#1,004:Thoughts on Labor Day, Turning 75, Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Paul McCartney, Rita Moreno, Al Pacino . . . and Retirement

A Labor Day Parade in New York City - September 1894

On June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal federal holiday, to be called “Labor Day.” Nearly a decade before Congress got into the act by making Labor Day a federal holiday, it was recognized by labor activists and individual states. After municipal ordinances were passed in 1885 and 1886, a movement developed to secure state legislation. New York was the first state to introduce a bill, but Oregon was the first to pass a law recognizing Labor Day, on February 21, 1887. Congress’ aim was to establish a federal holiday for the purpose of honoring and recognizing the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements in the United States.

For decades, the first Monday in September was celebrated by holding parades and outdoor events like large-scale and municipal barbeques. It also came to symbolize the end of summer, the beginning of the school year, and—once every four years - the quasi-official beginning of presidential campaigning.

Today, Labor Day (and the weeks preceding it) is a time for sales at shops, stores, and malls. The end of summer? Forget it; with climate change who knows when (or if) summer will end? The beginning of the school year? Here in Florida, our grand kiddies have been back in class for nearly a month. The official start of the presidential campaign season? Are you kidding? It never ends; there are already political pros starting to think about 2028.

This Labor Day It and Vantz are pretty much laying low, with the former liming himself to a single virtual Michigan Rally and the latter staying home and licking his wounds after having been widely booed by a firefighter union audience in Boston just the other day. On the other hand, Vice President Harris is being joined by President Biden for a live joint event in Pennsylvania. While It will undoubtedly speak about how close to economic collapse this country is (plus his normal assortment of grievances), Harris and Biden will be talking up how much economic progress the economy has made on their watch. And they have some stats to prove it:

· On Jan. 20, 2021, unemployment was 6.4%; as of the end of July 2024, it is 4.3%.

· The annual inflation rate was 2.9% for the 12 months ending July 2024; on January 20, 2021, it stood at nearly 7%.

· The Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation number, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index shows that yearly inflation was 2.5%, meaning we can expect a drop in the prime interest rate later this month.

And yet, on this Labor Day, the MAGA maniacs are still insisting that the nation’s economy is heading off a cliff.

Ever since I was a wee sprat, I’ve known that Labor Day comes less than 2 weeks after my birthday. I used to consider it a slightly belated national holiday in honor of little old me. Well, this year was no different . . . except it’s finally beginning to dawn on me that at least from a sociodemographic point of view, I am no longer a kid . . . I have just turned (gulp!) 75 years old. It is really hard to think of myself as a senior citizen. Yes, I have been collecting Social Security for almost a decade and am a card-carrying member of Medicare (which in some circles makes me a willing Socialist). And yet, I haven’t cut back on my working hours; between my Institutional Review Board (medical ethics) work and university lectures both of which require hours and hours of research), as well as a minimum of 10 hours of blog preparation and writing per week and officiating at 2 weekly religious services, and the occasional wedding, funeral and/or unveiling, I’m far busier than I was at age 50 . . . and haven’t given any thought to retiring.

Why is this? It’s not that I can’t afford to retire. Or is it? I mean, if I were fully retired, what would I be doing? Fishing? No, I have fished precisely once in my life. Attending Lifelong Learning classes? Heck no: I greatly prefer teaching them than taking them. Playing cards or golfing? No, and no. I’ve lived on several golf courses in my life, and the only time I went out on the green was to throw a frisbee to my dogs . . . most of whom were far better at kvetching than fetching. I think I’ve never considered retiring precisely because if I did, I would still be doing the same things I’ve always done. I’m extremely lucky; where others have jobs, professions, and/or careers from which they retire, I have art forms that I truly enjoy. Heck, if people are willing to pay me to engage in what I love, why would I consider retirement?

