Attention Contraception Zealots of Generation Narcissus!

You are now entering the second phase of history.

First phase: Artificial Contraception! What could it hurt?

Second Phase: Delaying retirement for years and years since the pool of workers to support the social safety net is shrinking even as the pool of Generation Narcissus dependents on the social safety net is growing. And when you are exhausted and are all used up, a grateful culture of death will have you put down like an old horse because you are nothing but a burden.

I said something deliberately provocative on This Week, so I think I’d better clarify what I meant (which I did on the show, but it can’t hurt to say it again.)

So, what I said is that the eventual resolution of the deficit problem both will and should rely on “death panels and sales taxes”. What I meant is that

(a) health care costs will have to be controlled, which will surely require having Medicare and Medicaid decide what they’re willing to pay for — not really death panels, of course, but consideration of medical effectiveness and, at some point, how much we’re willing to spend for extreme care

When Krugman says “not really death panels, of course” he means “Who are you gonna believe: me or your own two eyes?”

Right, Paul. Not *really* death panels. Just panels empowered to order the denial of care to people who will die without that care–and empowered to decide what “extreme” means and what “expensive” means. In short, death panels.

How where we supposed to know?