Good article, Miri, with which I mostly agree. However, I don't think Miriam Cates is 'cynically' doing anything. I believe that she is a sincere Christian, so I imagine that she is simply a 'normie', ie has not woken up to the direction of travel of our world. I hope she took note of what you replied to her. I also wonder about your grandmother's village for the over-55s. My mother (who died aged 99 in January 2020) lived in such a set-up, but my siblings and I are terribly thankful that she died before the lockdowns etc started because I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't have been allowed visitors or to visit had she been alive through lockdown (though we would have done our best to sneak in regardless). That is the main reason why my husband and I wouldn't want to live in such a set-up as it would be very risky should such rules be imposed again and is why we would rather live with one or other of our children when the time comes because our children are on board with our way of thinking - there would be no masks, forced jabs or other health measures etc for us, but if we were in a communal set-up, even in one's own house, it would always be more of a risk - the community might rule rather than the individual!
Thanks Priscilla, and you raise good points. My grandmother's village did indeed handle "lockdown" in all the predictable ways, but this is really an argument against government tyranny, rather than communal living. What if we were to establish a "conspiracists" retirement village, where one had to qualify as "awake" to move in and we hired only "awakened" staff to run it? Then it would be a fabulous way to live! And I think in the event of another "lockdown", even the police wouldn't stoop to raiding a retirement village and carting a load of OAPs off to prison because they weren't sufficiently social distancing whilst playing bingo...
It's great if older people can live with their adult children, but in many cases, it's just not possible. For a start, about 30% of older people (20% of women, 40% of men) don't have them. And those who do, many still cannot live with them, for some of the reasons I stated in my article. For example, I (an only child) have divorced parents who both have new partners. Neither of their partners have children. In the event my parents need care when they are older, am I to care for all four of these people?!
Our families and communities are broken as you and Heartland are discussing. But we are where we are and must deal with the reality of the situation, which is that for millions of older people, living with adult children just isn't a viable retirement plan. So we must think more creatively to ensure all - and not just some - are adequately provided for in old age.
Yes, I agree with you about broken families and having to deal with where we are in society as it now is. I adore the thought of a 'conspiracists' retirement village - or several dotted around the UK (as those of us with children would still want to be near enough that our children and grandchildren could visit). If only...
I often think of east-asian societies, where the grandparents actually take on raising their grandchildren while the mother and father work away sending money home. Granted, these are 'poorer' societies, but I think they are richer in some ways in this regard. This has been stripped out of western societies.
I understand that in Thailand, they even have a special day where young people venerate the old, wash their feet and say thanks etc. to their grandparents. Imagine that happening in the west?!
Also, when an elderly person is widowed or becomes disabled there’s usually another “opening” somewhere in the extended family to take them in. Asians have enormous extended families. A good friend has a family contact list of 600 members. They have family FB groups. It’s not a question of affluence. Putting the elderly in nursing homes is not viewed as advantageous in any way. We in the West should be so lucky. We’ve lost sight of the central importance of family.
Yes. Our family structures have been very broken in the west. The cycle of life has been seriously damaged. And this has only occurred probably in the last 50-60 years from hardcore social engineering. It's a real shame.
Western families have been under pressure for longer than this. Both my parents families were scattered across the US, separated by thousands of miles. I suspect because of our immigrant roots. Our not-too-distant ancestors broke their ties with family and country when they emigrated to the US.
To think that people left Europe to go to the Americas... that wild vastness back then is unfathomable. Truly frightening and epic at the same time.
I did watch 1883 recently (it's a spin-off of the Yellowstone series) and it really brought home what those pioneers really went through. I'm a grown man and it brought a tear to my eye. Sure, it is MSM entertainment but that was an eye-opener of what Europeans who went out to the Americas went through (and what they were running away from!). Wild stuff. Perhaps you should try reaching out to your not-too-distant ancestors in some way (before it's not to late)?
