Junior is still living with his parents

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Nearly two-thirds of childless British single adults aged 20-34 have either never left the family home, or have moved back into it, according to new research into the “boomerang” generation. There are now an estimated 3.5 million young single adults living with their parents in the UK, a third more than a decade ago. (The Week 16 Dec 2020)

My comment: On a practical level this is a bad idea; bad for Mum who probably has to do the cooking and cleaning; bad for both parents who might have expected to have the house to themselves at last; and bad for the young adult, who should be spreading his or her wings, acquiring a home and maybe a spouse. In other words it isn’t historically normal. Even Neanderthals took themselves off to new caves, where they could more relaxedly entertain young Neanderthal girls.

This has been caused mainly by insecure, poorly paid jobs, and high house prices. It is not socially or economically healthy for any country. And now the young look forward to as yet unknown hazards outside the UK, foisted on them by backward-looking old buffers. Wisdom is a scarce commodity.

American renters

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In the midst of the worst pandemic since 1918, one only growing ever more severe as cases, hospitalizations, and deaths rise precipitously, if you haven’t lost your job or had your hours and wages cut back severely, if you can cover your rent or make your mortgage payments, you may not have noticed …..but more than 14 million American households are currently at risk of eviction and have an estimated $25 billion in rental debt, according to a report by Stout, a global investment bank and advisory firm. And 4.9 million of them are likely to receive eviction notices in January after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eviction moratorium expires on December 31.”

It’s a fact of American life that millions more Americans will potentially be left homeless in a raging pandemic. This, in turn, only guarantees yet more Covid-19 victims from among evictees living in nightmarish, crowded quarters of one sort or another or simply finding themselves out on the streets of American cities in winter. It’s hard even to take in if it’s not happening to you (and maybe even if it is). In fact, behind all the pandemic and vaccine stories now filling the media lie any number of nightmarish tales that were already common in a country of raging inequality before the coronavirus landed on our shores, but that are now intensifying in ways that should be (but aren’t) headlines everywhere. (Tomgram, 15 Dec 2020, edited)

My comment: The United States was once a beacon of democracy and the rule of law. Now the very health and lives of poor people are under threat owing to pathetic games and messed up priorities of our so-called “leaders”. Those responsible should be deeply ashamed. This isn’t governance, it is game-playing and yah-booing.

A 2021 wish list

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Happy holidays to all the readers of Epicurus.Today!

May everything calm down
May the hungry be fed
May the US Constitution survive and even be strengthened
May the welfare of the citizens take precedence over political advantage
May the new Administration take over peacefully and may it be successful.
May everyone get vaccinated and the pandemic fade away
May those in danger of eviction remain in their homes
May those who have no jobs find new jobs as soon as possible
May the disruption of education be corrected

(Please comment, adding any (positive) other things that will add to the nation’s happiness and peace of mind)

Breakup of the “United” Kingdom

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Scottish independence: a matter of time?

Without rejuvenation, the Union will be gone within ten years. Brexit and Covid have combined to seal its fate. A recent Ipsos Mori poll found the highest ever level of support for independence, with 58% of Scots who have made up their mind saying they would vote Yes, and only 42% saying they would vote No. Among young voters, support for independence was even more clear-cut, with 79% of 16- to 24-year-olds opting for Yes. The pandemic has helped to make the case for separation, “in that it has already led to the effective reimposition of a border”. And although Edinburgh has made many of the same mistakes as London, Nicola Sturgeon has “cleverly” deflected the blame for any failings onto Westminster. As the poll also recorded, 72% of Scots are satisfied with Sturgeon’s performance, while 76% are dissatisfied with Johnson’s.

But the contest isn’t over yet. It’s worth noting that, though Scotland voted 62% to 38% to Remain in the Brexit vote, there was no sudden surge in support for independence after it. That has come about essentially because of the “personae of Sturgeon and Johnson” – the Scots’ affection for Nicola, and their dislike for Boris. With his approval ratings so low, Johnson will not allow a second independence referendum to happen on his watch. And when the time finally comes, a “whole range of other factors” will come into play, including the same tough questions, “about currency, pensions, the economy and whether Scotland will rejoin the EU”, that undid the Yes campaign in 2014.

To preserve the Union, we’ll have to tackle the consequences of devolution. It allowed the SNP to use the Scottish state to campaign for separation, while “hoarding enough power” in Westminster to allow them to blame London for all ills. The Covid crisis has exposed the absurdities of our “centralising and controlling government”. If the United Kingdom is to survive, it will need to decentralise, and make the four nations a “smarter and more coherent” whole.
(Dominic Lawson in The Sunday Times; Ian Swanson in the Edinburgh Evening News; Nick Timothy in The Daily Telegraph; and comments in the Sunday Times, 24 October 2020).

My comment: All this represents the inexorable trend towards breakup that comes with Tory obsession with centralization (but inability to govern justly when they do get power). Thus it has been for decades and the show will continue unabated until, who knows?, London becomes a city state and the rest of the country (what country) is left to get along as best it may. Cheerful prospect!