Friday 28 November 2008

Have pensions fucked the family?

We like to blame trendy lefties for societal decay. The breakdown in morals, the breakup of the nuclear family, the rising tide of lawlessness and disorder. Blah blah blah.

Was all this the fault of the 1960's and those goddamned hippies, or was it the introduction of a proper government funded pension system?

Discuss.

Until we had pensions, old people were supported in their dotage by their children. Your offspring were your pension. (Interesting side note about witch killings that I heard on Counterpoint the other day - when crops fail, families will get rid of the most useless mouth to prevent the rest of the family from starving. The most useless mouth is grandma, and the easiest way to remove her is to accuse her of witchcraft. Witch killings can apparently be accurately predicted by rainfall patterns - or the lack of rainfall).

If you wanted a good pension, you had to raise good kids.

Now there is no financial requirement to do that. The state will look after you. You can raise your kids any way you like, with no downside later on in life.

Who do we have to thank for this mess?

Bismark.

We should have nuked the Germans too.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

boab,

Pensions aren't a bad thing in the proper situation.

I think you'll find pensions in our English-based culture were introduced in Britain by King James II in 1689 for soldiers who were injured in service, fought with valour, or had given more than 20 years' service.

You would know of the Chelsea Pensioners. Their reward for service was to be cared for by the Crown for life.

After the Napoleonic Wars there were about 37,000 Chelsea pensioners. More in england since 20thC wars.

TPI is the equivalent in Australia, my husband is one, that's fine because he earned in the front line.

But what you have said about pensions generally, I agree with. If you haven't worked and paid your taxes, or served your country, the pension shouldn't be available, especially to runts whose only capability is to knock down old ladies and steal their handbags.

kae said...

Statue MarieS?

word ver: repinks!