There ain't no free lunches; somebody's gotta pay for 'em. Today, though, we do seem to have a surplus of people who have mastered the art of getting somebody
else to pay for theirs.
We have similar problems up here in Canuckistan regarding aging workforces, lack of people to do skilled work, lack of people to do "menial" work, etc. I spent the last 10 or so years of my work career (industrial electrician) in what I referred to as a "semi-retired" state. I worked exclusively on remote work projects in the north, at live-in camp jobs. I'd be gone for 2 or usually 3 weeks at a stretch, then spend 1 or sometimes 2 weeks at home. But I almost always took the winters off, not working for about 6 months of most years. I did not collect unemployment insurance during that time off, but the jobs paid well and I could easily earn enough to enjoy my time off. I was heavily taxed while working, and since I didn't earn anything for half of the year but continued to be taxed at the high rate, I would file my taxes each year and receive large refunds. When I reached the age of "full retirement"...65...I planned to collect my government and working pensions and still work for a month or three each year for some extra cash.
Wow...was I in for a shock! The Canuckistani gummint decided that because I worked for 6 months of the last year of my career, they couldn't take the chance that I might be working for the other 6 months. The only way to safeguard themselves from such chicanery was to continue to collect taxes from me at those same high rates...but they couldn't wait for the end of the tax year to do that. They simply decided that they would reduce my federal and provincial pensions, which they did...so I ended up receiving something like $35 monthly for six months. I was in essence having my government pension benefits garnisheed for half of each year. This nonsense worked out before age 65, when I chose to work for 6 or 7 months per year. But when I reached retirement age, and wanted to continue working for a much shorter period each year, the system tightened the noose around my neck and made it untenable.
So there I was, a reasonably able-bodied 65-year old who was willing and able to continue working for a portion of each year. Their draconian rules and enforcement made me decide after a single year that it just wasn't worth it. I actually felt somewhat guilty for not doing some work, but the net difference in money in my pocket at the end of each year was so laughably small as to be insulting. I could have been toiling in the north country for a couple months each year, and the increase in my net yearly income would mean I was doing so for less than minimum wage.
So...what's worse? The fact that the western world is becoming overrun with greedy, unethical, amoral and stupid people who think the world owes them a living? Or the fact that those masses are governed...ruled...by equally greedy, just as unethical and amoral but not-quite-so-stupid people who make work a senseless endeavour for some people who could work and want to work?
But maybe the Powers-That-Be were actually thinking about my peace of mind all along? I mean, I had this silly idea about working for a living, earning my keep, paying my way, blah, blah, blah...the kind of crude, primitive basic philosophy that my father instilled in me in my youth. But the gummint folk who run things are much smarter than I, and they had created a land where there are Canucks that are third- and even fourth-generation professional welfare scammers. Continuing to work even after "retirement" flies in the face of the welfare state; it's apparently a quaint old idea whose time has passed. Trying to do so is hard on the psyche of old dinosaurs; my dad had grown up and seen people, through no fault of their own, falling into poverty and struggling to rise back up out of it. I do see a distinct difference between that...and the more-current trend
not to work their way out of it, but rather simply accept it as a way of life and cash the cheques.
So I've decided...or, more accurately, been forced to realize...that the best way to retire is to stop working completely, cold turkey. Back when I was working, the nature of my travels and life-at-camp jobs placed me in close proximity with all sorts of folks, with all sorts of views, philosophies and inclinations. I love a good debate...which some call an argument...and I'll mix it up with the best of 'em, but when it becomes a full-time thing it can become tiresome. Debating should be a pleasant pastime, not a self-defense mechanism against those who are militantly "I know what's best for everybody!" So, retiring and retreating to one's own Little House On The Prairie allows me some control over how much or how little exposure I have to people who, in the immortal words of Hank Hill, "just ain't right!"
I'm gonna pitch in with
RD.
and try to finish capsizing this sicking ship of a thread; it's the least I can do after helping to rock it so badly. So...here goes...
What about them Jays?
