November is a time of reflection and soul- searching. As the year slowly draws to an end, we often think about where we came from, where we are and where we are heading. The older we get, the more we have to confront our mortality, knowing that a time will come when there will be more to look back on and less to look forward to.
The generation born just before, during and just after World War II is exiting the worldly stage. This generation is now made up mostly of grandparents and older parents of baby boomers and generations that came after them. This generation has been severely punished by the pandemic because of their advanced age and their failing health. It is time to remember the achievements of this generation that is slowly tiptoeing out of our lives.
The war generation were hard workers. Despite their low educational achievements they had a steely determination to give a better future to their children. They lived for most of their lives in a colony where their parents had to fight our coloniser’s wars. Many were passionate about their political or religious beliefs.
They followed their political leaders’ dream to make the country independent and transforming it from a military economy to a modern one where we could sell our goods and services to other countries. Many also wanted the country to become a secular state free from the overbearing influence of the church in civil life.
When the British services run down their operations in Malta, many lived in abject poverty. Others emigrated for a better life. Slowly, the country’s politicians introduced the welfare state that gradually enabled working-class families to own their homes and support their children to better educate themselves.
We suffer from ageism. We labour under the false illusion that whoever is not economically productive is dispensable
The war generation worked like beasts to survive. These were the times when automatic home appliances were still not widely available. Women spent most of their time keeping their homes spotlessly clean, bending over hot stoves to prepare meals for the men and children, and washing loads of clothes by hand.
Men worked long hours for low basic pay that was often just enough for their families to survive. Children, often poorly dressed, played in the streets. They were happy and mischievous as most children are.
COVID is now decimating the few of this generation that are left. Sadly, we often define these brave people by their medical conditions to justify our failure to protect them from the onslaught of this disease. But to their loved ones, the grandparents and parents of the war generation are their role models and inspiration in life.
These older people are, of course, vulnerable. They suffer from terrible old age fragilities like dementia. Those who are still relatively healthy want to enjoy their grandchildren and keep track of their success in their family lives and career.
Sadly, even before the onslaught of the pandemic, some have shown little respect to their elders, especially those who live in care homes. The result is sadness, solitude, depression and the pain that only ingratitude can inflict. We have so many older people suffering from this social injustice without complaining but still proud of the values they passed on to their children.
I am full of admiration to NGOs who care for the older citizens who have done so much to make us what we are today. When we scarp the collective memory that is to be found in the war generation, we risk forgetting where we came from.
Sadly, like most western societies, we suffer from ageism. We labour under the false illusion that whoever is not economically productive is dispensable. This attitude shows how morally more impoverished we are from our grandparents and great-grandparents.
Older people do not have strong lobbies to get their voices heard by politicians who are ultimately responsible for ensuring that they are treated fairly. The war generation’s list of needs goes beyond the financial. It includes the respect that they deserve when being treated for an illness. It also consists of the need for their families as well as the rest of society to make them feel that they are still useful to the community they form part of.
Many in the present challenging times find it unbearable that they have to limit their movements to protect our elders from a possibly fatal infection. We need to acknowledge that our success today mainly is because of the hard work of the war generation.