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Going On and On: Why our longevity threatens the future
Simon & Schuster, 31 March 2026 ‘A longer life is traditionally celebrated as a symbol of personal merit and societal achievement. Who wants to declare that living longer is a problem for our economy and therefore for our society? I’m putting up my hand.’ What do we owe future generations? And how do we act now to support them? One way is to think – hard – about the damage our obsession with longevity is wreaking on the economy, our society and our future. |
Australia’s aged care crisis is escalating as the Baby Boomers grow old. According to latest research, our ageing population is a threat to Australia’s wellbeing as urgent as climate change and looming geopolitical risks – yet we’re refusing to talk about it.
As Lucinda Holdforth argues, our society has become mired in a narcissistic refusal to grow old, to give up the reins of power, or even squarely face the fact that we must eventually die. The disastrous consequences include blocked political progress, the disenfranchising of young adults, and death of the essential cultural renewal that once occurred with the natural blooming of each new generation.
As we strive to extend our lives to the maximum, we must ask ourselves difficult questions. What is our social contract with those who come after us? Why is ‘ageism’ unacceptable while age-based prejudice against the young is commonplace? And what price will our younger citizens pay for the rest of us going on and on?
As Lucinda Holdforth argues, our society has become mired in a narcissistic refusal to grow old, to give up the reins of power, or even squarely face the fact that we must eventually die. The disastrous consequences include blocked political progress, the disenfranchising of young adults, and death of the essential cultural renewal that once occurred with the natural blooming of each new generation.
As we strive to extend our lives to the maximum, we must ask ourselves difficult questions. What is our social contract with those who come after us? Why is ‘ageism’ unacceptable while age-based prejudice against the young is commonplace? And what price will our younger citizens pay for the rest of us going on and on?
What they're saying...
'Compelling, provocative and quite hilarious.'
Joe Aston, author of the bestselling The Chairman's Lounge: The inside story of how Qantas sold us out
‘A sharp slap to our complacency about the catastrophic damage we're wreaking on our planet, our economy, and the creative regeneration of our culture in refusing to accept that our lives must end. In Going On And On, the always brilliant Lucinda Holdforth presents a courageous, witty, compelling and often beautiful argument for my generation to hurry up and let go. Her book has made me revise my own plans for growing old, showing me how to think clearly and compassionately about the gift we must give the future in supporting the young, stepping back and giving way.’
Charlotte Wood, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Stone Yard Devotional