Früher Ruhestand - von was eigentlich?
Ich lese gerade das Buch "A Simpler Life: A guide to greater serenity, ease and clarity" von Alain De Botton.
Darin gibt es ein kurzes Kapitel zum Thema "how to retire early".
Ich finde seine Sicht auf das Wort "retirement" interessant und teile ein paar Zitate mit euch:
>This word [retirement] manages to pull off an astonishing feat: it momentarily anaesthetizes all those who hear it into forgetting society’s founding pressures and most ingrained competitive values. It renders deeply desirable states of inaction that could otherwise appear simply contemptible or downright lazy.
>Someone in the prime of life who loses any interest in going to the office, who doesn’t care about promotion and who isn’t trying to accumulate ever more money would standardly be described as a loser. Unless, that is, they declare that what they want to do is ‘retire early’ – at which point they are transformed in our eyes into fascinating and near-saintly figures. We know now that they have stopped working not because they are incompetent or got sacked or are mentally weak-willed. They were almost certainly very good at their jobs; they just gave them up freely to focus their attention on a host of intriguing things that gratify them far more.
>Strikingly, at present, we only invoke the idea of retirement in regards to employment. This is a profound pity, because there are so many other things that it might be extremely important for us to stop doing, but which we feel obliged to continue with because we are under punishing pressure from others to conform. ‘Retirement’ is the word we should learn to use to explain quitting a host of activities otherwise deemed crucial without forfeiting our claim to be classed as honourable and dignified.
>It’s ironic that life advice for the young so overwhelmingly focuses on what to do in one’s career. In a wiser society, the emphasis would also be on retiring – as early as possible – from a host of supposedly necessary demands that, on closer inspection, are entirely unsuited to who and what we are. Our societies are very keen for us to have busy, competitive, complicated lives. We should express thanks for the well-meaning suggestions and then, as soon as possible and without causing anyone offence, announce our early retirement in the name of the simpler, kinder lives we long for.