首页
登录
职称英语
We are locked in a generational war, which will get worse before it gets bet
We are locked in a generational war, which will get worse before it gets bet
游客
2023-08-12
42
管理
问题
We are locked in a generational war, which will get worse before it gets better. No one wants to admit this, because it’ s ugly and unwelcome. Parents are supposed to care for their children, and children are supposed to care for their aging parents. For families, these collective obligations may work. But what makes sense for families doesn’ t always succeed for society as a whole. The clash of generations is intensifying.
Last week, a federal judge ruled that Detroit qualifies for municipal bankruptcy. This almost certainly means that pensions and health benefits for the city’ s retired workers will be trimmed. There’ s a basic conflict between paying for all retirement benefits and supporting adequate current services. Detroit’ s retired workers have swelled, benefits were not adequately funded and the city’ s economy isn’ t strong enough to do both without self-defeating tax increases.
The math is unforgiving. Detroit now has two retirees for every active worker, reports the Detroit Free Press. Satisfying retirees inevitably shortchanges their children and grandchildren.
What’ s occurring at the state and local levels is an incomplete and imperfect effort to balance the interests of young and old. Conflicts vary depending on benefits ’ generosity and the strength—or weakness—of local economies. A study of 173 cities by the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College found pension costs averaged 7. 9 percent of tax revenues, but many cities were much higher.
At the federal level, even this sloppy generational reckoning is missing. The elderly ’ s interests are running roughshod over other national interests. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—programs heavily for the retired—dominate the budget, accounting for about 44 percent of spending, and have been largely excluded from deficit-reduction measures. Almost all the adjustment falls on other programs: defense, courts, research, roads, education, or higher taxes. The federal government is increasingly a transfer agency: taxes from the young and middle-aged are spent on the elderly.
The explanation for this is politics. For states and localities, benefit cuts affect government workers—a powerful but small group—while at the federal level, it’ s all the elderly, a huge group that includes everyone’ s parents and grandparents. As a result, the combat has been lopsided. Political leaders of both parties have avoided distasteful choices. Younger US citizens have generally been clueless about how shifting demographics threaten their future government services and taxes.
Generational warfare upsets us because it pits parents against children. The elderly ’ s wellbeing partly reflects Social Security and Medicare’ s success: but it also comes at the expense of younger US citizens. We pretend these discomforting conflicts don’ t exist. But they do and are rooted in changing demographics, slower economic growth and competing concepts of old age.
They cannot be dissolved by pious invocations that "we’ re all in this together". To date, the contest has been one-sided: now the other side is beginning to stir. [br] Which of the following is not the reason why Detroit may reduce the benefits for its retired workers?
选项
A、Because there’ s an increasing number of retired workers.
B、Because there are not enough government funds.
C、Because it wants to stimulate the city’ s economy.
D、Because it’ s destructive to raise taxes.
答案
C
解析
根据题于中的关键词Detroit,reduce the benefits,retired workers,将本题定位于第2段。该段提到,底特律城符合市政破产条件,几乎百分之百意味着该市退休人员的养老金和保健福利金将被削减;这是因为底特律退休人员增多,政府无法提供充足的资金,城市经济萎靡不振,如果不提高税收,该市不可能兼顾退休金支付与维持市政服务,而提高赋税又恰恰是自掘坟墓之举,因此只能减少退休工人的福利,A、B和D三项都是原文中提到的原因,故答案为C(因为它想要刺激该市的经济)。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/2920615.html
相关试题推荐
[originaltext]AmericanIndiansgrewandsmokedtobaccobeforeColumbuscame
[originaltext]AmericanIndiansgrewandsmokedtobaccobeforeColumbuscame
[originaltext]W:Mr.DeKeyzer,I’magreatloverofyourbookMomentsBeforet
[originaltext]LadiesandGentlemen,Neverbeforehavewehadsomanydiffer
[originaltext]LadiesandGentlemen,Neverbeforehavewehadsomanydiffer
[originaltext]LadiesandGentlemen,Neverbeforehavewehadsomanydiffer
[originaltext]Iamfiredupfortheyearthatstretchesoutbeforeus.That’sb
[originaltext]Milkwasabasicfoodofmanlongbeforehistorywaswritten.
Accustomedthoughwearetospeakingofthefilmsmadebefore1927as"silen
Accustomedthoughwearetospeakingofthefilmsmadebefore1927as"silen
随机试题
MoviesarethemostpopularformofentertainmentformillionsofAmericans
Thecash-for-clunkersprogramturnedouttobeaboonforAsianautomakersa
以下关于SWOT分析方法的说法中,不正确的是( )。A.O代表机遇 B.W代
晚期肝硬化最严重的并发症是A.肝性脑病 B.原发性肝癌 C.上消化道出血
下列关于基金销售适用性实施保障的说法错误的是()。A.基金销售机构总部应当
下列各项中,不符合内部牵制的要求的是()。A、出纳人员管票据 B、出纳人员
百合固金汤的君药是A.地黄、熟地黄B.百合、麦冬C.地黄、麦冬D.玄参、麦冬E.
Ⅲ型高脂蛋白血症载脂蛋白变化正确的是A.CⅡ↓,CⅢ十E↑↑B.CⅡ↑,CⅢ↓E
桥本甲状腺炎是A.自身免疫性疾病B.细菌感染性疾病C.病毒感染性疾病D.碘缺乏性
银行承兑汇票的承兑银行,应当按照票面金额向出票人收取()的手续费。A:千分之一
最新回复
(
0
)