether continuing in our careers, as volunteers or on a part-time basis.

So I am advocating a completely new paradigm for our lives which is more relevant to who we are now rather than who we were then. I want to suggest that it is totally stupid to talk about middle age at 30 to 40 years when it is clear an increasing number of us will live to over 100 and should extract the full value from our lives and give the maximum contribution to our country.

Therefore the following must apply:

l We should advocate and engage in developing a new outlook on aging;

l The new threshold of middle age should be approximately 70 years;

l We have an obligation to be fully involved and to be intergenerational in our outlook;

l We must identify and eliminate all forms of age discrimination; and

l We must work with our Government to develop and take a lead role in a national health and wellness programme.

So let's start at 70 years as the beginning of middle age and also let us look at perhaps giving all of us the right, say at age 95, if we so chose, to give up what are referred to as worldly pleasures.

Let me explain why the word "platinum" has been chosen. All over the world, our society has created certain benchmarks so that performance can be measured; that is, bronze, silver or gold. But in the world of precious metals, the highest level we can go is to platinum and my research has led me to believe that God did not provide a shelf life on the false standard that is irrelevant today. Providing we are active in the four major areas of life - spiritual, emotional, physical and mental (I was almost tempted to add political), we are at the most productive phase of our lives.

I have been advised that nowhere in the Bible is the word "retired" used. So why are we using it now? There is a basic principle about civilisation: if we don't use what we have, we will eventually lose it. Thus, we need to work together to bring about this paradigm shift.

The platinum people can make a significant contribution and as our aging achievements grow, Barbados will be looked on as the country that fully recognises and utilises the Platinum Generation.

Finally, I would like to correct one error in last week's column when an outstanding Barbados Association of Retired Persons president, Russell Kellman, was incorrectly described as an acting president. My apologies, Russell.