lockstep

昨年、後期高齢者の仲間入りしたので、８０歳までは、急にガンに罹るとか交通事故に遭わない限り容易に到達できそうな気がする。そこで目標を９０歳まで元気に過ごす（例えば10kmは無理でも、5kmのレースに出れるとか）ことにしました。　目標を１００歳までに延ばすことはまだ考えられませんが、TVでLinda Gratton著の "Life Shift" の本に触れていたので、図書館で調べると、Linda Gratton and Andrew Scottの共著による "The 100-Year Life" というのがあり、気になったので借りて読むことにしました。

Introductionの箇所からの引用です。

A three-stage life with education first, employment second and then retirement can only be sequenced in a single way. Many people followed these stages and the resulting lockstep of action brought certainly and predictability. People were not faced with excessive opportunities or choices, and companies or governments were not confronted with a great deal of variety across what people wanted or needed.

"lockstep" の意味を辞書で調べます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: a situation where things happen at the same time or change at the same rate: a lockstep approach to teaching
・Collins Dictionary: rigidly inflexible: a lockstep educational curriculum
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a standard procedure that is followed mindlessly: “the union's support had been in lockstep for years”

日本ではお馴染みの横並びあるいは画一的な行動、規則、慣習に使える言葉ですね。