The Awesome and Cool Poll Thread - Poll #131: Would you pay more taxes if it meant receiving a pension when you retire?

[Giant Chicken]

Probably an unpopular opinion, but most of my favorite songs of all time have been post 20th century! With more was to make music being available for everyone, I feel like its gotten a lot more innovative and creative, leading to more intresting songs! Theres also been way more music coming out from way more people as well, which leads to finding more songs you like! Theres obviously still some songs I like from the past, but this century has been the best imo.

[DaveRattlehead]

Most of my favourite songs are from the 90s and 2000s, so it was an easy choice

Anyway, time to move on!

There are only a few days left until we know the winner, but let's do the voting here, in RPC... Which game do you think that deserves the GOTY award this year?

[Giant Chicken]

Its gotta be Clair Obscur. Absolutely everyone I've talked to about it has said its one of the best games they ever played, and from what i've seen it looks really great.

[Pirez]

Silksong because it is the only one I have played. (also Pokémon Z-A but it sure won't get any awards and deservedly so)

I may revisit this if Clair Obscur drops a winter sale discount, I only heard praises about it.

[Greengoop]

Exped 33 looks awesome, but I’m going to cast my vote to Silksong.

[DaveRattlehead]

I haven't played any of those games unfortunately, but I'd say Kindgom Come Deliverance should have won in terms of innovation. There rest of the games aren't bad, don't get me wrong, but I think that KCD2 offers something different.

[DaveRattlehead]

Any ideas for the next one?

[DaveRattlehead]

Well I'll take care of it if that's the case

Since it's a hot topic in my country, let's see what are RPC's thoughts on it. Would you pay more taxes if it meant receiving a pension when you retire?


And ofc, here are the results from the previous poll.

[dr_st]

Most countries already have some sort of retirement fund, whether social security, or participation in the pension funds, like that 'mixed model' you mentioned.

[Master]

Going off of how Pensions work here, where we do pay National Insurance which is what's supposedly going towards the State Pension. I think a lot of folks are getting more and more skeptical about its viability, as it's active workers who pay into the pot that is then paid towards pensioners. The problem being the imbalance between active workers and pensioners as more and more people go into retirement and less newer workers are around to fund them.

I'm all for paying to support healthcare, but I think the way it's currently setup isn't viable in the long-term. There needs to be a rethink, because I suspect, as I think a lot of younger folks do, that there won't be a State Pension when it comes to our old age (assuming - given the state of everything, we get that far), simply because the pot will have run dry.

[dr_st]

See, the pension system (as most other systems) doesn't work if people don't procreate. That's why the complete majority of western countries is now on the fast track towards oblivion.

[Pirez]

That's why the government should consider state-mandated girlfriends...

... Because I sure as shit not going to find one on my... Oh wait even if the stars were to align I wouldn't want kids anyway. Not in the world we're living in.

[Master]

There's only so much resource to go around though, you can't have an infinitely growing population. I'd say a steady-state is probably what's needed.

But yeah, I can't say circumstances as-is are conducive to raising families anyways, most of us are still trying (or have given up) on getting a house. Let alone the complexities that come with having an uncertain abode (I'm sure it must be really fun to be kicked out of a place when you've got kids in the local school.)

[Hunchman801]

Going off of how Pensions work here, where we do pay National Insurance which is what's supposedly going towards the State Pension. I think a lot of folks are getting more and more skeptical about its viability, as it's active workers who pay into the pot that is then paid towards pensioners. The problem being the imbalance between active workers and pensioners as more and more people go into retirement and less newer workers are around to fund them.

I'm all for paying to support healthcare, but I think the way it's currently setup isn't viable in the long-term. There needs to be a rethink, because I suspect, as I think a lot of younger folks do, that there won't be a State Pension when it comes to our old age (assuming - given the state of everything, we get that far), simply because the pot will have run dry.

Same story here. Back in 1960, there were 4 active workers for every 1 retiree. Now it's 1.7 and the ratio is forecast to go decline to 1.3 by 2070. While some argue that the system is perfectly viable and that it's just a matter of collecting more tax to fund it (in a country with a tax-to-GDP ratio of 46%, the highest in the OECD), the numbers make it obvious that it's doomed to failure.

Funded pension systems often evoke horror stories of people losing their lifetime savings, but the truth is that there's probably a way to regulate those in a way that renders such events impossible. There's no other solution anyway.

[DaveRattlehead]

I've always believed that state-guaranteed pensions should be the model to follow. My grandparents received their pensions after working and striving very hard throughout their lives (especially after a Civil War), and I think it is a fair model when taxes are supposed to be invested in these types of services. However, the reality is quite shocking, and even more so when you see this...

Add to this the fact that purchasing power has fallen considerably due to the usurious practices of employers (the most common salary is between €15000 and €19000 GROSS), the enormous amount of taxes, and the considerable increase in housing prices, which means that, if there are pensions in the future, they will be much lower than normal.

Add to this the fact that the retirement age is getting later and later, currently standing at around 66-67. They say it is because the average life expectancy has increased, when the reality is that there is less and less money and they need to delay retirement at all costs in order to spend less.

Add to this the almost systematic corruption in the Spanish political system, which causes billions of euros to disappear for no reason (it is still not known what has happened to European funds).

What used to be taken for granted (and is, in my opinion, what I would like to see happen) is now a utopia. Mixed models are going to become increasingly common (unfortunately).

[PluMGMK]

I paid into a defined-contribution pension scheme for seven years, and hopefully will do so again in the future. In fact, Ireland has now brought in a new state-mandated scheme for anyone earning over €20000, so it should be automatic for me whenever I make my way back into the workforce. Hopefully that will all provide me with something reasonable if/when I retire…

Where is the money gonna come from with these defined-contribution schemes? Investment in stocks and bonds I guess. Which means it can implode – I really should go check how much of my fund is invested in AI (hopefully not much)

Anyway, whether for a state-provided pension or something else, I am of course glad to have more deducted from my salary to have some peace of mind for the future! Just not sure how peaceful my mind really is given everything that's going on

EDIT: Possibly pertinent Guardian article: Economics has failed on the climate crisis. This complexity scientist has a mind-blowing plan to fix that

[DaveRattlehead]

https://x.com/alexwg/status/2030217301929132323

Recently, it's been claimed that they had copied the brain of a fruit fly onto a computer, essentially making it live in a simulation. Beyond the similarities with other dystopias, this could spark a debate about the limits of science and the extent to which such research should be allowed, don't you think?

[Hunchman801]

An end-to-end simulation, eh? It's hard to judge to what extent this could possibly be reproduced for conscious beings, but if we ever reach that point, this will certainly raise a lot of ethical and philosophical questions!