Author: automata

Painful Truth: Cynicism needed about coming future

Painful Truth: Cynicism needed about coming future

My fears for the future are getting strange.

I now worry that every great technological advancement will bring with it some unintended and even more destructive side effect.

The internet was supposed to connect us all together in peaceful forums brimming with the accumulated knowledge of mankind.It’s also used to viciously harass strangers and spread rumours and misinformation. If we didn’t have the internet, the flat earth conspiracists wouldn’t be as organized as they are now. Gwyneth Paltrow would not have an empire selling fraudulent New Age “health products.” Donald Trump would likely not be president.So I find myself in the […]

Meet Tauranga’s TOP candidate Vanessa Lee

Meet Tauranga's TOP candidate Vanessa Lee

BAY OF PLENTY TIMES Meet Tauranga’s TOP candidate Vanessa Lee

Vanessa Lee is Tauranga’s candidate for The Opportunities Party. Photo/Andrew Warner Tauranga mother Vanessa Lee wants to give every Kiwi the opportunity to live the best life as the city’s candidate for The Opportunities Party.

The 47-year-old NZME multimedia sales consultant’s candidacy for Gareth Morgan’s party was announced this week."I believe every New Zealander should have the opportunity to live their best life, and that’s not happening," Ms Lee said."As a country we need to make some hard calls in order to restore the Kiwi tradition of giving everyone […]

Hicks: Thoughts on the universal basic income

Hicks: Thoughts on the universal basic income

The notion of a universal basic income is quite popular these days, and is undergoing pilot tests in a few countries. The idea has created some strange bedfellows as support develops, and there are both practical and philosophical problems with it. Still, I think UBI is a provocative idea that everyone should consider with an open mind. Let me explain.

Universal basic income is a social welfare program, which, at its most basic level, would pay every citizen a basic stipend sufficient to remain above the poverty level. There would be no means testing, everyone would get this amount. The […]

YES EXACTLY

YES EXACTLY

annekecaramin asked: Basic income sounds so amazing. I work parttime and where I live it’s just enough to pay my rent and bills (split with my boyfriend), buy food and have some fun. We live in a place where rent is cheap, don’t own a car and don’t feel like we need much, but guess what? If someone came up to me tomorrow and said I could get a basic income every month, I’d still go to work. Because that would be something extra, something I can save or spend on nice things instead of budgeting everything. YES EXACTLY

This […]

Automation Will Make Having a Job No Longer a Reasonable Expectation

Automation Will Make Having a Job No Longer a Reasonable Expectation

And I think this will be incredibly healthy for societies, as I’m sure many of you here know very well the social pains of unemployment which only makes the financial struggle worse. The innovative new industries which in previous generations created jobs are now destroying them much faster. Netflix VS Blockbuster, the new internet era company is able to make much more profit with a small fraction of the employees. It’s not just low skill work that’s being automated either, office jobs are being rapidly replaced by software and AI. Now even very complicated tasks can be done faster […]

Population Aging 2017

Population Aging 2017

As political controversy flares in the US and our European friends prepare to “vacation” for the month of August, two parallel events are cutting through the summer heat and distractions as clear reminders of the global megatrend of population aging.

The first is the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), held in London next week, which will bring together Alzheimer’s experts, innovators, advocates and caregivers to develop strategies to combat the disease. https://www.alz.org/aaic/ Second, immediately following AAIC, the once-every-four-year International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) conference https://www.iagg2017.org/ will convene about 6,000 from medicine, healthcare, economics, and retirement professions, including […]

The economics of retirement

The economics of retirement

Sir; – It is extremely worrying that the Economic and Social Research Institute, together with the Citizens’ Assembly, should suggest extending the retirement age to 70. It is no surprise that the Minister for Social Protection agrees with the latest findings; politicians and their advisers appear especially ignorant of the enormous economic change wrought by advanced technology in the 21st century. Extending retirement age is about a wrong as it is possible to get. In 20 years, and possibly a lot sooner, people will retire in their fifties for the simple reason that unless they do, there will not […]

Rich vs. Poor: How fair and equal is Germany?

Rich vs. Poor: How fair and equal is Germany?

Germany is one of the world’s strongest economies but it’s also grappling with increasing poverty and inequality. Nina Haase and Sumi Somaskanda went to Bremen, one of the country’s poorest regions, to find out more.

You don’t have to go very far in Bremen to see the splendor of the city’s past . The historic central plaza and its majestic buildings bear the signs of the seafaring port city’s wealth and riches hundreds of years ago.

Yet look a little closer and you’ll find a shadow beneath the glimmering facades. Bremen is also one of Germany’s poorest regions. According to the […]

Freelance State of Mind: “You have to embrace risk”

Freelance State of Mind: “You have to embrace risk”

On the surface of it, “making it” is something rarely ever as beautiful as the gleaming idea seems in the eye of the outside onlooker. To truly carve a niche in the creative industry, it requires huge leaps into the unknown, where any move might be the wrong one. You have to embrace risk and learn to see fear differently.

Sir John Hegarty, one of advertising’s most creative minds tells me there’s not enough risk in today’s industry. With a competitive mind, I can’t help but adopt this comment as an indirect challenge to implement more of it in my […]

Ongoing planning can stretch retirement funds

Ongoing planning can stretch retirement funds

Retirement is what many people look forward to with fondness – a time full of relaxation. But retirees must insure that they have sufficient funds to enjoy that period of their life.

Michael Leichner, financial adviser at Leichner Financial Group in Pepper Pike, and Stephen Rudolph, president of HW Financial Advisors in Beachwood, said proper planning should be done when someone wants to retire.

“There are two stages to retirement planning, the accumulation stage and the distribution stage,” Leichner said. “Retirement distribution planning goals can be more easily achieved when they are addressed and reflected in your accumulation plan. So logically, […]