In a client session this morning, we were talking about what we would do if we were to retire today, and none of us really had a clear idea, but we all had a general level approach. While the others were about not working, mine (not surprisingly) still included work. But it got me thinking a bit and I moved the discussion to a more tribal experience.
When did someone retire from the tribe?
If we imagine a tribal group a few thousand years ago, there were still plenty of jobs to be done, but the "payment" for them came through being part of the tribe - protection, position, reputation, relationships. And, everyone in the tribe had a role to do, except likely the youngest of the children, who were completely reliant.
For example, while there were hunters and gatherers, there were also tool makers, cooks, builders, and clothing makers. But, depending on circumstances, the roles would need to change. For example, a heavily pregnant woman might not be able to do some tasks, so may be moved to others. An elderly man might no longer be able to hunt effectively, so gets shifted to a training position for younger people. And even the children who might not be able to add high expertise, would spend their time adding value through helping the professionals and learning the skills necessary to add value in the future.
There was no retirement age.
Except possibly in the last moments before death and no more value could be added.
In fact, retirement as we know it today is a very new human experience, as it was started in Prussia (Germany) in 1881 and it provided for citizens over 70, which was around the average life expectancy anyway, so many didn't get anything out of it. However, before that, no one retired, or of they did, they had to have done a few things in order to do so, like hold enough wealth so they didn't have to work. Or, have a family who was willing to look after them, even though they weren't bringing anything in - which is essentially like being an elder, without having to teach the kids. This is still common in some areas of the world today.
What I find interesting however is that even though it hasn't been part of our culture for long in terms of humanity, many of us seem to now have an expectation that we are educated, we work for forty odd years, and then we retire, no longer needing to add value to the community in which we live. Even if we haven't generated enough value to look after ourselves, we have an expectation that society should look after us, with "society" being other people in the tribe.
We have very quickly got accustomed to the idea that we can retire and no longer have to do anything of value, which is kind of strange if you think about it in terms of building a community. Yet, if I talk to people about this, they tend to believe that once we have put in our forty years, we are entitled not to do anything else.
Have we got enough societal equity?
Elderly people used to get looked after by their kids, but these days that isn't happening as much, partly because family units no longer live together out of convenience and other factors. So, an industry of aged care has been developed where we pay for what we used to get for free, which means we actually need more in order to retire comfortably, or be reliant on handout healthcare to cover the expenses.
At the same time, we have a lot of relatively healthy people who are older, but not able to work at what they would have earlier, because being an "elder" is not a thing. Instead of grandparents imparting their knowledge on grandchildren and helping them to be valuable members of society, we have built an industry that employs strangers to care for our kids.
It is far more convenient to pay for services.
It is also far more expensive and in many ways, is one of the reasons that we are less engaged with our community and feel that while we are entitled to support from society, we don't have to be a value-adding part of it. We look to add value to ourselves to cover the expenses of not having built the social capital needed to be cared for or, have our children cared for in the same way it was when we were in tribes.
This doesn't change much for me in retirement I think, because what I want to do is be able to do something that I feel adds value. If I am not struggling to survive myself, it is natural to look to add value to others, because that will be the most satisfying. And, if I am struggling, then it also makes sense to add value to others, because that is what would bring an income.
One thing is for sure, retired or not, I still won't enjoy laying around in the sun for long.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
