Question — why should there even be a mandatory retirement age in present day society?
The people managing some of the world’s largest and most powerful countries, China, Russia, the USA and India, are in their 70s and 80s. Their age is seen as “experience” and “wisdom,” yet ordinary workers are often forced out of the workforce at 60 or 65, even when they are mentally sharp, physically capable, and still willing to contribute.
Retirement today should be voluntary, not compulsory.
Many citizens simply cannot afford to retire. Salaries and pensions are no longer matching the cost of utility bills, transport, groceries, rent, medicine and basic household survival. People are living longer, but the system is pushing them out earlier while the cost of living keeps rising.
At the same time, greed driven economic systems and the rapid introduction of AI are reducing human interaction, replacing jobs, weakening family structures, and slowly deteriorating the social, cultural and political existence of the human race.
The forefathers built systems around human dignity and community. Today, too many systems are being redesigned around profit and efficiency, while ordinary people struggle just to survive.
A society should value experience, not discard it.
Gordon Laughlin,
Westmoorings
