America is a society focused on youth.
It's everywhere: movies, adverts, music, etc.
"Age-defying beauty!"
"Makes you look x years younger!"
"Hide the white in your beard!"
The system has been setup for decades to foster our delusions about about aging and what that means and should look like. It's no surprise that this has translated into denials about what folks should and can be expected to do as we get older.
This has unfortunately been exacerbated in the keys areas of our lives:
It's completely understandable to consider this agist, especially if you're nearer to that age.
However, it's a social preservation necessity.
Society needs those who have done to advise and council those who are doing. We've gotten rid of hereditary roles for a reason -- they don't provide the best and most effective solution and means of running government. We should be doing the same between generational shifts in leadership.
For the greater good.
Business - we're seeing older and older senior leadership raking in a higher share of the profits compared to those doing the work.
Government - our elected officials are getting older and older, especially in the Senate.
Schools, churches, etc., etc.
We seem to have lost a social collective norm on how and when to step aside for the next generation. This does not mean one cannot work or contribute past a certain age, it means that their role in an org or society changes.