America the Wise

Book excerpt: Three decades after publishing his classic The Making of a Counter Culture -- and after two brushes with death -- Theodore Roszak was forced to confront his mortality and that of a generation of baby boomers who never realized they were subject to the same laws of aging as their predecessors.In Longevity Revolution, Roszak turns his critical eye to what he calls "the implications of mass longevity as a social phenomenon". Revised for paperback publication, the book counters conventional views of elders as burdens, seeing them instead as the culture's great resource. Roszak explores in detail such critical issues as economics, politics, medicine, ethics, biotechnology, the class divide, and the fetish for youthfulness that dominate American culture. He envisions a world in which elders are honored for their insights, values, and abilities in creating a more compassionate society.