Come to think of it, I am not alone; there are an increasing number of people older than yours truly who likewise have no intention of retiring. Want a few stellar examples? How’s about:

Sir Mick Jagger: Now 81, Sir Michael and his mates have already been out on tour in 2024 in support of their newest studio album, Hackney Diamonds.
Sir Paul McCartney: A year older than Sir Mick, Sir James Paul McCartney will be commencing a new tour (Got Back) next month, which will take him throughout South and Central America, Mexico, France, and England.
Rita Moreno: Soon to be 93, the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy-Award winner just completed 12 episodes of a TV series called Princess Power (in which she played Princess Pussyboots) and is in pre-production of a new film (her 173rd) called Theirs.
Al Pacino: Recently turned 84, the Oscar-winning actor (1993’s Scent of a Woman) is in post-production for an amazing 9 different films to hit the silver screen in the next 2 years.
Mel Brooks: Now 98, Brooks, whose career goes back to 1951, when he was on the famed Milton Berle Show, has completed a new film, Fairy Tale Forest, and has 2 in production.
Anthoney Fauci. M.D.: the 5th Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes for Health, at age 83, Dr. Fauci, who oversaw the creation of the various vaccines that ultimately saved millions of lives from the Covid-19 pandemic, continued to serve as Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden until shortly before his 82nd birthday. In retirement, Dr. Fauci joined the faculty of the Georgetown University School of Medicine as a distinguished professor in both the School of Medicine and the McCourt School of Public Policy.

But do you know something? It’s not just the fabulously famous, fabulously accomplished, or fabulously well-heeled seniors (or yours truly, who cannot be placed in any of these categories save being a senior) who are either postponing or turning a blind eye toward retirement. Why? They simply don’t want to quit. From a national economic point-of-view, there is a downside to this: the U.S. workforce is now packed with five generations — from the silent generation(which includes President Joe Biden, IT, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi to name but 4) ) down to Gen. Z (those born between 1997 and 2010).

There are benefits to having so many experienced workers still active, but for younger people, it can be a major hurdle. The career ladder has become crowded at the top, and this dims professional prospects for those at every rung below. Young workers find it harder to launch their careers and to get promoted. The demographic traffic jam also harms societal cohesion by leaving younger groups behind, according to economists Gabriele Guaitoli and Roberto Pancrazi, who study the issue.

For most of history, a worker’s “retirement plan” was simple: death. This began to change in the 20th century when growing American wealth and the creation of Social Security enabled workers to leave the labor force earlier.

Beginning in the 1990s, however, the trend reversed. The age at which Americans could access their full Social Security payments was raised to 67 in the 1980s, and many companies stopped offering pension plans. Workers often had to stay in their jobs longer to make ends meet. But many also did so voluntarily. Longer life expectancies and easier working conditions made this choice more attractive. In 1990, about 10 percent of the labor force was made up of workers over 55. Now, this share is about 23 percent, and it is expected to stay around there over the next decade.

As older workers stay in their jobs longer, younger people start off in comparatively lower-paying positions and move up more slowly. They often have to wait decades for promotions. In academia, for instance, young professionals now spend years in fellowships and postdoctoral programs waiting for professor jobs to open. No one wants to force older workers out of jobs. (All generations enjoy Al Pacino movies.) But a better balance needs to be struck between retaining older workers and nurturing younger ones. This won’t be easy, but here are a couple of ways to start.

The first is to encourage more start-ups. In new businesses, younger workers move up relatively rapidly to leadership roles. Just look at Silicon Valley’s 20-year-old CEOs. On this front, the recent post-pandemic boom in Americans starting businesses is encouraging. There aren’t a lot of levers that policymakers can pull to incentivize more start-ups, but it would help to make it easier to obtain small-business loans and to further reduce regulatory barriers. It’s good to hear that Harris/Walz are on to this issue and willing to put American tax dollars to work creating small-business startups as well as a $25,000 tax credit for young people purchasing their first home. They have also backed this up with a proposal to construct 3 million new homes by the end of their first term. This ambitious program is not a sure thing (what, in politics ever is?) If nothing else, it will cause the not-so-loyal opposition to shed gallons of sweat and expend millions of syllables contesting it. Nonetheless, it is a hopeful step and, as the Chinese philosopher Lau Tzu noted a long, long time ago, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

You will note that I did not manage to post this essay on Labor Day. After completing about half, I decided to take a long, long walk, watch a baseball game, and share a marvelously slow meal of Caesar Salad and pasta with Annie.

And then get back to work . . .

I feel younger already!