The "system" would fall apart if people didn't work for at least half their lives, true, but it is absolutely not true that we need people to work until they're 70.
Let's say you live to 80, half your life is 40 years. You only start working a decent job around ~22 years (4 year college degree).
22+40 = 62, pretty close to 70 already. Assuming some people die early, so others have to pick up the slack, some people work part time, etc. and you end up pretty damn close to 70.
Yes, Western societies are coming to rude awakening: birthrate matters for everyone. Social support for elderly cannot be built on pension funds when there's not enough young hands in economy
In practice, immigration adds a lot of welfare receivers so ends up doing the opposite. It's not a coincidence that we are seeing supposed multiple advanced civilization talking about increasing the retirement age at a time of unprecedented levels of immigration.
What a weird comment. I've had several co-workers in that age range. They were fine. What's your point? And what does that have to do with the financial realities of limited government budgets?
You asked someone to give you something, and they did, and then you claimed that they lied. I call BS on your original request being made in good faith.
I can also just say I love working with 130-year old and they are all great to make a silly argument :) you understand the probability of this sentence being true "I've had several co-workers... (69-year olds)..." - like 0.0002319%? :)
And you, also, can claim no one can find 69 year-old they like to work with to make a silly argument.
It’s not that your (implied, guessed-at-by-me) idea is wrong on its face. It’s that you choose to (1) imply it, (2) in a snarky way that is insulting (even if true), and then when someone claimed a counter-example, you immediately fell back on made-up numbers for why you wouldn’t have to display the slightest curiosity as to how this supposed impossibility came to be.
You assume they’re lying? Why should anyone think better of you? Anyone can lie on the internet.
This just came up recently in conversation the other day - don't surgeons lose the fine motor control by then? My friend was saying a surgeon's best years are in their 40s
Great comeback. "You called me an ageist for posting ageist hate comments, so, uhh, uhh, well you aren't a billionaire!" No, I'm not. Most people aren't lottery winners.
Like the other commenter said, I honestly don't think you know many 70-year olds. I know plenty of people in their 70s that are active, physically fit, extremely sharp mentally, and still working. I'm not saying they have 0 decline, but oftentimes since they have more flexibility and free time, they can use that free time to take better care of themselves and get adequate rest. I'd rather have my kid ride with a healthy, well-rested 70-year-old than a frazzled, sleep-deprived, rushing-to-get-somewhere 45-year-old.
80s, on the other hand, are another story. Everyone I know that was in good shape in their 70s who is now in their 80s showed marked decline, even if they were still fairly healthy and fit. My parents had a fantastic retirement in their 70s - tons of travel, lots of hiking and RV trips to national parks, very active socially. When they hit their early 80s it was tough, because the decline was pretty fast. They're still in good health, but they move considerably slower and just finally "look old" to me.
This is a fact, I do not know many 70-year olds. I think this is a true statement for many people sans those working in retirement homes or the like. that being said, I know enough of them and see enough of them to know I don’t want them performing surgeries, building roads and bridges, fixing electrical poles, washing skyscraper windows and many other things they would have to do
I would not let a 70-year old operate on a squirrel that is waking me up every morning but perhaps I am in a minority... didn't expect an uproar over people wanting to work with grandpas and grandmas but here we are :)
A bigotted ageist worldview from someone with an eastern european name; that's just what I'd expect from a Saggitarius[0].
Seriously, there's 800,000,000 people over 65 on the planet[1], and you're judging all of their abilities based on a two digit number, instead of individually on their actual health and abilities. That's ageism. That's a yesteryear worldview that people have been fighting against for a long time.
And that "I thought I could say horrible things and nobody would object" is common red flag behaviour mentioned on all the "what's a red flag about X" threads that appear on Reddit constantly; "my boss said something rude about <group> and nobody said anything". That you didn't expect an uproar about judging people you don't know as incompetent or incapable based only on their age - and got an uproar - should be a reason for you to reflect.
you do you mate, anyone I love I do not want to work until their 70 and I also do not want any 70-year olds performing surgery either. I had a roughly-that-age person deliver a pizza to me 6-7 months ago and my heart broke, reminded me of my Dad and I was shook for awhile after seeing that… but hey, we may just view the World in a different way and that’s fine. There is no need for me to reflect, my parents raised me well to treat elderly in a manner different from the sentiment here - “lets get them all to a construction site”
We aren't mates. "anyone I love I do not want to work until their 70 and I also do not want any 70-year olds performing surgery either" these are two different positions. One is "I don't want people having to work" which I agree with. The other is "I've judged 70 year olds as incapable of doing useful skilled work" which is ageist.
“lets get them all to a construction site” - this is not my position.
if we ALL have to work until 70 which is the whole thing being pitched here, than what will construction worker who is 69-years old do? If you are in agreement with this entire thread that saying 69-year olds should be in the workforces (mandated by the government’s retirement age) than “lets get them to construction site” is what you are pitching…
I generally agree with you with exceptions like general practitioners/family doctors and legal field and university teaching where workers with experience are valued without the job requiring too much physical activity.
