Aged Pension - Welfare or Entitlement?, page-354

Sorry, haven't been reading the thread (but I am meaning to catch up on the last four pages when my eyes deblur from NYD). fwiw I don't think an Age Pension is an entitlement, and shouldn't be viewed as one. It can be viewed as an expectation, but not an entitlement in and of itself. It's welfare. That is what it is today. Pensioners who don't like to think of themselves as being on welfare can call it what they like, but it's welfare. There's nothing shameful about it.

I don't see any reason why old people should be singled out any more than dumb people, or physically/mentally disadvantaged people, or socioeconomically disadvantaged people, or inexperienced people, or people who are in a bad place, or vets, their families, and the like. Our society is fortunate enough to believe in a social contract where we pay taxes to - among other things - ensure that people who are having trouble doing their share of lifting* are leant a hand. That includes old people. Even relatively wealthy old people, and the amount of taxes they have paid or the amount of years they have worked is (and should always be) immaterial. Under these criteria, how can it possibly be viewed as an entitlement as opposed to simply a societal expectation?

_{*: Joe Hockey's Greatest Clangers: track 7}.