It's the end of the year, and we all know what that means: time again for the bloated, thumb-sucking Year in Review listicles. Woo hoo. This year, even the brainier publications are whiffing spectacularly. In the Economist's usually-pretty-good annual financial summary, nowhere does one find meaningful analysis of population aging -- one of the 21st century's most significant social, political, and economic developments. A mega-trend if there ever was one.
2014 was no slouch year, either. Over the past 12 months, one has seen a spectacular confluence of ideas, events and initiatives that demand fresh, thoughtful attention. So to the Buzzfeed-esque lists that cap the year - and effectively write the history of 2014 - let's add these five developments:
- Life is worth living after 75. In October, Ezekiel Emanuel caused a stir with his Atlantic essay, Why I Hope to Die at 75. In the piece, Emanuel offers an admittedly provocative case for death at 75, but he also showed impressive lack of imagination in spelling out the social and economic reasons for ending it all at 75. His argument assumes that life at 75 becomes more burden than benefit, and it discounts all the medical, technological and consumer innovation that is still yet to come. Unlike Emanuel, I'll put my money on innovation and our inexhaustible ability to improve the human condition. In 2015, look for new opportunities for the aging to stay socially and economically productive in the burgeoning Silver Economy; and bet on new medical and technological developments to keep seniors out-and-about and reinventing what it means to age in the 21st century. And look too for developments for the "oldest old" as we further enable aging-at-home. Care may seem like an odd bedfellow for innovation, but we're seeing more and more, how new, better models can be developed.
As we conclude 2014, it is imperative to keep sight of the transformational developments with population aging. We are gaining tremendous momentum from individual families all the way up to the G8 and OECD. We mustn't lose steam.
It's been a good year. Now let's have a great 2015.
Earlier on Huff/Post50: