Dr Rob Henderson | This House Would Respect Our Elders | Cambridge Union

Dr Rob Henderson speaks as third proposition on the motion at 8:00pm in the Debating Chamber on Thursday 23rd November.
Between climate change, Covid restrictions, the housing crisis and more, it has been suggested that today's youth have sacrificed more than they have gained from the intergenerational social contract; are the younger generations justified in putting blame for today's woes on generations past? Or have our elders dealt with the issues of their time and built our society in a manner worthy of accolade?
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Thumbnail Photographer: Reva Croft
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Dr Rob Henderson
Dr Rob Henderson is a founding faculty fellow at the University of Austin and author of Troubled: A Memoir Of Foster Care, Family, And Social Class. Described as ‘self-made’ by the New York Times, he grew up in foster homes in California, served in the US Air Force, and later received a BS from Yale and a PhD in psychology from St. Catharine's College, Cambridge. His Substack newsletter has over 40,000 subscribers.
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[@cheribeldin3588]

Dr. Henderson is a gem!

[@AaronMSherman]

Yes. Now I would encourage one read Dr. Michael Bonner's "In Defense of Civilization" to remind ourselves of the quality culture we have inherited; yes, not all "long-lived" people are wise, but almost all wise people are from the "long-lived." Bravo Dr. Henderson and the Cambridge Union!

[@BillyGeorgeWilliams]

I am First Naion here in Canada and we respect our elders, because of their age and their wisdom. We have been respecting our elders for thousands of years. We listen to our elders stories, we listen to our elders in community meetings, social gatherings and special events. e pickup our elders when we have community dinners, gatherings, meetings, special gatherings and pot latches. Granted that there are those that seemed to be held at a higher level because of what they have done in their life like the late Rosalynn Carter. Here in Canada we had the first Indigenous Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Steven L Point and we have our first Governor General General of Canada Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon. As of the last election in the province of Manitoba the first indigenous premier Manitoba premier-designate Wab Kinew. My point is, thank you very much is that no matter what status someone has that they are no better the aunties and grandmothers of our community. We have reverence for these people who have a higher stature in our community. When it comes to elders, we let them in the door first to our dinners, community events.

[@cowgirldepot1234]

I once heard a young NPR interviewer at the opening of The Museum of Tolerance comment that people should see the museum before they were too old to appreciate it. I appreciated the irony so much. Facts and logic are a delightful, enjoyable and hopeful combination, no matter the issue, thank you so much, RH, for your work. It's especially nice to hear in your field.

[@cowgirldepot1234]

Isn't this just Dunning-Kruger at work, though?

[@ManInTheBigHat]

Speaks volumes about NPR.

[@eurodelano]

Is calling out questions and interrupting the speaker to insert one's opinion normal for this group? Odd that questions were not left for the end of his talk.

[@ManInTheBigHat]

Background people on their phones. Cambridge Union. Classic.

[@GeorgeSmileyOBE]

Only happens in that other place. Never at a real University.

[@SwitzerlandEducation4471]

Just wow

[@tommurin]

Excellent. The contrast in dress is rather stark. Otherwise, I can't believe that he didn't get a good laugh from the audience at his joke in the last minute. It was over their young heads, I guess!

[@AntonioRodriguez-di6qz]

We seem to find ourselves in a paradoxical situation in which we live in a "youth culture" in which popular media Is obsessed with whatever new fad Is popular amongst gen-Zers and people are obsessed with remaining perpetually youthful, while at the same time we are in a demographic crisis in which actual young people represent a slimmer than ever share of the total population with on top of that a welfare state that Is essentially geared towards supporting an ever-increasing mass of pensioners.
Might these two phenomena be related...