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40 is the new 30, but that's nothing to celebrate. I suppose you could look at it from a Hollywood perspective of hyperbaric chambers and anti-wrinkle creams, but for most of us this is bad news. Sure I may be 50 and look only 35, but what about reality people?

Celebrating youth has long been a part of American culture, even to the neglect of elderly people. In most nations the old are considered wise and therefore cared for by the family rather than stuffed into a home with a box of diapers under their arm. With this as the alternative, I'm going to need 70 to be the new 30 in a about 30 years, so by the time I get there we've all had practice with me still be a young man in my prime.

And by the way who's living longer. Methuselah was 969 when he died. I don't want to live that long. I can't afford that many wheelchairs. In comparison to some ancient people in the Bible we're not doing to well at all in the department of longevity.

So we're happy about 40 being the new 30. But that comes with a lot of implications, doesn't it? It means we can't get our children to leave the house at a normal age. It means college students can't finish their degrees in time and are getting later starts in the workforce. In fact, the average age of PhD graduates with history degrees is around 40. It means we've got older people working all over the place, which means we've got people starting families later, which in turn means we will all be bringing our walkers to our children's high school graduations. But don't worry, you won't look out of place because 40 is the new 30!

Learn more about this author, Washington Merriweather.
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