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The population shifts to the elderly. That can lead to reduced number of people who are actively contributing unless retirement age too is pushed upwards. Gains
by srean 6y ago
The population shifts to the elderly. That can lead to reduced number of people who are actively contributing unless retirement age too is pushed upwards. Gains in productivity can offset this to an extent. Savings scheme where the inflow from new generation pays for the outgoing generation can become unsustainable if the demographics becomes top heavy.
- nerdponx 6y agoSounds like a temporary problem with long term benefits, to me.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoBut automation is proceeding at breakneck speed (especially this year). It wont take 'young people' to make the goods that everyone needs, not for much longer (years). And its actual goods and supply, that determine the value of money which is after all, imaginary points.
- inglor_cz 6y agoGoods are only part of the necessary economy. A society with a lot of elderly = demand for huge amounts of daily care, which is hard to automate away, though probably not impossible. (The Japanese are definitely trying.) The only way out of this conundrum would be a breakthrough in longevity, where people would live to 110 in a relatively good shape and being able to care for themselves, then die within weeks from some fast degenerative process.
- sudosysgen 6y agoI'm not sure automation is the answer, but if it did work then the people freed up from other jobs would be able to do that kind of care.
- inglor_cz 6y agoThe question is: would they want to? Unless it was very well paid, this job is far from enticing. Trying to keep a doubly incontinent geriatric patient from smelling for decades is an arduous and depressive job with no perspective of improvement. Geriatry as a subset of medicine is struggling to find new recruits, because as far as prognosis of the patients goes, it is the single worst branch of healthcare. There are people with wherewithal to do this for decades, but this pool of willing is going to be overwhelmed.
- sudosysgen 6y agoIf we arrive at the point where a large majority of production is automated, I'm not sure that will be that much of a problem. Most old people aren't anywhere near that bad. For those who are, it will have to be operating almost on rotation and with large financial incentive.
- VelNZ 6y agoI had a flashback to Brave New World reading the last sentence. I highly recommend that book which effectively describes such a (dystopic) society.
- inglor_cz 6y agoTo me, healthspan almost as long as lifespan would be a good outcome. What dreads me is spending several years in a nursing home, immobile, riddled with pain, low-key hoping for death.
- nerdponx 6y agoSounds more like Soylent Green. There is a lot more going on in Brave New World than how people die.
- srean 6y agoFor laborious work yes. For intellectual work not so much.