The Indian and Nepalese governments are addressing this by developing state-run elderly care programs. Honorific suffixes like —ji in Hindi enable speakers to add an extra level of respect to important people — like Mahatma Gandhi, who is often referred to as Gandhiji.
According to Wikipedia , mzee in Kiswahili — spoken in many parts of Africa — is a term used by younger speakers to communicate a high level of respect for elders. The country regularly holds Respect for the Aged Day , with the media running special features that profile the oldest Japanese citizens. Kankrei, as the celebration is called, marks a rite of passage into old age.
Around the world, a number of traditional societies reserve certain foods for the elderly, Diamond reveals in his book. In Nebraska, only senior members of the Omaha Indians eat bone marrow — they believe that if young men do so, they will sprain an ankle. Similarly, the Iban of Borneo advise that only old men eat venison because, if the young taste it, it could make them timid. The group with the strongest food taboos: the Arunta Aboriginies, who live near Ayers Rock in Australia.
If young Arunta men eat wildcat, they will develop painful and smelly sores on their head and neck. According to societal belief, young women who eat kangaroo tails will age prematurely … and go bald. Meanwhile, quail consumption will lead to stunted breast development, and conversely, eating brown hawks will lead the breasts to swell and burst, without even producing milk.
As Diamond mentions in his talk, many elders are respected because of highly specialized skills and knowledge. Discover Membership. Editions Quartz. More from Quartz About Quartz.
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Published February 7, Last updated on January 8, This article is more than 2 years old. How cultures view and treat their elderly is closely linked to their most prized values and traits. Here, a sampling of the experience of aging in different cultures around the world:. Korea: Celebrating old age Not only do Koreans respect the elderly, but they also celebrate them. For Koreans, the 60th and 70th birthdays are prominent life events, which are commemorated with large-scale family parties and feasts.
As in Chinese culture, the universal expectation in Korea is that roles reverse once parents age, and that it is an adult child's duty — and an honorable one at that — to care for his or her parents. Japan: An elderly predicament Like the Chinese and the Koreans, the Japanese prize filial piety and expect children to dutifully tend to their parents.
But Japan also faces the unique problem of tending to an increasingly elderly population. The table below shows how the countries stacked up in each category. The researchers used a method called goalpost scoring, which means that each country is scored against the other Countries that performed the best in a particular category earned a and countries that performed the worst earned a zero; countries halfway between the best and worse would have received a score of In order to receive a score or 0 for a category, a country needed to receive the highest or lowest marks in each of the factors that contribute to that domain.
Rowe says this was because the US has such a high population of people who are still working, even with flexible hours, which raises their productivity and engagement score. It also scored low on security because of US government debt levels and the levels of government medical care provided for those over Countries that performed poorly tended to have lower life expectancies, decreased quality of life which the study authors note could be cultural , and lower retirement ages.
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