You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away - a man is not a piece of fruit.
Willy, act II - Death of a Salesman
At some point, not necessarily related to chronological age, a person can come to be perceived as no longer at the top of their game. When one is at the top of their game, the promise potential of effectiveness is at its greatest. The more promise potential one has, the more valuable and attractive they are seen to be. Students and employees perceived to have great promise potential inevitably find broader expanses of encouragement.
Politics is always a contest of promise potential. A candidate perceived to have real promise (not necessarily the one making the most promises) normally has the better odds of being elected.
The play Death of a Salesman pleads the case for residual value in the absence of promise potential. This residual value derives from inherent dignity and a compelling sense of appreciation and empathy. The Social Security System (of which I am now a payee) underscores the importance of a measure of financial value to support and validate human value. In short, American society--now that I'm age 70--has not tossed me out as a superfluous orange peel. As much as we may agonize over the implications of challenging present and future demographics, I do not believe the orange peel option will ever again be found acceptable to the American sense of ethics, fairness, or our underlying social nexus of empathy.
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