A nice feature in the Sydney Morning Herald about people living their dreams in their elderly years. One thing that's slightly irritating is the "bored boomers" title for the piece. Ms Beasley is not a baby boomer at all - she was born in 1942, long before the post-war baby boom. Still, we baby boomers currently range in age from late 40s to mid-60s, so we're this great big demographic wave coming through. We'll be joining the ranks of senior citizens pretty soon, and something will have to be done about us.
The "something" could be putting us down, I suppose - to hear a lot of the slightly younger Gen Xers, now mainly in their 40s, talk, you'd think that was the solution. (By the way, does anyone understand why so many Gen Xers express so much hostility to boomers - who are their elder siblings in some cases?) A better solution, which will be applicable to the Gen Xers very soon after it's applicable to us, is to help people stay as healthy and productive as possible for as long as possible.
So good for folk like Ms Beasley who are leading the way.
About Me
- Russell Blackford
- Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019); AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021); and HOW WE BECAME POST-LIBERAL: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOLERATION (2024).
2 comments:
I was heartened too, Russell. I'm about to start my PhD in my early fifties, combining Careers #2 and #3. I love the possibilities that our increased longevity and Australia's readily accessible education provide us. We are lucky to be this age, at this time.
I keep thinking about going back to Uni to do a PhD (having got distracted by other career options all those years ago). Now I'm too distracted by all my various projects to focus on one for long enough. I'm always croggled by the idea of being bored in retirement. How did I ever fit a job into my life, back in the day?
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