What is the “commercial value†of an object of great consumption but little production?
For a period of some two hundred years America had an every moving new frontier. One of the appeals of this ever-present frontier was the sense that there was always a place for the rugged individualist. A place existed for the individual who was enthused about the prospect of uninhibited growth where each individual could test his or her capacity to be all they could be. No one had an edge over the other person beyond character and motivation.
Darwin’s theory teaches us that mating and reproduction is the means whereby the species adapted to a changing environment and thereby created the possibility for survival of the species. Generally speaking the human species stops this procreation process before the age of forty. Biological evolution provides little means for adaptation in our species beyond forty years of age.
Human instrumental rationality has created a technology that continually increases the longevity of individuals of our species. Instrumental rationality is the ability to determine and execute the best means for reaching an established goal. We have determined the goal of ever extending life to be a valuable goal and are constantly extending human longevity.
Simultaneously with an extended life span we are continually shortening the social value of longevity. Like the rest of our commodities we have a throwaway culture for long-lived persons. Our society seems to mimic biological evolution in placing forty years as the beginning of the end of adaptability. Biological evolution terminates concern for those beyond the age of reproduction and our culture terminates concern for those beyond the age of commodity production.
Biological adaptation has abandoned us after forty, our instrumental rationality is responding to our unexamined desire to prolong life; how do we mange to survive as a species if we do not find a rational means to engage this challenge? The challenge is to create the societal value of human life after forty.
Where is the ever-moving frontier of expectations for the man or woman beyond the age of forty? Is age beyond forty to remain the beginning of a throw-away social value?
If you quibble about the number forty you may use fifty or sixty or seventy if you feel better about it.
Do we have any real evidence in support of this idea that our culture considers an over-forty individual to have somehow lost value? My sense is that with the baby-boomer generation moving now well beyond age 40, and with it the buying power that that generation possesses, that the opposite might actually be happening. There seems to be more of an interest now than ever before in the interests and desires of older people. Too, people seem to want to work longer and retire later, contributing productively to society. Along with technology’s desire to prolong life, there seems to be a huge desire (fueled by the marketplace if nothing else) to improve the quality of that life as well.
I might be missing your point though.
(What kind of boat is that that you’re sailing on your website?)
If I want my car fixed then a fourty or fifty year old is the guy for me. If I want to sell sneakers I might want a young black guy to help me. So, I think it depends.
I think that the idea of getting rid of old people goes back to a period when the average man was in production. As he got older he became more useless.
My boat was a Catelina (I hope I am spelling that correctly. I sold it about 15 years ago. It had a small cabin and a small outboard motor. I had it on a lake in Dallas. God I wish I could go back to then! Like they say “remembering the past is the toughest part of growing old.†I wish I had not started thinking about that.)
I can remember when I was about 55, an engineer, and looking for a job. Even then 15 years ago it was tough. They wanted someone who could immediately produce for the bottom line. They much preferred a young guy just out of school with the right courses rather than spending money for an older guy to fit in they much preferred the new guy just out of school. The schools were teaching very specialized courses so that the new guy could fit in easily and of course expected less money than the old guy. When technology is moving fast the man out of school has about 10 years before obsolescence. He could stay with the same company and do well but if he had to leave the company he was in trouble. In a high tech business the employee is a throw away just like the stuff coming off the assembly line.
This is just my story but a little looking around will verify the fact that all of us are throw-away very early in life if we are not lucky. The colleges are preparing very specific capabilities that fit in quickly but grow obsolete just as quickly.
Capitalism is designed for capitalists not for non capitalists. Those people with significant investments do great those people in a capitalist society who are not capitalist because they do not own capital are in deep do-do. Wal-Mart is the logic of capitalism. One can easily point to the very good things about our society but there are many costs that are hidden from the eyes of those who do not try hard to look. Our ideology makes passivity easy and critique hard.
I sound like I had a lot of hard knocks but such is not the case. My enlightenment comes from hard looking not from the hard knocks of experience. I sold my business but wanted to work a bit longer but such was not the case because like I said there is no place for such a thing.
Catalina. Yes, nice boats. My next boat will probably be a Catalina 25 with a swing keel. I recently parted with a 26 footer (not a Catalina) with a cabin and nice outboard. She just gradually fell into a state of disrepair unfortunately. She was old. To be replaced by a younger boat!
