Possibly, a warrior might think that, but I have seen many veterans (in Russia) who spend their days sitting drinking tea and talking with their friends.
> But elders are no longer economically productive.
In Heortling culture, one of the advantages of having a large extended family is that the old need not be productive and can be supported by the rest of the clan. Their environment is nowhere near as harsh as, say, the eskimos who supposedly leave their elders to freeze on the ice when they become unproductive.
There are many tasks that the elderly can do once they become too frail to work normally. The one that always stuck in my mind was chewing leather and rubbing salt in it to cure it, something that can be done with arthritic hands and toothless gums.
I honestly don't see Heortling culture as one in which they abandon the old or infirm just because they cannot carry on a profession. Perhaps if they had no kin and no place in society
See Ya
Simon
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