Disrupt Aging is an anti-aging/anti-self-fossilization book. The author, AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins, made the above video in which Millennials are asked what they think is “old.” Anyone over 50 will instantly get the joke from their age perspective — “Old” is what you make it. It’s fun to watch.
Millennials vs reality? No, it’s Millennials vs an outdated, irrational world
The other side of the equation about aging, of course, is even more ironic, but less amusing. Millennials are at Ground Zero for the huge changes in employment, careers, and lifestyle options. It’s those “old” 30s and 40s who now get hit with life’s little rain of personal nukes and get their lives stolen from them in terms of layoffs, redundancies, and other major hits. The Millennials are moving in to that bracket, and only 10 years away from whatever new outbreaks of genius may happen in that time.
Also very much to the point — these guys are subject to arguably the most self-righteous, unfair critiques of their own lifestyles, by people who should know better. They’re accused of being anti-work, for example. Rubbish, and hypocritical rubbish at most. I’m a tail-end Boomer. To listen to my age group talking about other people being lazy is like listening to house bricks giving gymnastics lessons — rather implausible at best, insulting at worst and from the least credible source imaginable.
They’re also seeing rich people who don’t do very much, if anything, themselves telling them they’re lazy, selfish and greedy. There’s a joke in progress — how much “work” is involved in being a corporate pet or lackey? How much money do people make doing things like that, virtual part time jobs with huge salaries? You’re telling Millennials they should ignore the obvious, get paid less, and expect less? That’ll work; like hell.
Why pick on younger people? It’s not their fault the world is an unsanitary, directionless, greedy, hysterical, nuthouse. We grew up in a world where the future was going to be terrific. They’re growing up in a world where the future, at least in the short term, is going to be a sort of bleating excuse factory for things that should never have happened.
To quote Mr Dylan – “Don’t criticize what you can’t understand” – Particularly if you’re making no attempt at all to understand, in this case. If “sons and daughters are beyond command”, it might be just as well. Most of the social commands are pretty non-viable, too.
What Millennials see as “old” is as much a reflection of their unavoidable view of a world which doesn’t work well, and certainly doesn’t work for them. “Old,” for younger people (and you should remember this, however “old” you insist on being) is a range of anachronisms which are irrelevant, outdated, and well, pathetically regressive. They shouldn’t be expected to see the old culture any differently from the way we saw quill pens — ludicrous and totally impractical as a working model for them.
Nor should they venerate it or give it undue, un-earned, respect. That old culture, which was always corrupt and selfish, also gave rise to arguably the greediest, laziest, least productive socioeconomic culture in human history. They’re the ones going to be stuck with the approaching mess, in a decade or so.
The best way they can deal with it is to make the distinction between that obscene culture and real older people, many of whom will agree with them about getting rid of a useless, idiotically out of date culture and obsolete mindsets. Disrupting Aging is making a very useful contribution, creating a dialog between youth and experience, knowledge and skepticism, and rebooting the generational interactions.
If the human race is very lucky, this approach to restoring normal relations with the Millennials will work and the Disrupting Aging approach will go global.
