Can't argue there - though I don't find anything wrong with the idea of an information/knowledge economy supplanting it. We don't (and won't have for some time) the industrial capability any more to rank up with other world leaders in that respect, so we have to find another option. Unfortunately changing roles this way does mean that the option for simpler jobs falls.
Burn the greenies in incinerators for a bit of power as a stop-gap, then build some nuclear plants. Done.
Can't argue there, yep. Although many aren't as materialistic as all that - it actually seems to be more a trait of those on benefits in my own experience. Sure, there are people I know who are materialistic - but not to as much a degree as the celebrity classes and the benefits class.
Effort I've got - now if I can just get the coup rolling.
Longer life expectancy is not necessarily a good thing - particularly as for the average person a larger portion of that lifespan will be spent as an invalid. The same life expectancy with less time as an invalid might well have been a better goal, but additional years sells papers better than '84 year old dies peacefully in sleep while climbing down from Kilimanjaro'.
Subtracting immigration, our population is actually shrinking. Very, very slowly however. My own solutions are slightly more drastic - so I won't bring them up here since that'd be a whole new debate.
Solved this one already - burn the hippies for a temporary fix (and to silence protests) and build some good nuclear power plans.
I partly agree - however it should be noted that life expectancy is going up, but the percentage of that life for which a person is healthy is going down. So you'll be expected to work longer, in a rapidly diminishing state of health, until you can no longer work and instead be shuttled off to lie helpless in a nursing home somewhere. Longer life without longer health is not a good thing.
It's partly the internet I'm talking about - at least once journalists were expected to check their sources. Now there are far too many examples of major headlines being taken from wikipedia and twitter (not a problem when they're accurate - slightly more serious problem on the many occasions when they're not).
I'm not one of the older generation, I don't think I even count as one of the older people yet. The entitlement thing applies more to those who have never worked and feel that they are owed something.
On the other hand if someone is torrenting music, films or anything else then you're demonstrating that they've got at least an aspect of this sense of entitlement. They're taking a copy of someone else's work without paying them for their effort. Why should you feel justified in doing this without any guilt?
More comfortable is not the same thing as better. More possessions, diversions, communications tools, travel and so on are not necessarily 'better'. I'm not sure what a 'better' life would consist of, but I'm fairly sure that it's more complex than just more stuff and a few extra years of tottering around drooling with your mind half gone.
I think it's started. Very unlikely to have reached a critical point yet, but we've got the rumblings going on.
I'd say the biggest enemy is entitlement, which ties into that. It's not so much about remembering sacrifices and difficulties as remembering that you as an individual are owed nothing, no benefits, no healthcare, no schooling, none of that. All of that is given as a generous gift, and in return you're expected simply to follow a few basic guidelines of behaviour and be a decent human being.
Nope - there might be anarchy in the transition, but the act of doing the razing wouldn't really qualify as anarchistic unless it's intended to destroy all authority. It would be more of a transitory phase into my new world order.
