Originally Posted by
VinRouge
i am not advocating systems as extreme as either China or Iran. Simply pointing out in a system where self interest prevails, a sensible balanced and researched compromise cannot be reached. State pensions currently consume 12% of GDP, yes, gdp, not tax revenue. It’s growing at an unsustainable rate meaning that those of working age currently contributing are likely to either not see a state pension before 70+ or will see it means tested. Mainly in part to the triple lock introduced for political reasons. That is a lot of money to be spending on a system that was supposed to be a safety net and instead had metamorphosed into something much different. Good luck to the politician pointing out to the populace that expenditure on state pension and healthcare has now led to the loss of education grants, massive cuts to the state education system, defence, Infra projects, r and d research and policing. You can’t blame it on all on the financial crisis when it’s being spent elsewhere. We have just had over 30% of the participating population vote for a party in the European elections that doesn’t even have a manifesto. So please spare me excuses that the democratic system is in any way functional.
Whether the other systems are undesirable to you is an utterly moot point. The Chinese are now matching and in some cases overtaking western tech in terms of quality, particularly in the fields of electronics, quantum computing and Generalised AI. We can bang on about moral higher ground as much as we like, in 50 years, it will be them and not us that are setting global trends.
as to Iran “Death cult”, sounds like someone has been falling for the free trump kool aid. Interesting developments over the pond at the moment, something about a big wall to keep the cockroaches out, interment of immigrant children, intelligent creation vs science, climate change denial and banning abortion in a number of states. Not too sure accusations of lunacy need to be thrown Eastward at the moment.
Sorry Vinrouge, Although it is still lots of money, the UK actually spends less than 8% of GDP on state pensions, not sure where you got 12% from.