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'We're not lazy, we're old': 71yr-old Costco worker wins right to sit on the job
- sddfd 9y agoThat must be a very poor country where the 71 year old still have to work... /Sarcasm But more seriously, if life expectancy increases, but we still suffer the same 'elderly' conditions as humans always have, there is a problem.
- dailyvijeos 9y agoYup. Increased lifespan with increased ageism results in less productivity, less income, less taxes and more unhappy, idle people.
- totalZero 9y agoThe richness of a country should not be judged by institutionalized payouts of a full living stipend to the elderly.
- Daishiman 9y agoYou pretty much missed the entire point of what wealth is for.
- totalZero 9y agoNot every socialist country is rich. And not every rich country is socialist. It would be wise for you to keep political biases distinct from a clear view of the facts.
- tehlike 9y agoGive us a way to measure it, and lets see how we can do analysis on ita merits and flaws.
- totalZero 9y agoA way to measure what, richness? You can either look at income or wealth, and there are several/countless ways to do that. Income may be measured by GDP or GDP per capita. Wealth may be measured by the nation's balance sheet (gross assets minus liabilities). The latter is tougher to calculate but the UN attempted to do it five years ago. No idea if there is newer data but here's the 2012 result in graphical format as reported by the Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/21557732 http://www.economist.com/node/21557732 You will see that many of the wealthiest nations (the USA being the wealthiest, and Japan the wealthiest per capita) don't have a strong culture of socialism or welfare capitalism. In my view, the general American attitude is, "the government provides some very basic benefits to the elderly, and the expectation is that people will save for needs beyond those basic benefits or plan to have family members care for them." It comes from a disdain for the nanny state and a feeling that taxing individuals to return the money later is less efficient and less meritocratic than simply reducing the tax burden and allowing people to save as they see fit. On another note...just because there is a strong socialist sentiment on HN, doesn't mean that people should stop being fact-hungry critical thinkers when they approach the topic.
- Feniks 9y agoThe US is the wealthiest country on paper, sure. But there is huge gap between the elite and the poor. And meritocracy? That's actually a socialist ideal. Fact is that people in the Netherlands or Norway aren't fleeing to the US. There are advantages to living in a welfare state.
- totalZero 9y agoThe American idea of meritocracy is, "I earned the money, I should keep it. If you want money, go make some." The socialist idea of meritocracy is, "we should provide basic necessities to people so that they can work, study, and perform to the fullest of their ability, and ultimately earn and achieve beyond the traps and limitations of poverty." I don't see anything wrong with either view. Nor do I see either as superior to the other. Lastly, it's irrelevant that people from Europe are not fleeing to the USA, or vice versa. People have ties to friends and family, so you can't judge the momentary health of an economy based on egress and ingress.
- Feniks 9y agoThey just upped pension age to 67 here. Its not bad if your life expectancy is 90 and you're in good health.
- parent5446 9y agoThis seems a little misleading. He didn't really "win" the right in my opinion. Rather he complained enough such that the company granted him an exception. Based on the headline I was expecting some sort of court decision.
- Zanni 9y agoIt's very misleading. He's not even a Costco worker. He works for a subcontractor called CDS.