Ryan Ginstrom wrote:

> As for social security, or Japan's nenkin, when we have two people working
> for every one person eligible for benefits,

Projected to be 1.39 to one in the future, as Japan approaches that 40% of
population 60 years old or older. Some European nations are already feeling the
heat of their generous social programs. Finland was spending 50% of its budget
on the elderly, according to one Japanese program meant to praise the level of
care given. In Germany, it has already been joked that one recipient should be
assigned one young person to be their slave who will pay.

> it doesn't take a math PhD to
> see that the current system might buckle just a tad. The idea of getting
> one's payments out of the government coffers and into an investment one
> personally owns is referred to with the technical term "rats off a sinking
> ship syndrome."

It's a pyramid scheme.

> But to me, the solution seems pretty clear. Kill off excess old by putting
> them in gladiator death matches. Sell tickets and pay-per-view, and use the
> proceeds to pay out nenkin benefits. Kind of a Battle Royale for old people.

I foresee that society will go back to some version of what previously existed:
people will have to care for themselves, family members, and perhaps each
other, as best they can, hoping they can make ends meet.