17.7.06

Assigned slaves

"Berlin, 2050. The once flourishing metropolis resembles a cross between an old-age home and a ghost town. The average age of the citizenry is 50. For every retired senior living off a government pension, just one younger German is left to pay into the system. To save money and free precious workers, the Bundestag votes to abolish the pension bureaucracy. From now on, each retiree will be assigned his or her working-age slave, who will hand over half his salary".

Stefan Theil, Newsweek, June 30, 2003