DimitriRascalov
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User ID: 450
DimitriRascalov
19d ago
The issue with this is that elder care-related consumption is reaching a relative share of all expenses that it's starting to eat up all the headroom for robotics or general investment in productive capital. And in that sense, anti-old policies need not be moronic, even for someone who is well aware that they're going to be old one day too. It's better to cut down expenses now and focus them into the things that will ensure the continued ability of the economy to produce goods and services at a sufficient level well into the future where I want to retire too at some point, than to feed the seed corn to the gerontocracy utility monster that we've collectively built in the West and watch society come crashing down as a consequence.
Case in point: here in Germany, even though state spending as a total share of GDP has grown quite slowly in past decades, inside that state spending welfare has greatly displaced capital investment, and while a tiny share of that change is related to stuff like migration and a general propensity towards ever greater gibs, it's basically 100% down to our aging society. It's no coincidence that we have collapsing bridges in major cities, but pensions continually increase above inflation even as the share of pensioners increases.
DimitriRascalov
24d ago
If HlynkaCG were still here
Bro, come on ... you're not exactly making an effort to hide that he's very much still here. You have the same writing style & opinions as Hlynka, you frequently speak as if you are a long-term part of the community even though you're a relatively new user, your account was created almost immediately after Hlynka's last one was banned, you even spell "their" wrong with the same frequency as Hlynka (and TequilaMockingbird) did!
And I say this not to have the mods ban you again, since I disagree with the permaban and find your posts interesting, but if you want to pretend that you're gone you need to change up your writing, for better or worse (mostly better!) you've got a very distinct voice that is immediately clockable.
[Of course, if you aren't Hlynka then I'm ready to eat crow and apologize]
I find this hard to believe if it were generalized. Regardless of the financial vehicle people choose for their retirement, the actual amount of physical resources and labor to fulfill their demands doesn't really change. The material burden caused by 40% of society being unable to work isn't alleviated in any way if all of those people are nominal millionaires due to their portfolios' appreciation over time, prices for elder care, cruises in the Caribbean, the local retirement home's weekly Bingo event etc. would simply adjust upwards according to the actual amount of working age people being able to deliver these things.
Society can't collectively out-save demographic change. The stock market or government pension schemes are different ways to save money, but they're just saving nonetheless, not material solutions to the actual issue. Individually, investing is obviously still the way to go as long as there are enough suckers unaware of or not engaging with these better financial options, but that just elevates your relative standing, it's not a solution for society as a whole.
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