After my father died and my mother was going to move to an over-60s community (with her own little house) near my sister in Kent, we offered for her to come and live with us in south London, but she didn't want to, which I can understand as she'd always lived in the country. But, ideally, it's much better for families to stay together. We always said we'd retire to the country (which we would have loved) but when it came to the bit, having travelled every week to see both our mothers as they grew old and eventually died, we felt we couldn't do that to our children - it was very exhausting. So here we are still in south London, only 10 minutes from our son and his three children (with whom we will probably eventually move in) and 40 minutes from our daughter and her three children!! We are very blessed that they are still relatively nearby (my husband's eldest sister has four children who live all over the world!).
Yes, the estrangement of many families from their elders has been very common in my experience. It must have been very stressful for you to live apart from your mothers as I get the impression from your comments that family is very important to you, and it is simply very difficult in this busy world to maintain contact. It seems like you've made a definite plan to keep the bonds with your children in the future etc. I am also slightly glad that your mother remained in the country - as that was clearly where her heart lay. It looks like you have a thriving, tight family so yes, you are very blessed!
Yes, family is very important to me but, no, it wasn't stressful living apart from my mother since I'd left home to work in London when I was 19 (that was the accepted thing for us), then married, etc. We just wanted her to know that she was loved and could make a home with us if she wanted. The stress came in with having to travel to see her every week (even though it was only an hour-and-a-half journey each way). But she loved her independence (actually so do I and slightly dread having to live with our children as they have very different approaches to tidiness etc) but was still near enough for us all to visit. We've stayed near our children partly because we want to be involved with our grandchildren, who we obviously love!
Miri, in addition to your sentence 'we needed to have tackled the falling birth rate decades ago, by the 1970s at the latest. By that point - with the introduction of the Pill and legalised abortion in the 1960s - the birth rate had already dramatically declined' you needed to include the AIDS psy-op in the 1980s putting the fear of death into everyone and accelerating the use of condoms, in addition to the media-induced scare of 'teenage pregnancies'. The depopulation social engineering has been there for a long time now.
The pill > the AIDs scare > condoms > media assault on 'teenage pregnancies' > HPV = multiple attack vectors.
I was around 10 years old when the AIDS propaganda was unleashed (Don't Die of Ignorance). I innocently asked my mother whether I would also catch AIDS and die (because of the relentless TV advertising). I remember my mother smiling but I imbibed the regime messages nonetheless.
Did you also notice how during the convideo scam, how we were told to 'socially distance' from everyone, your family, your neighbor, to not hug or shake hands (to be replaced by the weird elbow-knocking nonsense), everyone was a bio-weapon - yet after the AIDS scam, the regime quickly put out anti-bigot messaging that it is OK to sit on a toilet seat after a AIDs carrier had sat there, and that it is OK to shake hands with a AIDs carrier and for us all not to be so judgemental and prejudiced and nasty blah blah. One moment you should be fearful, the next you should be more tolerant - you bigot.
My dad never visited the doctor until he retired when his hidden asbestos lung disease began to manifest (takes approximately 35/40 years) I had managed to gather together archived xray reports which the doctor had 'missed'. However, my dad was very miffed one day after visiting the doctor yet again for a chronic 'respiratory condition'. The doctor had informed him for no reason that the average age of demise for a man of the area was 67. Got my dad wondering what the reason was that he was being informed of this fact....... He avoided going to see this particular doctor after that 😐
Old people also have memories and stories to tell of how (freer) things were in the past... that's another reason why the regime wants to bump them off.
Recall in 1984, Winston's frustration with the prole in the pub because he couldn't remember anything of much detail (about how things actually were in the past before the party came into existence.) He was the perfect prole.
Stimulating as usual. I'm not sure that Ms Cates has the suggested dark motives about the elderly. I will have to check to see if she votes for assisted dying. It would not sit well with her Christian reputation. If she does I will have to change my mind!
I have just noted that Priscilla below is making the same point.
Thanks John, I just find it slightly hard to believe that someone as experienced in politics as Ms. Cates wouldn't make the obvious connection herself that babies born now don't solve the current elderly care crisis. Whilst she may well not vote in favour of assisted dying, she did vote for lockdowns and enthusiastically pushed vaccines so, at the very least, the jury currently remains out on her....
