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Do you truly believe that. Considering that that those same oldies are the ones who put the young through school, which even in public schools is expensive. I

Do you truly believe that. Considering that that those same oldies are the ones who put the young through school, which even in public schools is expensive. I know that both my parents put in considerable time, effort and funds to give my siblings and me the opportunities to develop ourselves in whatever way we leaned towards, whether that be apprenticeships or university or something else. There was no mythology of what they put in. Likewise, my wife and I have put out considerable effort to have our children well educated and and have helped facilitate their life directions. My children have reflected on their realisation of just how hard it is, now that they are going through the same things with their own families. With all the young people we are involved with, our common refrain is to look carefully at what is going on in society, learn all you can and make decisions based on careful thought. Part and parcel of this is about respecting those who have gone before them, even if they don't deserve it, and respecting other people even if there is no agreement with what they might say or do. As far as wealth transfers are concerned, how often do we see stories of the young who have made considerable inroads into making their own fortunes by dint of wise savings and investments and doing the hard yards to learn how to do this. I have watched many who just fritter away their wealth with the latest fashions, gizmo's, parties and lattes, without thinking about what they could do instead. But hey, that's their choice. One would need to think very, very carefully before taking the franchise away from some group of people because you may think they are now to old. There will be unintended consequences that will cause more problems than one may have ever thought possible.

kovek 8y ago
This is where education is important. Let’s vote for education or learn how to educate the younger population, so that we can better communicate with the younger population, and work together to improve the city/state/country! I think that pushing to remove a voting right feels like an attack and not a cooperating move. Maybe making voting more accessible so that the younger population participates more would be a better development
glangdale 8y ago
I'm not actually supportive of taking the franchise away from the old. However, it's an interesting concept given how badly (collectively) older voters have behaved on matters of financial and environmental responsibility. Après moi, le déluge. I would point out that nearly everything you are raising about 'looking after the young' is about the idea of your own children and looking after yourselves. You've done the sleight of hand of shifting the topic to 'leaving money to, and looking after, your own kids'. What I'm talking about is the way older voters have collectively demanded more from society (generous governmental benefits) while collectively denying the same sort of benefits to younger people (there are way more small children growing up in poverty than old people in poverty). The mythology to which I refer is that older people are taking way more out of the retirement systems than they typically paid into it. So every time there's a thread like this people jump on and yell "what about my social security and all my tax contributions"; however, the books are not balanced - younger taxpayers carry older ones. I'm sure you have done the right thing by your own parents and children and I respect you for that. I am doing the right thing also. But there's a big difference between responsibility to ones own and civic responsibility, and a lot of old people have decided that bringing up the young is somehow a raw naked capitalist process while looking after the old should be done with the gentlest principles of socialistic redistribution.

kovek 8y ago

This is where education is important. Let’s vote for education or learn how to educate the younger population, so that we can better communicate with the younger population, and work together to improve the city/state/country! I think that pushing to remove a voting right feels like an attack and not a cooperating move. Maybe making voting more accessible so that the younger population participates more would be a better development

glangdale 8y ago

I'm not actually supportive of taking the franchise away from the old. However, it's an interesting concept given how badly (collectively) older voters have behaved on matters of financial and environmental responsibility. Après moi, le déluge. I would point out that nearly everything you are raising about 'looking after the young' is about the idea of your own children and looking after yourselves. You've done the sleight of hand of shifting the topic to 'leaving money to, and looking after, your own kids'. What I'm talking about is the way older voters have collectively demanded more from society (generous governmental benefits) while collectively denying the same sort of benefits to younger people (there are way more small children growing up in poverty than old people in poverty). The mythology to which I refer is that older people are taking way more out of the retirement systems than they typically paid into it. So every time there's a thread like this people jump on and yell "what about my social security and all my tax contributions"; however, the books are not balanced - younger taxpayers carry older ones. I'm sure you have done the right thing by your own parents and children and I respect you for that. I am doing the right thing also. But there's a big difference between responsibility to ones own and civic responsibility, and a lot of old people have decided that bringing up the young is somehow a raw naked capitalist process while looking after the old should be done with the gentlest principles of socialistic redistribution.