[extropy-chat] Extropic Freedom and the Fate of Dissidents

[Eugen Leitl]

On Wed, Nov 02, 2005 at 06:53:54AM -0800, spike wrote:

> Dirk, which country are you from?  I am interested
> in European politics to see how you guys solve the
> pension problem.  We yanks have a social security
> fund that is supposed to go bust in 2038, but I
> heard Germany and France are facing a similar
> sitch with more urgency.

Here's an interesting historic view on retirement
and its funding in the US: http://www.eh.net/encyclopedia/article/short.retirement.history.us

I understand that due to a need for investment
in growth years in the early 20th century the self-financed
saving part has gone away (at least, in more socialist places)
for a social security type of taxation which is invested
in current growth, with future promise of revenue (of
course, the entire house of cards collapses with the 
population pyramid inversion and very slow or negative
local growth due to globalisation competition).
 
> I don't know that either right or left has a
> good solution to this.  If so I haven't heard it.

I don't think there is an economic solution. If the
automation and the redistribution part doesn't land
instanter we're going to face either cars burning in
the streets, or old folks poverty, or both.

I'm only half joking (I've seen old folks begging 
in the streets with the collapse of the UdSSR, and it
wasn't pretty).

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a>
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ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820            http://www.leitl.org
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