Coffee Party News

The burden of increased longevity in the rich worldON JUNE 6th François Hollande, France's new president, unveiled plans to reverse a planned rise in the official...

Curator's questions

The debate over retirement needs to broaden. That debate is totally related to the Medicare debate in our country since we do not have a national health care program in place for all citizens as all of the other developed nations have put in place and our primary health care is obtained through employers or must be privately purchased.

Here are some questions that need to be considered:

1. Is there a direct relationship between living longer and leaving the 5+-day work place sooner?

2. Is there a relationship between the increased 30 year outsourcing of labor intensive jobs to countries that have mainly an oppressed and often exploited populations directly related to many of these earlier retirements? All wealthier countries have engaged in this to various degrees.

3. How many retire early because of long-term lack of work as age often means higher cost to employers for insurance and hiring more experienced workers mean paying a higher salary? Not to pay experienced workers higher will discourage loyalty from young workers and undermine reasons to improve skills.

4. How many are retiring because of lack of job transferable training or skills as many of their jobs have gone the way of the blacksmiths of yesterday?

5. How will young workers find a good place if older workers hold on to job longer.

6. Will far more less wealthy people be forced to retire with far lower amounts to live on during these longer life spans? Many right now retire at 62 only because they are no longer healthy enough to work full time. Trying to work till 70 for full benefits will increase by far the number trying to live on the lowest pension amounts. Many job pensions also peg to the Social Security age meaning those benefits may also be unavailable to people who want or need to retire.

7. Will this raise the Medicare age as well? This would force everyone to work 40+ weeks to maintain a status that holds employer insurance.

8. How do we find full time, living wage paid work for everyone? Not only are labor intensive jobs shipped off to oppressed workers, but we just don't need as many to plant, harvest, manufacture, be soldiers, dig ditches, type and take notes, collect payments, do book keeping and fish in a time where we have computers, robots and mega machines?

9. How many retire in their 60s to care for someone in their 80s or 90s? What happens when they cannot afford to do that?

10. How many retire early because they have more wealth and don't have to downgrade lifestyles just to live social security? Perhaps those with more should not draw unless they have hardship or loss of other wealth. Does Warren Buffet really need social security if he doesn’t fall on hard times?