Strange days.

[zotz]

Well, unfortunately it seems that Jonny Ramone is and always has been a staunch republican, and really wants Dubya to be re-elected. On the upside, Patti's new LP's out shortly, and according to yesterday's review it's a corker. Apparently many eons ago she was described as "Three chords merged with the power of the word", and going by last year's London gig she still is.

And for once, a piece of news which is both critically important and exceptionally positive: the world's population growth is shallowing rapidly. The prophets of doom aren't always right. And that Malthus bloke can fuck right off.

Comments

[fluffymormegil.livejournal.com]

Though there's a new set of doomprophecy to do with pensions and such...

[zotz]

Well, yes. And they may even be right. But it's small beer compared to the really major issues.

The pension thing is odd. We expect to retire in our sixties, and are upset that it may not be possible. When pensions became common - or in Briatain, universal - the large majority didn't live that long. We may all have to work longer, but that would still leave us much better off than our ancestors. It may be a problem for us, but it's a problem we'll be astonishingly fortunate to have. Even if we retire later, we can expect to have (on average) more years of retirement, and (even better) more years of healthy retirement.

[ant-girl.livejournal.com]

It's funny though, isn't it, because it seems like more people than ever are taking early retirement...

I think I will be quite happy to carry on working rather than retire if I'm in good health and it means I can keep up a reasonable standard of living for longer. But at the moment, I don't think it's easy to do that. People are seen as "odd" if they work after retirement age, and more significantly, it can be very difficult to get a job if you're getting on that way, as my dad has been discovering, at nearly 60.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

When I was really into my work I just couldn't imagine retiring, but then my work was everything and without it I was always bored. But now that I'm a reformed workaholic I think I'd be happy to retire. I'd probably look at taking up some craft or other that would keep me occupied and pay something at least.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

For one reason or another I didn't expect to live to retirement, but now that I'm tangibly closer to it I'm suddenly rather concerned. Mind you, that's tied in with the loss of my career (for the moment at least) so I'm not sure that I'm separating the two issues.

I think I'm more worried about what sort of state the NHS is going to be in than about my pension.

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Meaningless statistics of our time: "In 1990 women around the world gave birth to 3.3 children on average, the report says."

Pardon? 3.3 children per woman per year? 3.3 children in the whole world in a year? You what?

[steer.livejournal.com]

3.3 children over the course of their lifetime.

[zotz]

3.3 children per woman per year?

That's why there are 6 billion of us now. There were only 52 people in the world back then. And the butcher's dog, of course.

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Arf.

Original retirement criteria

[rhubarbfool.livejournal.com]

The original retirement age was set by taking the average life expectancy and been given 1 year to tidy up your affairs. I can't remember exactly when this was but I think it might have been 19th century in France.

[steer.livejournal.com]

The population of Europe has been pretty much stable for quite a while. Many European countries would have a net population decline if it wasn't for immigration (Italy has a higher death rate than birth rate). Current best estimates are that the world population will not double again.

[zotz]

. . . thank God. There are enough bloody goths around already.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

Italy has a higher death rate than birth rate

Have you seen the way they drive?

[steer.livejournal.com]

*grin* They are refreshingly liberal in their interpretation of the rules of the road. I find it bracing. The south of italy in particular is an experience which will make the dodgiest of free-lance mini-cabs in the UK seem like an elderly chauffeur.

[deliberateblank.livejournal.com]

They are refreshingly liberal in their interpretation of the rules of the road. I find it bracing.

You cross the road to buy a paper and end up in a leg-brace?

[steer.livejournal.com]

Or perhaps "Brace for impact".

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

Maltus might fuck off, but I knew before I looked at that document that AIDs would be a major factor.

Thing is, as far as I know such a thing has never been put forward as a possible explanation of past extinctions.

[zotz]

Lack of disease resistance has certainly been advanced as an explanation of why asexually reproducing species don't seem to last very long. I don't know if it's been suggested for any particular extinction, though.

[reddragdiva]

BTW, would Malthus put forward the disease as evidence of the effects of overpopulation?

[zotz]

I think he would say that overpopulation would encourage the diseases he thought would limit, it, yes. Is that what you were asking?

[reddragdiva]

So rather than inviting him to fuck off, you acknowledge that this is in line with what he would have said?

[zotz]

No, he can still fuck off, because he preferred to dwell on disease, famine and warfare rather than think about "sinful" birth control. He was wrong, because when it comes down to it the tendency of people to plan families when they have the choice trumps his unwillingness to think about the unCatholic choices they might make.

He said that population could not be controlled in any civilised manner. The current evidence is that he was absolutely wrong, beyond any possibility of serious debate.

[reddragdiva]

Hm, fair enough.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

AIDs in particular?

There seem to be all sorts of AIDs-like diseases around in animals - has overpopulation had anything to do with it in those populations?

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

I think it's less a case of over-population, and more a combination of overpopulation and communication. In simple terms, if your tribe grows and takes over a valley, and a fatal communicable disease gets in or develops, your tribe might die out, but the tribe over the mountain won't be affected, so in species terms, that's OK. Because we now have dense populations and good communications, transmissible diseases can reach epidemic levels much more easily.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

True. A number of viruses have a lot to thank Frank Whittle for. But how does that work for seal populations?

[zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com]

I think my webmail is broken, did you get a mail from me in the last hour? I can receive but don't seem to be able to send.

[zotz]

No, but I've just had a batch arrive, so it might have been sorted now.

[zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com]

I haven't got the two messages I sent to work, not even the guaranteed no spam content one.

[zotz]

I haven't had anything direct from you.

[zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com]

I've just replied to the mail "Pure" but since the long one *still* hasn't reached my work account and it's too long to put in > things manually it'll have to wait. There's obviously summat up anyway. I'll call you when I get home though.