If you’re interested in technology, the elderly or political delivery, this Economist article has something for you. It’s reports that the latest technology is even more beneficial for the old than for the young.
Source: New technology for old age
Well, have you read the article? Perhaps, you want to know how it’s going to be delivered and what are the barriers?
To answer the question, I want to take the UK as an example.
There are two mainstream political parties in the UK and both will provide barriers to roll out technology to help the elderly.
In the red corner, we have Jeremy Corbyn‘s Labour Party and their supporters that would like to see a Marxist state in the UK, with or without revolution. Most people, with a knowledge of history, know that the Marxist experiment failed, on the back of unpopular totalitarian supression of liberty. For left wing radicals, the next best thing is socialism and ‘big government’. Sadly, big government means ‘one size fits all’ and is open to abuse and corruption – left wing radicals would always prefer inflationary pay rises (without productivity gains) and would regard new technology with hostility.
In the blue corner, we have Theresa May‘s Conservative Party – a throwback to when Tory politicians just supported ‘tradition’ and were reluctant to embrace serious change. After the Thatcher and Reagan years, conservatives embraced radical change (often called neoliberalism), making the socialists, with their protection of the the welfare state, the new conservatives. Unfortunately, the Cameron/May governments abandoned radical change and staked their reputation on prolonged austerity – this was not strategic and destined to fail.
In order to deliver new technology for old age, we need radical conservatism, not misguided leaders who supported the Dimentia Tax. The next leader of the UK Conservative Party must be a pasionate advocate of radical conservatism – and some genuine conviction would go down well, the public are tired of ‘political butterflies’.
Thoughts?