We face the challenge of trying to image an alternative social structure that would provide a variety of solutions that would suit both senior citizens and society’s capabilities. We must therefore expose the set of cultural values that permits us to view our relationship with senior citizens only through demographic and economic lenses. We must stop talking about old age in the negative, as life without work. We would be better off asking about the meaning of old age today, and how we can allow retirees in the twenty-first century—who are better educated, healthier, and longer-lived than their ancestors—to maintain their quality of life while continuing to contribute to society?

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