Resistant old age

A symptomatic phenomenon in Argentina. Starting with a scene from the series El eternauta (an adaptation of the graphic novel by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López, published as a comic book in 1957), a phrase uttered by one of its characters has acquired unexpected social, cultural, political, and philosophical significance. Let's situate the scene from this science fiction classic: after a toxic, apocalyptic snowfall, Buenos Aires suffers an alien invasion. The protagonist (played in the series by Ricardo Darín), protected by a kind of anti-contagion suit, tries to survive and save his family in a savage world where almost nothing works. In the scene, one of the survivors manages to get his old car started, and when Darín asks him how he managed, he replies with revolutionary pride: "The old stuff works, Juan."

Just hours after the series premiered (on Netflix), the phrase became a slogan that has inspired thousands of comments on social media and reflections in the mainstream press. For example, journalist specializing in aging, Cecilia Lorenzo, titled her article "Old Works, Juan: Old Age, Memory, and Resistance." The article's illustration was explicit: a photograph of one of the participants in the demonstrations against the retirement policy of Javier Milei's government (which ended with violent police charges), who, with an expression of intense dignity, held a handmade sign that read: "Old works, Milei, my God."

Maintaining the connection with objects and people “of a lifetime” is increasingly difficult

According to Lorenzo, the phrase emerges at a time when what he defines as a "throwaway culture" prevails. It is a Darwinism that imposes cruel obsolescence, both for objects and people. The vindication of old age, on the other hand, ends up being a symbolic form of subversion because it underscores the value of experience and resilience. Contrary to the foolishness of those who gregariously embrace technological arbitrariness, he equates the passage of time and experience with the condition of survivor.

On a less philosophical and more domestic level, we often observe how maintaining the connection with "traditional" objects and people is becoming increasingly difficult. In the case of cars, this is evident. The environmental excuse has allowed perfectly functioning vehicles to be removed from circulation with impunity, only to be condemned for emitting toxic gases.

Read also

In the field of telephony, models are becoming increasingly less durable, and the oldest survivors are increasingly isolated by technological gaps of all kinds. And the saddest thing is that we often remain loyal to certain objects and attitudes not out of nostalgia or militant romanticism, but because experience confirms that novelty doesn't always work.