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> a teacher by profession, was denied a widow’s pension so lobbied to take over the manual distribution to provide an income for herself and their baby daughte
by danans 2y ago
> a teacher by profession, was denied a widow’s pension so lobbied to take over the manual distribution to provide an income for herself and their baby daughter
> she retired in 1892, at age 81
> So Ruth was forced to move, for the last time to 57 Plough Lane in Beddington. She retired in 1940 and died aged 89
The time synchronization story is carrying another ominous story about elderly working class poverty of the gilded age.
Mother and daughter working until their 80s probably due to necessity, and the daughter being forced out of her home shortly before she died.
Let's not go back.
- dwighttk 2y agoI dunno… a job where I travel and walk outside and loyal customers sticking with me until I was ready to retire sounds pretty nice to me
- entropicdrifter 2y agoNobody said you had to retire. If you want to work until your 80s, have at it. Just don't support a society where it's a necessity
- bloomingeek 2y agoDone! I curse you to have to work until you are in your eighties. May your sore joints and muscles, sub-par wages (part of the deal, you chose it!) and failing eyesight and hearing be a constant companion. If you're a man, don't forget your prostate, If a woman, change of life issues and being a second class citizens in most countries of the world.
- dwighttk 2y agoDon’t threaten me with a good time
- AStonesThrow 2y agoA man can forget his prostate, but can a prostate ever forget its man?
- danans 2y agoSure, it's nice to have a job like that if you get paid a living wage, have a social safety net, secure housing, and no dependents. I have news for you: that job (and situation) didn't exist then, and doesn't exist now. It briefly existed in the few decades following WW2, but we have torn down much of the ideology and social infrastructure that made that possible.
- cjbgkagh 2y agoEven if such promises were made and indeed kept for some people at no point that I am aware of was the situation ever long term stable. AFAIK Soviet Union guaranteed dignity in retirement and planned to not have to pay for it through achieving a post-monetary society. The US made similar guarantees and planed to out-grow the costs (i.e. ponzi scheme).
- danans 2y ago> The US made similar guarantees and planed to out-grow the costs (i.e. ponzi scheme). If you're referring to Social Security in the US, it's no more a Ponzi scheme than your home mortgage payment is a Ponzi scheme. In reality it's a progressive tax scheme to prevent senior citizen poverty. To make Social Security solvent, lift the cap on Social Security taxes. Will the working and middle classes benefit more than the wealthy who will pay more in those taxes? Yes, and progressive taxation to prevent abject impoverishment of working and middle class seniors is a good thing.
- cjbgkagh 2y agoThe US would still need to outgrow its other problems if the US in general is to remain solvent. I am pretty doubtful that it can.
- alabastervlog 2y agoYeah, the two rounds of huge tax cuts since our last semi-balanced budget really screwed us. As they were predicted to.
- HWR_14 2y agoExcept the part where you cannot save enough to retire and you don't have the income to support your current lifestyle
- throw0101d 2y ago> I dunno… a job where I travel and walk outside and loyal customers sticking with me until I was ready to retire sounds pretty nice to me It's nice if the job is done by choice rather than by necessity. If it's a matter of "work or starve", your outlook on your situation may not be as positive.
- smm11 2y agoWait. 81 years old in 1892, 89 years old in 1940. Ruth truly did master time.
- danans 2y agoThat refers to the mother and the daughter
- geodel 2y ago> Let's not go back. If something is true for > 90% of population of the world and > 90% of time in human existence I'd think it as part of nature which can't be wished away.
- danans 2y agoIn that case, why don't we knock down our cities, throw away all our technology and abandon agriculture while we're at it, because none of those have been around for much of human existence either.