Monday, January 21, 2013

Old people man the ramparts

One of the Ibex Salad's pet themes over the last three years or so has been the unjust and counterproductive domination of the crisis political dialogue by people who are least affected by it - the middle-aged. To trade union marches and demonstrations visibly over-populated by people above the age of 50 who have quite simply, in the statistical sense, not lost their jobs and political parties headed by operatives that have been around since the dawn of time we can now add the suddenly very vocal (with the invaluable assistance of a reinvigorated Ambrose Evans-Pritchard feeding the marks what they want to hear) contingent of Brits that are demanding that their country leave the European Union.

The screenshot is from a poll conducted by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Fabian Society and mirrors what we have been saying since May 2009 - that those who most are, and will be, suffering or enjoying the consequences of decisions made now are not represented in the institutions that are making them. As the report puts as clearly as possible:
“It is younger people who will have to live with the consequences of whatever decisions politicians and perhaps the public may take on our EU membership. On balance, 18 to 34 year-olds support a European future for Britain and this should weigh heavily on the minds of older age-groups when they consider how they would vote in any referendum."
Old people, lucky enough to have lived lives immeasurably better than any generation in the history of the earth, clinging to power at the expense of the young. This 61 year-old finds the whole performance disgusting.

----------------------------

14 comments:

Me said...

Funkadelic saw it coming in 1972 man.

Charles Butler said...

Wasn't it The Parliaments?

Jeremiah Simons said...

You might want to check this technical analysis program: http://www.cognitum-research.com/en/wave-explorer

Charles Butler said...

What does it do? The documentation seems a little scant.

Anonymous said...

Love the penultimate sentence.
See the intergenerational tensions everywhere, but the consequences seem to tend towards apathy rather than action amongst the Gen X & Y ers.
JL

Charles Butler said...

Probably cause boomers continue to occupy the moral high ground.

Thx

Christian said...

This finding may also be relevant in how the younger Catalan voters in an independence referendum would view the outcome of a yes-vote. It may thus be what swings the sentiment towards a no-vote when asked how to vote if Catalonia would not continue witin the EU.

Charles Butler said...

Yup, that too.

Haven't heard from you in a couple of years. Now three in a day.

Christian said...

Well... I guess I must have been well medicated for once.

Ole Miss said...

I´d rather trust the 50 plus who have lived the pre-EU and EU. I guess they feel the EU ain´t that great.

Charles Butler said...

Yeah, well. Have you ever met anyone over 50 who didn't think the past was better than the present?

Dropped the 'anon' bit, have we?

Ole Miss said...

that may be true.
not sure what you mean about "anon".

Anonymous said...

A more rose tinted view of humanity would think that older age groups were thinking about younger people when they cast their vote but that they think they the younger generation are misguided in their opinion and need protecting from themselves.

Charles Butler said...

Yes, there is that component, too. Reflected in huge increase in +40 yo female work force.

Same problem. We want the natural profligates to have money - and it isn't happening.