Man Alive: Aging and Saging

Although it tackles an important subject--the diminished role of the elderly in America's youth-oriented culture--Man Alive: Aging and Saging fails to come up with a solid agenda for making use of the considerable contributions that age, wisdom and experience can bring to society. Here, author/teachers Ram Dass and Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi put forth their central thesis that, as the elderly population grows, there is a need for "seniors" to redefine themselves as "role models of healthy and graceful aging and to reincorporate them into society as a valuable resource." No argument there--an enormous amount of potential is wasted because the U.S. fails to honor, respect or simply mine the knowledge of its elders. Unfortunately, no clear-cut system is described here in which older citizens can serve as role models, with the result being that this video is far more inspirational than useful. Still, given the mounting elderly population whose ranks will only swell with the leading edge of the Baby Boomers, this should be considered a strong, optional purchase for larger aging collections. Aud: C, P. (S. Fisher)