Sennett again: “The number of men aged fifty-five to sixty-four at work in the United States has dropped from nearly 80 percent in 1970 to 65 percent in 1990.” Trends are similar in Western Europe. Older workers are often downsized, perceived as inflexible deadwood, too critical of management, apt to fall behind the technology curve. This is an economic problem; but, again, what does this attitude toward age and experience mean if transferred to other realms of social and political life?
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