Compulsory Retirement!

[Darth Vader]

He designs cooling systems.

As well as receiving help from the Treasury whilst furloughed, because of his age he also gets a free TV licence, heating allowance, bus pass and prescriptions.

He is wealthy no doubt and it seems madness to me that people on or just over minimum wage are subsidising his lifestyle.

Hmmm what decile would you place him? And at what decile of wealth should people who pay their taxes be denied any accepted benefits due to age and past contributions?

Cheers,

DV

 

[ks.234]

Ditch the gongs completely. Just as clapping for the nhs is meaningless except to those deciding to not give the nhs decent payrises, gongs are meaningless except to those who get them because of ‘others bugger’s efforts’.

How about replacing all gongs and honours with a nice big round of applause?

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

How about replacing all gongs and honours with a nice big round of applause?

Maybe conferring a gong should come with a caveat. If it is later discovered that the recipient has done anything that would discredit the award, not only will the gong be withdrawn, but the recipient will be required to make reparations to the state of 50% of their net worth.

I wonder how many recipients would turn them down, then?

 

[ks.234]

We should still bring back Forfeiture. In the good old days, duty, dues and obligation was owed to the King and anyone saying that those Obligations were null and void because their official residence was a desert island no one had ever heard of would’ve been taken for the two fingers to King and Country that it was.

In this glorious post Brexit world where splendid isolation, absolute sovereignty and a long and loving look back to a imperial past is King, people like Branson and Green should have their entire wealth and estate confiscated and be banished to some forgotten outback like the Isle of Wight

 

[thebigfredc]

Hmmm what decile would you place him? And at what decile of wealth should people who pay their taxes be denied any accepted benefits due to age and past contributions?

Cheers,

DV

I think you're missing the points I am making in my posts and indeed the overarching purpose of the thread.

Quite a lot of the news reports today highlighted how the under 25s are going to be the group most affected by the rise in unemployment caused by the pandemic.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't want to interfere but these are exceptional times and the Government does have the power to re-introduce a maximum working age in order to stop the older and usually better off members of society from hogging the jobs at the expense of younger ones who have mortgages and small children to feed.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

the Government does have the power to re-introduce a maximum working age in order to stop the older and usually better off members of society from hogging the jobs at the expense of younuns who have mortgages and young children to feed.

Are you sure it does? I think forcing people to retire on the basis of their age could be discriminatory, and therefore unlawful.

 

[thebigfredc]

This is pure DM. On what basis have you 'no doubt' that he is 'wealthy'? And people on minimum wage are not 'subsidising his lifestyle', they are contributing to the same tax pot as everybody else. So if they are 'subsidising his lifestyle' they are also subsidising the billionaires whose rate of taxation is less than the PAYE rate for their income would be. And there are many, many people who have fully retired with decent pensions who can well afford their own heating, TV license and public transport. Are they leeching off the state too? It's a dumb thing to equate paying tax with subsidising somebody else and it's the politics of envy and division.

He may be an acknowledged expert in his job. His employer may have failed to recruit somebody to take over. Maybe the systems he designs are a bit arcane, but still used? I'm aware that there are ancient mainframe computer systems still in use in this country, whose operation relies on people well beyond retirement age, because nobody younger understands them. Should they be forcibly retired, and the systems summarily shut down (do consider, some of these could be part of important infrastructure)?

He may just be doing a bit here and there to keep his mind sharp, to keep busy, to maintain a sense of self-worth. Do you know for sure? Why make an example of him?

Sorry Sue - I don't know what DM means but I can assure you that he is loaded.

Anyway, I wasn't trying to make an example of him, rather I was just using him to make the wider point that we are heading for a crazy situation where some people who are desperate for work can't find it because some people choose to continue to work when they don't need to.

The rest of your post is just noise.

 

[thebigfredc]

You're building quite a narrative from the limited information; he could be on minimum wage, main carer for his wife struggling to keep house. home and family fed.

Nope. Youre the one building a narrative from limited information with your main carer for his wife (she's been dead twenty years btw) ; I on the other hand know him, know his family, know his work and know his general circumstances.

 

[clivem2]

This bloke who is still working at 85. He’s paid into the system for others and now should get payback. It is going to be really tough for youngsters but changing the rules by saying you can’t access your savings (paid as NI) would be very wrong...presumably he’s still paying income tax. Change the system by all means but don’t screw people before the changes work through the system. Probably the most useful assistance would be a house price collapse but this too has its problems.

 

[Hook]

All this talk of gongs and awards makes me think that PFM could do with some. Post o’ the Year, Most Valuable Member, Worst Selfie, Best Thread Trekker, and so on.