I am not familiar with Ms Cates comments, but I anticipate she would be pro-life and anti abortion. Hence she would probably be pro pro traditional marriage (I am all of these) and children resulting. The fact that she was pro lockdowns and vaccines is typical of many. I know she is a graduate but I don't know in what subject, so she could have been fooled as a lot were. I don't know if she was in on the scam as some must have been. I do have concerns that some 'evangelicals' have unfortunate links, such as her and Danny Kruger. I speak as a Bible believing Christian who is fundamental. I view the evangelical label today as very misleading. So may say they are but their beliefs are not consistent with former times. I agree the jury is out. Christians are not the most discerning.
Because the pension scheme is not a 'saving for retirement' investment club but relies upon those presently earning to pay for today's retirees, it was always to become a Ponzi scheme with a dwindling birth rate, needing more and more contributors to keep it afloat.
The problem with children is that they're such an expensive investment before they produce a return, with their constant demands on health, education and just feeding and keeping them supervised.
Perhaps our leaders think that it's much easier to import boat-loads of ready-made adults, who are eager to immigrate and then do the best we can.
I think you're right, Kevin. In the past, having children was a matter of survival, much like having goats and chickens and growing food - i.e., if you didn't, you'd perish. And bringing up a child in a traditional environment was relatively low cost and they could start directly contributing much younger than 18.
Things are totally different now. As you say, having children is a huge financial and time investment which is not actually necessary to anyone's survival and can actively make it more difficult as raising children becomes more and more expensive (nursery fees for a start are cripplingly expensive and barely affordable to many families). So, increasingly, children are becoming a "luxury item" that only the rich can comfortably afford - which obviously is all by design. So yes, I think your concluding paragraph is likely correct.
Very accurate summary, Miri. When the early morning radio news started going on about a new killer disease in China in late Dec 2019 early Jan 2020, I immediately concluded that this was the CCP instigating a cull of their elderly population. Right from the word ‘go’ reports stated that it was primarily affecting the elderly, and knowing the demographic situation facing China and the consciencelessness of its leadership it seemed perfectly obvious. But, as you so accurately have summarised the Covid fracas was but one component of an almost endless, centuries’ long determination to control every aspect of humanity. I suppose Covid did act as a catalyst to wake a lot of us up, but despite many doing so there are millions or billions who will still unknowingly/ignorantly answer the call to self-destruct. I fear that Eric Weinstein’s comments this week may be true: that our ‘enlightened civilization’ was actually an aberration and the norm is to revert to tyranny and totalitarianism. You’ve now got Starmer. We’ve had Ardern. Roll on Kamala and bye bye to the world we thought we knew. Bugger …
Living in Canada, we are "getting used to" the MAID (medical assistance in dying). Lately, I hear people say that they will call the maid when it's time and I know a few who have. That's another thing the psychos want is for people to commit the worse attack on oneself...suicide. Part of their ritual to serve the demons?? Thousands of people are going for this. The maid will come and clean up the mess!
Good article, Miri, with which I mostly agree. However, I don't think Miriam Cates is 'cynically' doing anything. I believe that she is a sincere Christian, so I imagine that she is simply a 'normie', ie has not woken up to the direction of travel of our world. I hope she took note of what you replied to her. I also wonder about your grandmother's village for the over-55s. My mother (who died aged 99 in January 2020) lived in such a set-up, but my siblings and I are terribly thankful that she died before the lockdowns etc started because I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't have been allowed visitors or to visit had she been alive through lockdown (though we would have done our best to sneak in regardless). That is the main reason why my husband and I wouldn't want to live in such a set-up as it would be very risky should such rules be imposed again and is why we would rather live with one or other of our children when the time comes because our children are on board with our way of thinking - there would be no masks, forced jabs or other health measures etc for us, but if we were in a communal set-up, even in one's own house, it would always be more of a risk - the community might rule rather than the individual!
Thanks Priscilla, and you raise good points. My grandmother's village did indeed handle "lockdown" in all the predictable ways, but this is really an argument against government tyranny, rather than communal living. What if we were to establish a "conspiracists" retirement village, where one had to qualify as "awake" to move in and we hired only "awakened" staff to run it? Then it would be a fabulous way to live! And I think in the event of another "lockdown", even the police wouldn't stoop to raiding a retirement village and carting a load of OAPs off to prison because they weren't sufficiently social distancing whilst playing bingo...
