Seemingly trivial things that intrigue you
Comments
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I mean I appreciate you’re trying to parody but that is basically what government policy has been since 2010, just in in a less extreme form.
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Hang on Pross. He's suggested charging for GP appointments, which I believe is common in NZ. Or have the Kiwis started duck stepping and growing silly little moustaches all of a sudden.
The justifiable fear around the American healthcare system has resulted in a fetishization of the NHS being totally free at point of use.
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Not dole, but you seem to be giving off an air of entitlement.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
I don't have kids in school any more so I don't think it's fair that I subsidise those that do. I'm sure Rick wouldn't mind paying more to educate his kids as a result.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
Would maternity units be charged on a per-visit basis?
Costly, having children in Ricktopia.
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Have you tried switching it off and on again?
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
What's dUK in street/ganster/old folk talk?
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smaller than a goose, bigger than a sparrow?
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So you're saying that you shouldn't have kids if you couldnt afford them?
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
I'm still not completely sure I see the causal link between cost of GP appointments to the nation, and boomers.
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Entitlement to what precisely? We’ve had 13 years of austerity except for pensions which have increased.
Even the way covid worked out that the main group that was protected by lockdown etc were the oldies.
The inability to build houses has also disproportionately benefited that generation at the expense of the others.
It’s not entitlement. It’s the opposite.
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Your posts above clearly imply that you're not happy with your lot in life and that you want some of the benefits you feel the oldies have had. Sorry, but on the absence of you owning a time machine to go back and be a Boomer, that isn’t going to happen so you'll need to find another way to improve your lot.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
Find another generation who takes more from the state than they give over their lifetime, and ask yourself who is paying for that.
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Lol. And here we are back at 1996.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
depends what end of the telescope you are looking.
i agree you should only have children you can afford but you can also not stop people having children, so you have to make them well off enough to have them 🤭
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The primary responsibility for making a person better off lies with that person.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
Boomers got lucky, but life isn't fair.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
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I think RC is being too timid. No point titting about with charges for GP appointments, just phase out the state pension. Everyone should be auto-enrolled onto a pension scheme of some sort anyway. Obviously transitional arrangements would be needed, but think state support should be limited to those who couldn't for whatever reason save for retirement.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition1 -
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That would seem to further tip the balance in favor of "boomers" though? I don't see anything particularly wrong with giving pensions as a universal benefit to all over x years, where the amount is basically enough to keep a roof over your head, food in the fridge but anything more than that requires some sort of private pension.
I'd also tie any rises in with public sector pay bands.
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It wasn’t just GP appointments though.
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If you want you could change it that once your illness is in the “system” you don’t charge for appointments.
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Looking back at the Covid thread there’s no way you would have gone out and about if there hadn’t been a lockdown. I seem to recall you were pretty terrified about it with some people having a go at you for ‘hiding behind the sofa’.
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Would that still work if you are diagnosed with hypochondria?
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That seems more reasonable. I’m not convinced there are that many hypochondriac Boomers than general population though. On my, fortunately very infrequent, trips to the GP the waiting room probably has significantly more working age patients than OAPs. My daughters have been to the GPs more than me in the last 5 years. My parents have to be seriously unwell or in pain before they will go and my mum won’t even take Paracetamol for a headache.
The whole NHS system needs a review with nothing being “off the table” and without those doing the review fearing accusations that they are looking to privatise / kill the NHS. Without that it will carry on being a money pit. I’ve said before that I think too much money is spent prolonging life (rather than dealing with issues that can actually be cured) but it is far too emotive if, for example, you have someone on life support at £500k a year to suggest that should be stopped.
I think where you’re going wrong is a) assuming all pensioners are well off, living in overly large houses with gold plated DB pensions and b) that they somehow deliberately fixed policy to suit themselves rather than being the lucky beneficiaries of decisions taken by others (who were probably a generation before them). Basing your view of oldies on your mother-in-law doesn’t seem a good tactic either, from your description she sounds like a right cow!
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I think the "answer" is some form of private health insurance system and a more basic NHS level of care, tbh. This has it's downsides, in that costs are capped and some people will be penalised from birth through no fault of their own. However, judicious choices on what the NHS will provide would offset that.
Sadly, this would require politicians in future to exercise good judgement.
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