I like the article — great research and cases for the ever growing challenge of age, purpose and occupation. What troubles me though are all other trends and effects that happen simultaneously, 1. the shift towards less work (4 day week and flexible arrangements for starters)— 2. the shift towards more collaboration (the collaborative commons) and 3. the shift towards a society of abundance and not scarcity (prosumption). Optimization can actually free us and let everyone escape because the system will adapt. If you argument that we simply optimize but the core system (actors, rules, size etc.) remains the same, I absolutely agree with you but we have witnessed already a shift in the past 20 years.