"Given the inheritance of land, I think quite a lot of people would argue that there is something unfair about having an advantageous position simply because of your ancestors."

It seems like you very frequently hear the opposite opinion, that it is grievously unfair to not have an advantageous position that you should have inherited because your ancestors' land was taken away.

So I don't think that there is any consensus.

> grievously unfair to not have an advantageous position that you should have inherited because your ancestors' land was taken away

I can't parse all the double negatives in this.

I wouldn’t. I think children are property too and parents genes are inherited too.

I suspect that once we start designer babies, they would become property too.

Pensions don’t work anymore. It’s an outdated idea. Just like minimum wage, it’s forced penury for the promise of future wealth. This has only enabled unions and the like to exploit everyone including workers.

> children are property too

The children, and indeed everyone else, would probably disagree with you.

> Pensions don’t work anymore. It’s an outdated idea.

So, what of the period from the end of the useful working life until death? Penury?

https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-pension-crisis-davis-... : this is an example of how pensions and unfunded pension liabilities are bankrupting California

At the end of the day, it’s speculation. Instead of spitting on the face of millennials and tech and Silicon Valley, they ought to look at unions and the burden of unfunded pension liabilities.

For most public sector employees, the last salary you draw is your pension for life. Law enforcement and fire fighters retire at 50 and are free to work after retirement. Until a few years ago, unclaimed leave could be cashed in..a caltrans driver took home 400+k from leave accumulated over 35 years. Others take the last couple of years off but remain unemployed getting an average of 4-5% hike annually which becomes part of their pension. This isn’t deferred pay. It’s pension spiking. It comes from unfunded liabilities. Which would put every Californian in debt for years to come and will probably never go away until pension schemes are over hauled.

Maybe it’s time for change. Maybe a UBI. Pensions and unfunded liabilities that include hacks like pension spiking, union negotiating, political shennanigans have made it a corrupt system. Even today, unions are part of political lobbying.

I am thinking UBI of some sort. I would imagine a good way to test UBI would be for those in retirement. By abolishing pension schemes. No pension, higher pay during the working years. It’s fairer to all.