Today Marisa Cohen has a review of the book by Phil Mullan "THE IMAGINARY TIME BOMB. Why an aging population is not a social problem" (the time-bomb imagery. Because aging is not a social problem) . When Marisa published it in turn on Rientrodolce mail list, I had not seen much, but now I find it very interesting. Having
immediately ordered the book I imagine that in a few weeks we also sipped my comment. Happy reading.
"THE IMAGINARY TIME BOMB. Why is an aging population not a social problem "(JBTaurus Publishers)
I can only give a brief introduction to the author's thought, but I certainly can not get in the intricate tangle of pages devoted to complex studies, research, statistics and diagrams, references to authors (l 'index is huge), World Bank and so on.
Phil Mullan's interest is mainly in deflating the myth of the elderly as a source of all the economic ills of our civilization and the consequent manipulation of economists and governments to reduce expenditure welfare.
Phil Mullan builds on the fact that demographers and political commentators and economists have turned the problem of overpopulation Crecente concern in a number of older people and the danger this represents for growth in advanced societies. According to these views, we are entering a "Global Aging Crisis," which will be fatal for the political agendas of our societies and social renewal of their contracts, with the combination of longer life and the decline of births has led to a shift generation, which will make it impossible to maintain a growing population of old and open a kind of generational warfare.
This concern goes hand in hand with the decline in the birth rate, which keeps us hostage to the competitive fertility in developing countries.
So the demographic problem reinforces the double standard, because on the one hand, and regrets the West tries to stop the birth rate in developing countries and the other complains about the lack of fertility of their society that leads to generational crisis.
So the author believes that many of these concerns are part of the obsession of contemporary society to the applicant the word "crisis", reflecting the continued anxiety and insecurity, linked to changes more and more 'The speed at which we are subjected.
How many times the fear makes us see things in a wrong light, and can also contribute to our fears.
Mullan argues that these preoccupazioni hanno poco a vedere con i numeri, ma sono proiezioni ideologiche, intrise di emotività. John Maynard Keynes, per esempio, alludeva al pericolo che un declino della popolazione avrebbe causato una crisi della domanda, quindi una recessione.
Le prospettive pessimistiche si concentrano in particolare sull'invecchiamento della società, che dovrebbe invece essere un segno di positivo sviluppo che ha permesso l'allungamento della vita attiva.
E' dagli anni Ottanta che il gli anziani diventano un problema, con la loro marginalizzazione dal mercato del lavoro e, conseguentemente, dalla società.
L'interesse dell'autore è piuttosto rivolto alle conseguenze economiche, in addition to the social response to the panic of economists and governments.
Compare the cost to maintain a senior and one to keep a child. An increase in the proportion of older people can 'lower the investment needs of a nation and raising the standard of living, because fewer recruits in the job market require less capital investment. Critics of the concept of old age dependency ratio, which opposes the high cost of children, who consume many more resources long before they can pay taxes.
The problem is not that there are not enough people to support the elderly, but rather that older people who want to still be active in the labor market the doors are closed. This is the result of a modern trend, which supports young people and creates the problem of a shortened working life, which inhibits the contribution of older people, the new class discriminated against in society. The retirement age reflects a social stigma, but it was always a ruse to enable young people to enter the labor market, a creation of the welfare state.
The author suggests a restructuring of the economy that reflects the new conditions. We can not continue to reason with the principles of the past. We must recognize that reality has changed: in 2000 a sixty is not the same as a sessantemme in 1830.
-L 'access to new tecnologier can 'increase the output of workers included more than' old, and make it more 'production.
-industrial society in the technological level sufficient to produce wealth even more growth with a level of 'low.
-In addition, the improvement of living conditions affect health and work ability of future generations of older people.
-With an increasing number of older people, they will have a greater influence on the social and economic society.
-L 'existence of the elderly is the result of progress, the function of the success of improving human health.
Finally, the Mullan mito della vecchiaia è stato manipolato per giustificare il taglio delle pensioni pubbliche, perchè l'umore generale è che gli anziani consumano una considerabile parte della ricchezza comune.
Un nuovo morbo è stato individuato: al posto della paura di morire troppo presto, si è sostituita la paura di vivere tropo a lungo.A questa paura si aggiunge la constatazione che non si puo' piu' contare sulla famiglia, che ha pure cambiato struttura.
Il pessimismo che circonda tali argomenti ha spesso come conseguenza di abbassare le aspettative della gente su quale tipo di società e di mondo possiamo attenderci nel futuro, per noi e i nostri discendenti.
Il che equivale a non cercare mezzi per progredire, but remain passive.
This riassuntino, but the author brings many convincing examples.
Maria Luisa Cohen
0 comments:
Post a Comment