Youth Vs Elderly and the Future of Work
Another push for education and trades.
Once upon a time I was professionally working as a fine artist exhibiting globally and throughout major museums within the United States. I decided to retire from the fine art world because I noticed that I was directly competing with my elders. We’d be applying for the same grants, attention and pitching the same gallerist. To some degree this was okay and normal. But I know me and there is no way that one of my elders would be able to outwork me. They may have refined skills, wisdom and aged connections. But I have time, greater risk tolerance, and physical vitality on my side. While competition is normal something didn’t sit right with me about the idea of taking an opportunity away from my elders especially given the art market is so small. Very few artists were making significant money and as an artist who happens to be Black American, if my art or the art of my elders got coined ‘Black Art’ then the market is even smaller. In my journey as a technologist I’m noticing a pattern. There are elder content creators who are making content using AI, data analysis, etcetera. I’m all for upskilling and branching out into new ventures. But I’m seeing my elders compete for entry level roles, learn about new technologies and engage in activities I’d expect to see more young people doing
I’m writing this essay because I think the way we’ve set up work is pushing young people and elders into unnecessary competition. My argument is that young people should become a new skilled class combining physical trades with engineering, data, or business education. While elders invest in and mentor them. So young people, in turn, can build economies that protect our elders instead of displacing them.
The reality is everyone is trying to make it how they can. In America, white collar work has been put on such a high pedestal and has historically attracted high salaries, fake prestige and some class mobility if your family passed down connections or skills long enough(Note: I take the stance that class mobility isn’t achieved in a single lifetime let alone a single generation).
The implementation of pensions has mostly been dismantled, social security payments will dry up very soon, companies are moving towards dramatic reduction of the work force and Venture Capitalists are thirsty for teams of less than 5 or solo founder unicorns (Unicorns are billion dollar companies that have just begun). At one time many of us imagined protecting our elders through retiring and housing them based on knowledge of the dismantling of pensions and social security funds. But now there are more people of all ages searching for work than ever before. Financial protection and insulation of our elders may not be easy or an option at all. Thus leading us to compete with them.
But I don’t believe in practicing the idea of competition. I believe in fundamental analysis of resources and skills then implementing effective collaborative organization. Because the safety net is collapsing and elders are forced to compete for work, young people should pursue a hybrid path of trades + higher education to build sustainable, local, materially grounded economies that can support elders instead of competing with them, while elders invest in and mentor this younger skilled class.
One of my first essays was an analysis on the future of education. I still maintain my stance here but I’d like to adapt it now that I’m considering harm reduction of my elders. My upcoming recommendation is not one size fits all. In fact it may be one of the most resource intensive decisions a person could undertake with very little immediate pay out. But it is a play for adaptability and longevity.
After all, we are in a marathon not a race.
In 2018 the “Gig economy” gained a huge foot hold. Uber helped usher in this idea that people would be willing to earn a full time living without being truly employed or truly entrepreneurial. This paved the way for companies like Fiveer, WorkUp, and other gig economy platforms. Platforms like Ebay, Etsy, Poshmark, Amazon, SNKRS or Tiktok shop encouraged people who were producers or resellers to find ways to earn through products. A bit more entrepreneurial but without ownership of the platform and ability to truly scale. I’ll never forget going into my favorite thrift store, seeing a tour of resellers meticulously looking at each lab of each garment and then walking out.
Products are cool but not often essential. If we take note of the old push for carbon neutrality and carbon negativity some still useful design principles emerge for us to follow. Recyclability, modularity, reparability and reuse. What does this have to do with feeding our elders? The nature of labor. I think young people have an opportunity to utilize their bodies to earn an income through learning physical trades. Trades that won’t go away because the nature of them allows for the activation of the aforementioned principles underneath carbon negativity and neutrality. America has some of the worst infrastructure of the major global powers. There’s work there. Houses are old and sparse, grid infrastructure hasn’t been redone in decades, and there aren’t enough people with the skill sets to fix these issues. Additionally, America has been plagued by ‘designed obsolescence’. A design principle that encourages producers to design for their product to eventually break and then need to be replaced later. Forcing users to swipe their cards again.
Trades are incomplete for the young person I’m targeting. I believe there is an opportunity for someone who both learns a trade and goes to college. The college education should either focus on engineering, information systems or business.
Engineering allows you to navigate the real world. Imagine an electrician who then goes to school for electrical engineering? Or civil engineering? Any sort of engineering really! The innovation that they’d be able to implement has greater likelihood to be pulled from on the job experience. This is where new inventions and patents get made. A very profitable pursuit. Like an artist, creativity is informed by being in constant practice both theoretical and practical.
Information systems and machine learning are valuable because data is still the new gold. AI companies have scraped just about every piece of historical data we will ever get. The current data scraping focus are sensors that allow us to get real world data. While I do think a Data/information and trades cross over play will work short term, there’s a first movers advantage here. Those who are able to get sensors and gather data in creative ways from the real world the fastest will own the highway to the bank within whatever particular niche they are able to do so. But as in most entrepreneurial case studies, if you’re looking to start a business then you’ll have a higher likelihood of success doing something that another entity has already proven works.
Trades and business? This is more about being able to scale as an independent operator. I imagine a dentist who works under another dentist’s practice. One could say that its for security but having business know-how makes you both more independent and adept at collaborative partnerships. Business school is also the shortest time commitment. You could learn all that you need to from an associates degree at a public or nonprofit university. After all entrepreneurship is learned by having boots on the ground; not in a text book. But learning the fundamentals, theoretical frameworks, communication skills and understanding of the resource landscape through a guided program is extremely useful.
These highly trained young people will be equipped to solve infrastructure problems, become a new class of inventors, job creators and most importantly support overall environment, economic and product sustainability. The different types of sustainability mentioned are extremely important and will probably receive another separate essay. But think of it like this. This workforce that I just described won’t be competing with elders for jobs, they’ll be creating a few jobs but the fundamentals of the future of work are still changed forever. Teams will still be small unless a company makes a conscious effort to raise a larger workforce. So this emergent skilled class will secure themselves and their families, they may not need or want to secure others. SO the products and services we do purchase need to be like those of the 50s - 80s. Be affordable, work effectively and last for a long time. Most won’t be able to afford cheap products that need to be replaced. People are already looking for products that last a lifetime as evidenced by my favorite reddit community ‘/r BuyNothing’.
You may be thinking, well Bakari, what about the elders? What should they do? Frankly, do whatever you want. With the condition that you support the education of this younger skilled class that I’ve described. They’re going to be in school for an average of 6-8 years after high school. And that’s not including a masters program. Create opportunities to pay or hire them while they’re studying, feed them when you can and give them domain wisdom. White collar work may actually be best suited for elders who aren’t mobile but still sharp up top. They say that all things are circular so as babies are taken care of so are our elders. Unfortunately, the time for us to loop back into vulnerable states where we need care is being extended out currently. So our elders investing in us is actually their best shot of being taken care of when they truly are unable to work or just don’t want to.
At the end of the day we do need each other. We must coordinate types of work, schedules, and resources in order to withstand this designed obsolescence of the economy and state of ‘work’. But those young people who can interact with the physical world literally and theoretically will be the greatest force our country and planet have seen within the past three decades. No longer reliant on governments, corporations or even a boss. They’ll be creating their own ecosystems. Supplying their own needs and the needs of their own community. Fixing when things are broken. Innovating when experience and practice line up perfectly. And creating from raw materials only when necessary.