“Ageism is a social phenomenon . . . most entrenched in industrial and post-industrial civilizations such as the United States.”

— sociologists Ursula A. Falk and Gerhard Falk

Older Americans are faced with a variety of stereotypes. They are seen by many people as being feeble in mind and body and as economic burdens on society, and they are labeled with pejoratives such as “geezers” or “old fogies.” Even though the average American has a lifespan of 76.5 years—and those who reach the age of sixty-five can expect to live another eighteen years—it is often believed that they have little to contribute once they reach their sixties. However, this stereotype exists not just in the United States, but in other nations as well.

At one time, American attitudes toward the elderly were more positive. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the aging...