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The idea of retirement is literally thousands of years old at this point. Hell the Roman Empire even had the idea of pensions though it wasn’t that common at t
by Retric 2y ago
The idea of retirement is literally thousands of years old at this point. Hell the Roman Empire even had the idea of pensions though it wasn’t that common at the time.
Aging inherently means being unable to be an independent productive member of society at some point. (Ed: well past what we consider retirement age.) Historically in agrarian societies few people reached this point so it wasn’t generally a significant burden to support them. What changed is lowering the retirement age and increased the number of people who live long enough to see it.
- esperent 2y ago> Historically in agrarian societies few people reached this point so it wasn’t generally a significant burden to support them This isn't true. https://www.campop.geog.cam.ac.uk/blog/2024/08/15/three-score-and-ten/ https://www.campop.geog.cam.ac.uk/blog/2024/08/15/three-scor... > ...in England, average life expectancy at birth varied between 35 and 40 years in the centuries between 1600 and 1800. It is a common misconception that, when life expectancy was so low, there must have been very few old people. In fact, the most common age for adult deaths was around 70 years, in line with the Biblical three score years and ten.
- RankingMember 2y agoYep, infant mortality skews the average and has often led to this kind of misconception
- Retric 2y agoYou misunderstood what I was describing. 70 year olds can be quite productive doing manual labor in a way that basically no 90 year olds can.
- Apocryphon 2y agoExcept for, perhaps, Clint Eastwood.
- tomashubelbauer 2y agoI was thinking about John B Goodenough
- esperent 2y agoOr Michaelangelo.
- Retric 2y agoMichelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, didn’t survive to 90.