Stephen,
You asked:
> Are you saying that those who are only working to finance the rest
> of their lives have made a choice which will marginalize them as
> economic participants? How much commitment to the workplace is the
> basic minimum?
I should expand upon my point to make it clear my intention. I see
people who are working at jobs they despise, and living in misery, and
dreaming of the day they can leave that job and live their dreams.
But they continue to hate their jobs, and hate their present lives,
without really doing anything to set up for the rest of their lives.
If Joe is only saving towards retirement, and that is his dream - to
retire with a good nest egg, and Joe hates what he does each day, by
the time he retires at age 65, he will have spent 45 years hating his
job, hating what he's doing for 8 hours a day. And at any point in
that 45 years, something could happen that means his retirement never
happens...the company goes bankrupt, he could become ill, he could
have a major heart attack from stress and die!
(P.S. Heard yesterday that 1/2 of all first time heart attacks
happen between 8 to 10 am Monday mornings. That means people are
literally dying NOT to go back to work!)
'Time is more important than money. You can always get more
money, you can never get more time.'
And don't misconstrue the above to mean I don't beleive in saving
towards retirement. Saving 10% for retirement, 10% to charity, 10% to
active investments, and live off the remaining 70% for today!
My beleif is make whatever you're doing today worthwhile. Look at the
job differently if you are going to continue working there. Do what
you can to make the job enjoyable for you. Consider changing jobs or
careers. Just don't waste the time hating the job, and hence waste a
life.
As to the comment:
"marginalize them as economic participants?"
I'm not sure I understand your point. I hope I've clarified my
comment.
Gary Scherling
Helping people help themselves
--GSCHERL@fed.ism.ca (GSCHERL)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>