Early Retirement Extreme Forums

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/04179370-4741 ... z2kK3GltEk

A class divide separates people who choose their job from people who don’t. Today’s young people mostly don’t. If they have work, it’s often servile. That means they have to define themselves without the benefit of professional identity. Many do it through consumption: you are your Mac or your favourite kind of coffee. Social media offer other strategies. On Twitter, you get 160 characters to write your biography – in essence, to state your identity. Younger people often just name their favourite sports teams or bands...

One person's "crisis" is another person's opportunity to take the definition of self into one's own hands.

Gotta take that red pill, though . . .

Dragline wrote:One person's "crisis" is another person's opportunity to take the definition of self into one's own hands.

Gotta take that red pill, though . . .

Funny, I thought the same thing..... Financial Times, why is it bad that people no longer identify themselves as their profession?

I guess the point was that they are now using other unhealthy methods to define themselves. I like the way you put it. Taking the definition of self into one's own hands.

I'm a metal detector!

Well, it is asking a lot for people to suddenly find new succinct ways to describe themselves when they can't rely on widely understood concepts of what kind of person fits a certain job title or brand-name consumption model. I mean, what else does the middle class do?!

Might not even be a middle class issue---might be an English language/culture issue. I'm not aware of any succinct words that rounds up and summarizes an entire personality type and socioeconomic background as well as, for example, the word "accountant".

Remember all the issues with answering the "what do you do for a living"-question [when you retired]. This ranged from the humorous to the painfully detailed... but I don't recall very many one-word answers.

"I coalesce the vapors of human experience into a viable and logical comprehension",

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl4VD8uvgec

Also goes with that "ideal job" thread for me.

This seems like the editor told the writer to fill space. The writer, being a boomer or Gen Xer striving to be a boomer, then espouses on how dumbfounded they are by people who reject their view of life.

I used to joke with my fellow employees when I worked as an accountant. I told them I never wanted "Great Accountant" on my tombstone, as I would have considered myself a failure. Most didn't understand.

It's hard to define yourself by your job when you don't consistently have one.

jacob wrote:I'm a metal detector!

Well, it is asking a lot for people to suddenly find new succinct ways to describe themselves when they can't rely on widely understood concepts of what kind of person fits a certain job title or brand-name consumption model. I mean, what else does the middle class do?!

Might not even be a middle class issue---might be an English language/culture issue. I'm not aware of any succinct words that rounds up and summarizes an entire personality type and socioeconomic background as well as, for example, the word "accountant".

Remember all the issues with answering the "what do you do for a living"-question [when you retired]. This ranged from the humorous to the painfully detailed... but I don't recall very many one-word answers.

Agreed. Nothing summarizes my interests, at work and play, as succinctly as "Engineer" or particularly "Mechanical Engineer". I doubt this ever changes.