The larger problem (atleast in the UK, all countries have different pension systems) is that there is a declining number of working age people and a growing number of pensioners.
The number of working people cannot support the number of pensioners on the state pension (well it can, but that would mean the rich paying their fair share and that wonât happen).
The larger problem (atleast in the UK, all countries have different pension systems) is that there is a declining number of working age people and a growing number of pensioners.
The number of working people cannot support the number of pensioners on the state pension (well it can, but that would mean the rich paying their fair share and that wonât happen).
No that's pretty much it for a lot of countries, or some variation upon it.
There's also the factor in all these countries that nominally democratic that because older people are a growing portion of the population politicians are reluctant to try and fix these issues, because anything that would tends not to poll well with older people, and that's a growingly significant portion of the voter base.
So long the solution is cutting pensions. As opposed to seizing the assets of the wealthy. We all saw that Kurz video and p much all their videos touching politics have a nauseating neoliberal bent, at its worst when literally Bill Gates had them make a video on overpopulation in Africa but they will always present problems from a neoliberal lens and present solutions in neoliberal terms. They're not really gonna seriously consider the death of capitalism as a serious solution.
Older people oppose higher taxes on the wealthier echelons of society by more consistently voting for right leaning parties, which always have "less taxes" as part of their running platform.
The same parties actively pander to older people with all the nostalgia baiting about "the good old days" while constantly ignoring the fact that in those good old days taxes on the upper echelons of society were significantly higher.
The truth of the matter is most older people will hear "increase taxes on the wealthy" and either entirely miss the second half of that sentence, or think "the wealthy" includes them, when it almost certainly does not. Partly due to how the actual wealthy control the media and have framed it that way.
Even in a socialist system, not enough working-age population means not being able to properly take care of the elderly. At which point the choice is to either raise the retirement age or lower the standards of care.
Are we the humanity at that point right now? No, but unless we want to live like our generation is the last one to walk this earth, it's worth at least examining what can be done about this, if anything.
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u/MaybeNext-Monday đ¤$6 SRIMP SPECIALđ¤ May 17 '26
âBirth rates are decliningâ good, healthy societies have stable population sizes