Speaking of which:
I appreciate your story and I’ve no doubt that there are plenty of similiar ones. Technology is moving unbelievably fast. It’s difficult to keep up and yet companies still seem to prefer experience when it comes to more management-type positions. The engineers might be youthful, but the VP of Engineering is in his fifties, you know?
I’m sure if you Googled for statistics you’d find that wealth definitely increases by age group. Naturally that might be in large part due to just a lifetime’s worth of saving. But still, it affords opportunities that simply don’t exist for younger folks.
I think I can summarize my views to be that we trade quality of life for quantity of stuff.
The primary values of a commodified society are youth, beauty, fashion, glitz, sensations, entertainment, and superficiality in general. But I do think that a commodified society is more efficient at providing stuff and stuff is important.
It is in keeping with my view that we have chosen Clinton who is without sufficient self-discipline and Bush who is without substance and competence for our leaders.
The throwaway society (including us elderly ) will gradually change as commodities become either scarce and/or too expensive. As the standard of living continues to level out in a “global economy”, throwaway will cease to be an option. We are still in a period of great imbalance and probably will be for the next century or so. Barring a catastrophic dieback the commodities issue will slowly solve itself. What is interesting is the form of production and distribution of wealth, which will have to change as well. What will replace raw no-holds-barred capitalization? A fun futurist project to look at.
As to human obsolescence, I suspect that it will depend on which culture one comes from. As a rough guess, those societies that have experimented the longest with some form of ‘socialized’ structure, will be most likely to fit all ages groups under the umbrella.This means that anyone living in the U.S. is in deep yogurt!
Coberst, you come from any engineering background, so you have already seen how quickly the need for engineers has changed. Just as we committed mathematics to a handful of people who understand how to program a scientific calculator, we are now giving over all forms of expertise and experience to computerized “expert systems”. Why would I want a dozen engineers when with the right software and a high school graduate, I can design and fabricate anything - all within sound engineering principles? Both you and Jerry mentioned boats. Should I wish to build a nice cold-molded hull, I don’t need to be, or even consult a marine architect. There is software that will allow me to plug in my specifications and will produce a fully lofted blueprint with station layout, and a bill of materials to boot. All I have to do is pick out the colors of paint and the cheapest foreign boatyard I can find.
I’ve been teasing all my friends about having filled our biological imperative and that we are now just a bunch of dying salmon waiting around for the inevitable. It makes for a lot of uncomfortable glares.
Do people over forty have anything to contribute to society? Damned if I know. I’m too busy doing my things. I’m immortal, and I will be till I die.
Wisdom is the promise of longevity fulfilled. Wisdom comes not with age but with longevity that has fulfilled its promise. Wisdom does not happen by age and osmosis but through the catalytic action of curiosity, caring, and hard work.
Our society has increasingly made even examining mortality a taboo. As the 'boomers get older they seem obsessed with the idea that with the right products they might live forever. So in that sense, I think there’s a feeling of entitlement that extends into ones later years. Plus, there’s a pervasive sense of extended adolescence nowadays that didn’t exist fifty years ago. Older and older people are becoming fixated on the culture of youth, and emulate young people. They get cosmetic surgery, dress young, listen to kids music, etc. And where a man was once expected to settle down and take life seriously in his twenties, a similar man may nowadays behave like a kid well into his thirties, or even later.
As a previous poster alluded to, agism still can be a problem. I’m 36- I’ve seriously been considering going back to school and getting a BA in electrical engineering. But I’d graduate at 40 and be in competition with young kids that don’t expect to make as much, etc. Although employers now don’t even dream that you’re going to work for them your whole life as was common in the past. We’re mobile now and most of us will work many jobs in our carreers.
) will gradually change as commodities become either scarce and/or too expensive. As the standard of living continues to level out in a “global economy”, throwaway will cease to be an option. We are still in a period of great imbalance and probably will be for the next century or so. Barring a catastrophic dieback the commodities issue will slowly solve itself. What is interesting is the form of production and distribution of wealth, which will have to change as well. What will replace raw no-holds-barred capitalization? A fun futurist project to look at.