[extropy-chat] longevity and social security (was Extropian Scorecard)

[Chris Hibbert]

> At 10:12 AM 11/6/2004 -0800, Mike wrote:
>> The one thing I'm looking forward to about practical immortality is
>>  that its primary impact will be to bankrupt the social security
>> system beyond the ability of any government to fix it in any
>> semblance of its current form.

And Damien replied:
> As usual, I must be missing something here. If `social security' is 
> shorthand for collective funding of pensions for the ill, the 
> incapacitated and those made feeble by old-age, plus collective
> funding of some or all medical expenses, then `practical immortality'
> largely does away with the need for such a system. 

Is it possible that that's the nature of social security in Australia? 
In the US, Social Security is an entitlement for older people.  Doesn't 
matter how much money they have, whether they are employed or not, how 
fit or ill they are.  It would be wonderful if I could believe that a 
small thing like increased longevity and improved health would cause the 
rules for Social Security to change, but the AARP (the old-folks lobby 
here) is one of the strongest in Washington, and they don't see any 
reason to allow any reductions in payments.

Chris
-- 
It is easy to turn an aquarium into fish soup, but not so
easy to turn fish soup back into an aquarium.
-- Lech Walesa on reverting to a market economy.

Chris Hibbert
hibbert at mydruthers.com
http://mydruthers.com