13.2.12

Retirement

Under the arrangement we propose work and leisure will be integrated into the fabric of everyday life.  This means people will no longer feel the same need to retire they do today.  As they grow older, instead of retiring they can gravitate towards easier kinds of work -- 12 hours behind a check-out counter, for example, instead of 20 hours on the assembly line. And when, eventually, they do reach the point when they are no longer physically able to work, their children and grandchildren will be close enough by to help take care of them.   That way they will not have to rely on their monthly Social Security checks alone to meet all material needs.  Their monthly benefits can be lower without compromising the quality of their lives.

And finally, when death finally approaches, instead of being carted off to a nursing home at enormous public expense the dying person could remain at home, where hospice services could be provided at a fraction of the cost.

How much better to die that way, at home in one’s bed, surrounded by the voices of loved ones, than alone in a hospital room somewhere or in a warehouse of strangers?