But thousands of dump trucks of boomers refuse to be, well, dumped because they simply can't. There are bills to pay, kids to get through college or grad school and, in some cases, grandchildren or children to feed. A different world, indeed.

Retirement has become a conceit of the wealthy, who, if you look at them – and using the strict definition of the word – never really retired in the first place. Because they never really worked.

In any case, I see these boomers' stubbornness, in a twisted way, as a lucky break for America. It's true that there are way too many 20-somethings now living at home — a record 21.6 millennials, according to CNBC. And while limited job creation is helping, it's sadly not solving this nation's problem of chronic un- and underemployment.

The flip side, however, could be worse.

What if all those boomers simply said, "The hell with it. OK, I don't feel obligated to help my family, or want to feel valued on a daily basis. Just bring on those entitlements."  

What then?

It's no secret that many public- and private-sector pension funds are frighteningly underfunded. For example, Illinois's retirement pot, according to Moody's, is woefully undervalued. The bond rater a couple of months ago said that the state's pension's underfunded liabilities are way higher than the $81.3 billion it claims. More like $133 billion, Moody's said, basing its estimate on a less-optimistic 5.67 percent return on the state's pension investment than the state itself, which is thinking more like 8 percent.

So imagine if all those well-intentioned hardy workers decided to go for it en masse and request all those payouts. What on earth would the good people who live in the land of Lincoln do then? They might think they're in a pickle now. But it could be way worse.

It's clear to me. While some of those geezers may be slowing down the production line, it's better than having no production line at all.