Shocking article

PS Hi, POGS! ? I see you had similar thoughts.

So, all in all, another "Give me strength!" moment.

???

The article, not just a shocked reference to a tiny part of it: Does the Fed know something the rest of us do not with its panicked interest rate cut?.

Paywalled. I don't have a subscription but I know a man who....

There should not be all this talk about killing off the elderly because they have served their purpose. I am doing as much as I can to stay as healthy as possible and I hope as many of you on GN are doing the same. I think it is unkind for people to say much money can be saved in pensions etc, when they die.

I worked caring for older people until I got back problems.
Many times I had clients that unfortunately became ill and went into hospital, usually I knew the ones it would be that did not make it and come home. These people were not my family but I always felt much sadness at the death of one of them.
We may be getting older nobody should be condemning us to the coffin boxes before our time.

The only talk of that kind is that it is CORONAVIRUS that is killing off the elderly moreso than younger people.

People are not killing the elderly off; a VIRUS is.

Spanish Flu, another VIRUS, killed off younger people so was devastating in a different way both economically and on a human level.

Greymar
Not to mention heartless journalists.

In fact, perhaps we would all be happier if most journalists were culled!

I admit to being a tad hypocritical as I was so annoyed by those who would repeatedly used the ' death ' of UK pensioners as a good thing if there was another EU Referendum as they could no longer vote. Some posters appeared to relish the thought of pensioners dying. That was more personal and ' shocking ' than an article discussing the financial impact of the Coronavirus.

Hear, hear, POGS

Many on here are guilty of crowing at the thought that Brexit voters will have died post referendum

Baggs

Similar minds.

To be honest I am surprised it was GNHQ who started this thread without giving us the opportunity to read the article in full as we have both said to ' contextualise' what was said to give our ' thoughts'.

The only ' thought' I have is I am left wondering what angle was behind the OP in the first place because it was instigated by GNHQ.

I never noticed any bothering before when posters were talking crassly about the elderly dying to take votes in a direction to suit their opinion over the EU Referendum. I remember a sensible thread from ages ago where the discussion was ' the over population of the world ' and like the article it was not shy of mentioning the fact we are living longer and the financial/social implications of that. Fair enough it wasn't calling for ' culling ' but unless I have misread the article neither did Jeremy Warner in his article.

Baggs
It got people reading though, didn't it? Which was the purpose of the op.
Footfall has been very slow on this site of late and as we know GN is a business that receives revenue from advertisers.
These people will not pay £thousands to advertise here if no ones reading.

I wonder if it ever occurred to him that one day he will fall into that category, and I hope he remembers his comments if he reaches that age. He may just feel different about 'culling' the aged then. (Makes me feel like a badger...)

It is not that the journalist has said anything that is not true, in fact one reaction to the article might have been "no sh*t Sherlock" it is that once the idea has been given a platform in a respected mainstream media outlet, then it can start to creep into mainstream thinking.
There is already enough blame being heaped on the older generation for most of the ills of the world.

Lara unless we subscribe to The Telegraph we cannot read the article itself, only another journalist's view of it, which you have linked.

This does not give us a true picture so it is difficult to comment.

Lara that’s the trouble with only giving The Guardian’s short slant on this economic bit of journalism by a Telegraph
Writer.
The full piece does need to be read.

I got a Metro link

'once the idea has been given a platform in a respected mainstream media outlet, then it can start to creep into mainstream thinking.'
---

He was not calling for the ' culling' of the elderly, he crassly used the word ' culling' in an article that discussed the financial implications of Covid 19.

I never noticed anybody going out and shooting the elderly to stop them voting in the EU Referendum although many commentators did take a delight in the prospect of them dying off.

Mainstream thinking surely has discussed the fact we are as a world population living longer and that has both social and economic consequences, same as the birth rate etc. etc. It is common sense the debate has to be had and it cannot be sugar coated by getting upset by words.

Had Warner stated we need to ' cull ' the elderly then I would be on his back like a shot. I think that is what those who raise his article are hoping for if I am being honest. I wonder if it had been a Guardian journalist this would have taken the same tone, I doubt it to be honest.

PS

I can read the article by keeping my finger on my tablet and scrolling up, if it goes back behind the pay wall go back again and quickly get to where you left off. It's ruddy tedious but if you want to engage in the debate then you should read the article for context.

I don't even think the use of the word culling was crass. Covid19, we are told, will kill/cull vulnerable old people much more than younger people. This is a fact of science.

I think it takes a particularly determined kind of obtuseness not to understand the economic point Warner was making, namely that the massive social care bill western governments have been wondering how to pay for over the next few decades, and possibly longer, will, if projections about the killer virus are correct, reduce that bill. Economically this can be seen as a good thing. In human terms it can't, and isn't, seen as a good thing, not even by Warner. He made that clear by his careful use if the word 'disinterested' to mean unbiassed by emotion.

I do hope my elderly relatives or indeed my son ( who is self isolating and rather afraid) are culled by this awful thing.

Economics or not, it is an appalling word.

You can make a disinterested economic statement without being a psycopath.

What he said is not shocking. Uncomfortable truth, maybe, but not shocking. The underlying economic argument is very easy to understand.

The argument that human life matters and that old people are not of less value than anyone else is a separate argument.

Fine. It's an appalling word, but its meaning, as used, is true. So it's the truth that's appalling.

Which, with regard to Covid19, it is.

The full piece does need to be read

How can I do that please?

Well, in the circumstances (Grim Reaper ? maybe calling a bit early) it’s opportune that dh and I were in any case in the process of updating our wills.

We’re not in the very elderly category, and certainly not at all frail, but had better get a move on anyway. I look on it as insurance - if you have it, you’re less likely to need it.

I’m sure I read somewhere recently - maybe on here - that some solicitor or other was inundated with people wanting wills drawn up! So that’s one business that’s still doing OK.

Greymar

I am ' self isolating' and have been for 3 weeks as I am late 60's and have the lung disease Bronchiectasis amongst other health issues. My granddaughter comes here before her grandad takes her home from school but we smile when we ' elbow bump' and she goes home straight away as we both are acutely aware I am in the ' high risk' category and have to take note from the Government guidelines. Never thought I would be the worrier but I am.

I assure you I hardly want to ' culled ' by COVID 19 but that is not what the article called for so the use of the word ' culled' holds no passionate meaning, if it had I would personally want to kick him up the arse.

I read the article and it most definitely did not ' shock' me nor did I take it personally as I understood he was making

POGS, I can't take any more of it.My son is in a shared house, the house mates have it. I'm so scared for him and his friends.

I don't want to read an economist talking of culls and listen to the Prime Minister tell me I may lose people before their time.

I assume you must be made of sterner stuff than me. And I dont mean that unkindly.

One only has to look at history to see where thoughts of isolating one group in society to the benefit of the whole leads.

Greymar ...give me a call when you're going, I'll come with you!

Lauragransnet ... if your looking for a reaction you'd be better off dissing the Duchess of Sussex ... just saying! .

pogs ..thank gawd for your common sense!!