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Disclaimer: The following are existential questions that do not reflect my own beliefs in any way, shape, or form. Why do older people deserve jobs? Why does

Disclaimer: The following are existential questions that do not reflect my own beliefs in any way, shape, or form. Why do older people deserve jobs? Why does anyone deserve a job? Are there instances where we as a society accept people NOT deserving a job? How different is age as an attribute compared to: Felons, the mentally impaired, the under-qualified, those lacking physical attributes?

sillysaurus3 10y ago
There's a moral argument to be made that people deserve jobs because society forces you to work. If you don't work, and you're not independently wealthy, you can't support yourself. Therefore to say people don't deserve jobs is to say they deserve to be out on the street.
- hiram112 10y ago
  Great answer. And even if you don't buy into the morality bit, those in charge figured out long ago that giving the little people a job, regardless of how pointless or wasteful, is better and cheaper than having to constantly deal with hungry, angry men on the verge of revolt. And if the plebs get too demanding, the owners just push up the price of basic goods like housing, taxes, and food via inflation. So now you think you're doing great, making six figures, but in reality you're worse off than the previous generation while producing twice as much profit for your masters. But at least you're not causing trouble.
aristus 10y ago
Fair question: It's less about why someone "deserves a job" and more about human rights. We are all human beings who deserve equal treatment under the law, including consideration for employment. Older people breathe air and eat food just like everyone else. If it were legal to exclude +65 (or +40) from employment, what exactly are they supposed to do? This fairness argument is complicated by what happens in down economies. Experienced (read: older) people tend to crowd out the younger folks for jobs. I don't know an equitable fix for this, but throwing people out of the workforce for something they can't change doesn't seem right.
jlarocco 10y ago
> How different is age as an attribute compared to: Felons, the mentally impaired, the under-qualified, those lacking physical attributes? For that question to work you need to explain why age would disqualify somebody. A felon has committed a serious crime in the past, demonstrating they may be unsafe or untrustworthy. A mentally impaired person may not be able to think things through and solve problems that come up in day-to-day work. By definition, an under-qualified person can't do the job. A person lacking a physical attribute may literally not be able to perform the required tasks. There is nothing like that directly associated with growing old. In fact, experience is a big positive, and that actually increases with age, which should make older people more desirable than younger ones.
- reddytowns 10y ago
  You are more likely to die soon, and if you have some unique understanding of how the company works, that would be lost.
  - jlarocco 10y ago
    By that logic people under 30 shouldn't be hired either, because they're more likely to jump ship to another company. TBH, if a single person leaving (for any reason) can tank the company, it's probably doing a person a favor not to hire them. Sounds like a mess.
    - reddytowns 10y ago
      You are looking at it in black and white terms. Just because there is also a reason younger people might leave unexpectedly doesn't invalidate my assertion. And, having someone leave unexpectedly doesn't have to "tank" the company without still causing damage. Like I said, black and white terms...
      - reddytowns 10y ago
        Guess I hit a lot of sore spots...
deleted 10y ago
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AndrewKemendo 10y ago
Your premise is flawed. It's not about deserving a job, it's about equal treatment under the law. For example, you don't have to have a quota of certain demographic makeup legally, you just cannot have dismissed a candidate predominantly for the purposes of age or race.
vacri 10y ago
> Why do older people deserve jobs? This is begging the question from the outset. Jobs aren't handed out like a treat for good behaviour; they're not something you deserve or not. Unless someone else is taking care of you, you have to work in order to remain alive.

sillysaurus3 10y ago

There's a moral argument to be made that people deserve jobs because society forces you to work. If you don't work, and you're not independently wealthy, you can't support yourself. Therefore to say people don't deserve jobs is to say they deserve to be out on the street.

hiram112 10y ago
Great answer. And even if you don't buy into the morality bit, those in charge figured out long ago that giving the little people a job, regardless of how pointless or wasteful, is better and cheaper than having to constantly deal with hungry, angry men on the verge of revolt. And if the plebs get too demanding, the owners just push up the price of basic goods like housing, taxes, and food via inflation. So now you think you're doing great, making six figures, but in reality you're worse off than the previous generation while producing twice as much profit for your masters. But at least you're not causing trouble.

aristus 10y ago

Fair question: It's less about why someone "deserves a job" and more about human rights. We are all human beings who deserve equal treatment under the law, including consideration for employment. Older people breathe air and eat food just like everyone else. If it were legal to exclude +65 (or +40) from employment, what exactly are they supposed to do? This fairness argument is complicated by what happens in down economies. Experienced (read: older) people tend to crowd out the younger folks for jobs. I don't know an equitable fix for this, but throwing people out of the workforce for something they can't change doesn't seem right.

jlarocco 10y ago

> How different is age as an attribute compared to: Felons, the mentally impaired, the under-qualified, those lacking physical attributes? For that question to work you need to explain why age would disqualify somebody. A felon has committed a serious crime in the past, demonstrating they may be unsafe or untrustworthy. A mentally impaired person may not be able to think things through and solve problems that come up in day-to-day work. By definition, an under-qualified person can't do the job. A person lacking a physical attribute may literally not be able to perform the required tasks. There is nothing like that directly associated with growing old. In fact, experience is a big positive, and that actually increases with age, which should make older people more desirable than younger ones.

reddytowns 10y ago
You are more likely to die soon, and if you have some unique understanding of how the company works, that would be lost.
- jlarocco 10y ago
  By that logic people under 30 shouldn't be hired either, because they're more likely to jump ship to another company. TBH, if a single person leaving (for any reason) can tank the company, it's probably doing a person a favor not to hire them. Sounds like a mess.
  - reddytowns 10y ago
    You are looking at it in black and white terms. Just because there is also a reason younger people might leave unexpectedly doesn't invalidate my assertion. And, having someone leave unexpectedly doesn't have to "tank" the company without still causing damage. Like I said, black and white terms...
    - reddytowns 10y ago
      Guess I hit a lot of sore spots...

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

AndrewKemendo 10y ago

Your premise is flawed. It's not about deserving a job, it's about equal treatment under the law. For example, you don't have to have a quota of certain demographic makeup legally, you just cannot have dismissed a candidate predominantly for the purposes of age or race.

vacri 10y ago

> Why do older people deserve jobs? This is begging the question from the outset. Jobs aren't handed out like a treat for good behaviour; they're not something you deserve or not. Unless someone else is taking care of you, you have to work in order to remain alive.