12/26/2025
New Observations On Life As An Adult — And What That Means For Communities
Adulthood doesn’t look like it did 30 years ago.
But too many of our rules, policies, workplaces, and public meetings still assume it does.
🔹 People 30–45 are in the career-and-care crush — essential to our communities, yet effectively locked out of civic participation
🔹 20-somethings are often dismissed as “not ready,” even though they may be our most adaptive problem-solvers
🔹 Older adults aren’t “winding down” — they’re expected to keep contributing, learning, and reinventing themselves for decades
If life stages have changed, shouldn’t our institutions change too?
Public engagement, leadership, education, and local economies must evolve — or they’ll keep failing the very people they depend on.
✨ This post is adapted from Future Here Now, a weekly newsletter from Wise Economy Workshop / Wise Fool Press, focused on helping communities prepare for the Fusion Economy — where old industrial-era solutions no longer work.
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