Although those who achieve longevity have always had to contend with the pace - and accumulated products - of change, the association of increased longevity and accelerated pace has never been stronger. We all will need to live with the realisation that our experience is quickly - and maybe repeatedly - outmoded. By this frame of reference, the old struggle for relevance amidst economic, cultural and domestic transitions.
This is, however, a gross oversimplification of the relationship between age and social context in the United Kingdom (UK). If we accept this analysis, we accept homogeneity of redundancy and that is as limiting as the belief that all old people are the same. In this paper, it is argued that we should be more critical of assumptions about the irrelevance of the old.