From Todo Por Hacer, English translation by Anarchist News

By Juan Cruz López, author of Edades de tercera. Historia y presente de una vieja desigualdad [Third-Class Ages. History and Present of an Old Inequality] (editorial Descontrol, Barcelona, 2022).   

The new year started and many of us get the feeling that Spanish society has turned the page with regard to the pandemic. We continue to observe —with certain degree stupefaction— news about new outbreaks of the virus in China, but now without so much drama, now without the fear incorporated into our day-to-day... Having arrived at this point, there still remains, and this much is clear, the shared feeling that we have gone through a global unprecedented social crisis that has taken the lives of thousands of people; a crisis, the one caused by COVID-19, that has spotlighted the fragility of a system that’s falling apart at the seams, tragically evidencing the consequences of neoliberal governance that has made our existence precarious, weakening health systems and seriously deteriorating the working conditions of the majority of workers

Paradoxically, if during lockdown we were able to notice the vastness of jobs that are essential for sustaining life in common, appreciating the true worth of the services provided by cleaners, garbage collectors, cashiers, day laborers, nurses, etc., after the storm, not the slightest trace has remained of the positive consequences of that temporary unveiling that allowed us to ponder the importance of the daily work of those who feed our bodies, clean our streets or care for the weakest, just to cite three examples.

On our part, if we look back and review the response of the anarchist movement to the coronavirus crisis, at least with regard to Spain, we will observe that said response was quite uneven: we were present in the places where we should have been, of course, although not in all the places where we should have been; something that, I think, has to do with the weakness of the movement as a whole, but also with our range of interests, undoubtedly consistent with our historical lines of action and the emergence of some stances related to the measures implemented by the State to deal with the health crisis.

In this sense, one has to appreciate the fact that many militants threw themselves into the creation and strengthening of mutual aid networks woven in the neighborhoods, covering gaps that were impossible to attend to by the social services dependent on the different administrations. In the labor field, we can’t forget the great deployment of solidarity launched by the CNT syndicates, whose syndicalist action groups threw themselves into answering thousands of queries, putting cables where necessary, and helping all the workers who called the unions requesting information as best they could. Finally, we also can’t forget the awareness-raising by some collectives who spotlighted a critique ofsecuritism, and the reinforcement of arguments criminalizing of social protest by State powers.

However, the silence of the anarchist militancy, its groups and organizations, in the face of the murder of thousands of elderly men and women neglected in their residences, victims of the infamous sanitary protocols and the gerontocidal strategy adopted by the different administrations to resolve the situation of stressed health resources, speaks clearly of how ageism has permeated our belief system, showing the insufficiency of our social analysis and evidencing the narrowness, not only of our political autonomy, but of our ability to intervene in a situation of multifactorial crisis (something that, at the very least, should make us rethink the essentialist strategies that lead to the isolation of our movement and its members).

Let it be clear that the above is a criticism that applies, to begin with, to the one who is writing this, and it could apply to all leftist political and syndicalist organizations. Precisely for this reason, I think there is an indisputable need for a debate within social movements that addresses all issues related to the process of aging, going beyond the legitimate interest in the pension system and nursing homes.

Parting from there, and with what concerns the anarchist movement, it would be interesting to intervene in this social debate, whose guidelines are being set by private capital pressure groups (health insurance companies, banks, companies linked to private health services...), to provide a revolutionary perspective that can overcome this, which points out the inanity of some strategies to improve the social condition of the elderly that, on the one hand, ignore the question of class and, on the other, favor that solutions come exclusively from the specialized field of gerontology; a perspective, we say, that interconnects the struggles against the state of malaise and ends up situating the good life of the majority as a prioritized aspiration of our societies.

But for this we need to unsync our gaze from thetrending topics and get back on track with our own agenda that, for the topic at hand, makes us return to the fertile tradition of demographic thought linked to anarchism, broadening our range of interests and betting on the construction of a strategy for the future that allows us to open paths of hope. We cannot allow —here either— that our living conditions, even during the final years of our existence, are determined by the social consequences of a system that values people based on their production and consumption capacity, marginalizing dependent people and disregarding the social contribution of their caregivers.

And the thing is that, no matter how much the propagandists of the end of history insist on telling us otherwise, there is still a lot left to be done in the battle for the world that is to come after us. We verify it daily with the infinity of struggles that, silent and forgotten by mainstream media, that are sustained by human groups all across the planet that, against all odds, have decided not to give up on building their own present. Feeding these struggles, multiplying them if possible, is everyone's responsibility; as is not abandoning anyone along the way.

Comments

Lettuce (not verified) Thu, 02/09/2023 - 17:56

So I absolutely agree with the premise here. Tho in the last paragraph I think the word responsibility explains a lot at why old people aren't valued in anarchist spaces. When you view a group as a burden you aren't going to be super stoked to get them in ur group. Young fresh pink kids are easy to recruit cuz there is so much interesting stuff to do.

So in an ageist mindset you don't view old people the same way. But the problem in my opinion is not anarchists being too lazy to take up the shackles of responsibility. It's to ask, why do anarchists not realize they are missing out on majorly by not recruiting old people?

This isn't a case of responsibility it's just letting ageism cloud ones mind and miss out on a great opportunity. Old people aren't burdens to uphold and a burden of responsibility to take up in a sysyphian ordeal. No they are valuable people who can be enjoyable and beneficial company.

So I think the author is on the right track tho the rhetoric of responsibility reinforces ageism that is the reasons old people are cast aside. No one is coming about how we need to take up the responsibility to goof off with our 20 something friends. Cuz everyone views them as valuable. You are responsible for burdens. And the first step in countering ageism is not seeing old people and kids as burdens. But people with different situations who you accommodate so they can be great assets.

So go help out some old people you are missing out on a great asset. If anything the old person will be putting up with you, by allowing your help. So you should be grateful for their charity lol.

anon (not verified) Fri, 02/10/2023 - 11:45

In reply to by Lettuce (not verified)

Some kids are also more or less consciously assuming the underlying sexual/mating dynamics, which in the context of way older people doesn't really add up. But perhaps it's a mistake to make anarchist activity (whatever that means) a basis for connecting with other on such intimate levels... or at least on the more public aspect of the milieus. So the way we territorialize public and private relations might be at fault.

The value of mating as a currency for longing and mutual trust is in itself sexist, and that leads to ageist patterns, as far as age is a criteria for having sex or not.

There's also the other factor: institutional dependence of milieus. Like entire milieus being sourced in the temporary passing through academia. There's a necessity to build our own age-less institutions if we wanna make sure to have milieus that endure, but also possibly grow beyond being milieus, into movements or even standalone societies.

Academia is self-defeating as far as it enforces its own framing of time and economics. That's why anarchists can't rely on it. Evne if it's true it can provide with a level of "rookies", these newcomers will eventually be pursuing careers and upward social mobility.

So academia is literally a factory that produces yuppies. How are derelict old people of any interest to yuppies, can be the same reason why they might not have any better value to "anarchists".

anon (not verified) Fri, 02/10/2023 - 18:31

it’s not that old people are a burden to bear, but that life itself is a burden. when the burden becomes too great, regardless of age, it’s time to die. today’s culture is all about extending life at all costs, except for the cost of healthy lifestyles. bodies are worn down by work regimen (a fast pace couples with sedentary lifestyle), pollution, bad food, sadness, stress, crowding, isolation. society chews up people and spits them out. i would prefer an emphasis on destroying this machine, rather than palliative care for those run through the meat-grinder

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