It's great if older people can live with their adult children, but in many cases, it's just not possible. For a start, about 30% of older people (20% of women, 40% of men) don't have them. And those who do, many still cannot live with them, for some of the reasons I stated in my article. For example, I (an only child) have divorced parents who both have new partners. Neither of their partners have children. In the event my parents need care when they are older, am I to care for all four of these people?!
Our families and communities are broken as you and Heartland are discussing. But we are where we are and must deal with the reality of the situation, which is that for millions of older people, living with adult children just isn't a viable retirement plan. So we must think more creatively to ensure all - and not just some - are adequately provided for in old age.
Yes, I agree with you about broken families and having to deal with where we are in society as it now is. I adore the thought of a 'conspiracists' retirement village - or several dotted around the UK (as those of us with children would still want to be near enough that our children and grandchildren could visit). If only...
I often think of east-asian societies, where the grandparents actually take on raising their grandchildren while the mother and father work away sending money home. Granted, these are 'poorer' societies, but I think they are richer in some ways in this regard. This has been stripped out of western societies.
I understand that in Thailand, they even have a special day where young people venerate the old, wash their feet and say thanks etc. to their grandparents. Imagine that happening in the west?!
Also, when an elderly person is widowed or becomes disabled there’s usually another “opening” somewhere in the extended family to take them in. Asians have enormous extended families. A good friend has a family contact list of 600 members. They have family FB groups. It’s not a question of affluence. Putting the elderly in nursing homes is not viewed as advantageous in any way. We in the West should be so lucky. We’ve lost sight of the central importance of family.
Yes. Our family structures have been very broken in the west. The cycle of life has been seriously damaged. And this has only occurred probably in the last 50-60 years from hardcore social engineering. It's a real shame.
Western families have been under pressure for longer than this. Both my parents families were scattered across the US, separated by thousands of miles. I suspect because of our immigrant roots. Our not-too-distant ancestors broke their ties with family and country when they emigrated to the US.
To think that people left Europe to go to the Americas... that wild vastness back then is unfathomable. Truly frightening and epic at the same time.
I did watch 1883 recently (it's a spin-off of the Yellowstone series) and it really brought home what those pioneers really went through. I'm a grown man and it brought a tear to my eye. Sure, it is MSM entertainment but that was an eye-opener of what Europeans who went out to the Americas went through (and what they were running away from!). Wild stuff. Perhaps you should try reaching out to your not-too-distant ancestors in some way (before it's not to late)?
My grandfather told me his father or grandfather had to leave The Old Sod in haste. Rumors of horse thievery, alleged of course. 🍀
I totally agree with you.
After my father died and my mother was going to move to an over-60s community (with her own little house) near my sister in Kent, we offered for her to come and live with us in south London, but she didn't want to, which I can understand as she'd always lived in the country. But, ideally, it's much better for families to stay together. We always said we'd retire to the country (which we would have loved) but when it came to the bit, having travelled every week to see both our mothers as they grew old and eventually died, we felt we couldn't do that to our children - it was very exhausting. So here we are still in south London, only 10 minutes from our son and his three children (with whom we will probably eventually move in) and 40 minutes from our daughter and her three children!! We are very blessed that they are still relatively nearby (my husband's eldest sister has four children who live all over the world!).
Yes, the estrangement of many families from their elders has been very common in my experience. It must have been very stressful for you to live apart from your mothers as I get the impression from your comments that family is very important to you, and it is simply very difficult in this busy world to maintain contact. It seems like you've made a definite plan to keep the bonds with your children in the future etc. I am also slightly glad that your mother remained in the country - as that was clearly where her heart lay. It looks like you have a thriving, tight family so yes, you are very blessed!
