Aug 2019
11:55am, 20 Aug 2019
15,011 posts
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Chrisull
" It is a fact that the UK population is growing older and living longer. " It is no such thing in the UK. It went down last year, and it is expected to decline again: bbc.co.uk And let's be honest, lifespan and healthspan are two different things. You might be able to live longer in a hospital or old people's home, but a 65 year old is just as "incapable" of picking up a dustbin, a heavy child or doing heavy manual labour, as a 65 year old was 20/30 years ago. Our bodies age in the same way. That's why muscle mass still starts declining in your 30s, and muscle breakdown starts beginning at 65. I note I can beat nearly every 65 year old in a race, but there are plenty of 60 year olds who can hand me my ass on a plate. Yep that's ageing. We have not reversed it or significantly extended it. I mean this "simplism" does my fucking head in. The reality is, we are able to prolong life slightly more than before, but in terms of 70 year olds running sub 2.50 marathons, (which you'd expect, if we were truly expanding healthspan), 65 year olds being able to have the same mental agility and recall as 25 year olds, 50 year olds having the same eyesight as 20 year olds, then not on your nelly. These markers are set in stone , until the wave of anti-senolytics (new drugs which target senescent cells, the cells accused of causing aging) are freely available. (and these drugs don't increase lifespan, but hopefully healthspan) So setting the retirement age is simply about using numbers to ensure MORE of the population die before retirement age, any other justification is lying. |
Aug 2019
12:12pm, 20 Aug 2019
2,191 posts
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J2R
Fair play to Stander there, though. I kind of assumed that the suggestion of raising the retirement age to 75 would be deemed so obviously barbaric in a civilised society (such as ours aspires to be) that nobody would jump to its defence.
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Aug 2019
12:17pm, 20 Aug 2019
15,012 posts
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Chrisull
Lol J2R. The worrying thing is when further down the line it comes to things like jailing EU citizens who are still here 6 months after October 31st or some such beyond the pale, that there will still be people on here defending it. I mean Trump thinks white supremacists are decent people... |
Aug 2019
12:28pm, 20 Aug 2019
3,504 posts
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run free
Would need to raise the retirement age to plug the gap for skilled & low paid workers as they return back to the EU. Seems the NHS is seeing a reduction in carers and hospital staff since Brexit issues. Perhaps a positive for people who stay in work is that it might delay dementia as people stay mentally active longer.....
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Aug 2019
12:28pm, 20 Aug 2019
10,997 posts
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Cerrertonia
Lifespan isn't increasing, but the proportion of the UK population that is over-65 is creeping up. The number of working-age people per pensioner is currently a bit over 3, but demographic trends keep reducing that and at some point it becomes untenable. We're nothing like as bad a position as say Germany, or most other European countries, primarily because millions of young people have migrated here. The UK is one of the few Western countries with birth rate above replacement rate, which is why (pre-referendum) we were projected to overtake Germany as the EU's most populous country. One of the potential upsides to Brexit is that the huge demographic timebomb that's been caused in Poland etc. might reverse a little. Not so good for the forty or fifty somethings planning to retire in the UK, but good for Eastern Europe. |
Aug 2019
12:31pm, 20 Aug 2019
278 posts
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deslauriers
Stander, I know you don't give a shit, but this Twitter feed outlines how the botch job of Settled Status is creating turmoil for people who have lived her and contributed to our country. People with homes and families. JDA was in the mark: spiteful hatred. God knows what level of self-loathing leads people to want this. mobile.twitter.com |
Aug 2019
12:59pm, 20 Aug 2019
5,000 posts
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jda
I'm sure that Stander thinks he's being very clever and funny with his trolling, but if all someone does is say stupid and hateful things, then ultimately it's hard to avoid concluding that they actually are that sort of person.
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Aug 2019
1:12pm, 20 Aug 2019
32,224 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
I really don't think that's fair. Stander is a humorous guy. You need to take a lot of his comments in that light. (Have you seen the picture of him in the full blue morph suit, raising money for charity?!) He clearly believes, as may Leave supporters do, that there are opportunities for independent regulating and trade that will be good for some people in Britain. He has also acknowledged that there will be costs and problems with Brexit, though he doesn't accept the severity that Remainers see (and while there have been some good studies and forecasts produced, I think we would all acknowledge that economic forecasting is an inexact science at best!) I think there is a majority for Leave, still, in the country. Not in here, not in my peer groups, not in my family or friends. But it just "feels" (Facebook comments, website comments e.g. BBC etc. from "the public") that there are plenty of people who share his views. Let's try and include the guy in our conversations and not alienate him, please. He's the only alternative viewpoint we're hearing from (having P-d off TMW and Jovi, so they have left the thread.  ) bbc.co.uk So, here's a question (in the quest of trying to understand Leaver logic.) This farmer wants Brexit, but just wants "clarity" while being asked about the report that says the profit in his business will be at best reduced to zero or possibly loss making. So why is he still for Brexit? |
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Aug 2019
1:13pm, 20 Aug 2019
279 posts
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deslauriers
I think Stander knows he made the wrong decision. Maybe at the time, given the information we had, he made that decision for seemingly valid reasons. He isn't stupid, but cognitive dissonance is a bitch. Before I quite rightly get jumped on for hypocrisy , I'd like to say publicly that if a no deal Brexit leads to a similar or better situation, guarantees existing rights for all those living here, doesn't lead to shortages of medicines and other supplies, doesn't lead to further xenophobia etc, I'll admit I was wrong about Brexit. Admittedly, it's a somewhat vague set of criteria but it's still a fuck of a lot more detailed than any Brexit plan I've ever seen. |
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Aug 2019
1:13pm, 20 Aug 2019
32,225 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Enjoy! G
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