Yes, family is very important to me but, no, it wasn't stressful living apart from my mother since I'd left home to work in London when I was 19 (that was the accepted thing for us), then married, etc. We just wanted her to know that she was loved and could make a home with us if she wanted. The stress came in with having to travel to see her every week (even though it was only an hour-and-a-half journey each way). But she loved her independence (actually so do I and slightly dread having to live with our children as they have very different approaches to tidiness etc) but was still near enough for us all to visit. We've stayed near our children partly because we want to be involved with our grandchildren, who we obviously love!
"A house is a machine for living in."
Le Corbusier.
Miri, in addition to your sentence 'we needed to have tackled the falling birth rate decades ago, by the 1970s at the latest. By that point - with the introduction of the Pill and legalised abortion in the 1960s - the birth rate had already dramatically declined' you needed to include the AIDS psy-op in the 1980s putting the fear of death into everyone and accelerating the use of condoms, in addition to the media-induced scare of 'teenage pregnancies'. The depopulation social engineering has been there for a long time now.
The pill > the AIDs scare > condoms > media assault on 'teenage pregnancies' > HPV = multiple attack vectors.
I was around 10 years old when the AIDS propaganda was unleashed (Don't Die of Ignorance). I innocently asked my mother whether I would also catch AIDS and die (because of the relentless TV advertising). I remember my mother smiling but I imbibed the regime messages nonetheless.
Did you also notice how during the convideo scam, how we were told to 'socially distance' from everyone, your family, your neighbor, to not hug or shake hands (to be replaced by the weird elbow-knocking nonsense), everyone was a bio-weapon - yet after the AIDS scam, the regime quickly put out anti-bigot messaging that it is OK to sit on a toilet seat after a AIDs carrier had sat there, and that it is OK to shake hands with a AIDs carrier and for us all not to be so judgemental and prejudiced and nasty blah blah. One moment you should be fearful, the next you should be more tolerant - you bigot.
Good point, Heartland, and I think they are trying very hard to reawaken all the old AIDS scares with so-called "Mpox". I did an article on that a while ago: https://miriaf.co.uk/entice-the-enemy-with-bait-feign-disorder-then-crush-him/
My dad never visited the doctor until he retired when his hidden asbestos lung disease began to manifest (takes approximately 35/40 years) I had managed to gather together archived xray reports which the doctor had 'missed'. However, my dad was very miffed one day after visiting the doctor yet again for a chronic 'respiratory condition'. The doctor had informed him for no reason that the average age of demise for a man of the area was 67. Got my dad wondering what the reason was that he was being informed of this fact....... He avoided going to see this particular doctor after that 😐
Ugh, how sinister! Glad to hear your dad made a sharp exit.
Old people also have memories and stories to tell of how (freer) things were in the past... that's another reason why the regime wants to bump them off.
Recall in 1984, Winston's frustration with the prole in the pub because he couldn't remember anything of much detail (about how things actually were in the past before the party came into existence.) He was the perfect prole.
Stimulating as usual. I'm not sure that Ms Cates has the suggested dark motives about the elderly. I will have to check to see if she votes for assisted dying. It would not sit well with her Christian reputation. If she does I will have to change my mind!
I have just noted that Priscilla below is making the same point.
Thanks John, I just find it slightly hard to believe that someone as experienced in politics as Ms. Cates wouldn't make the obvious connection herself that babies born now don't solve the current elderly care crisis. Whilst she may well not vote in favour of assisted dying, she did vote for lockdowns and enthusiastically pushed vaccines so, at the very least, the jury currently remains out on her....
Hi Miri,
I am not familiar with Ms Cates comments, but I anticipate she would be pro-life and anti abortion. Hence she would probably be pro pro traditional marriage (I am all of these) and children resulting. The fact that she was pro lockdowns and vaccines is typical of many. I know she is a graduate but I don't know in what subject, so she could have been fooled as a lot were. I don't know if she was in on the scam as some must have been. I do have concerns that some 'evangelicals' have unfortunate links, such as her and Danny Kruger. I speak as a Bible believing Christian who is fundamental. I view the evangelical label today as very misleading. So may say they are but their beliefs are not consistent with former times. I agree the jury is out. Christians are not the most discerning.
My mum is 90, and has just gone through £480000 in private care since 2016.
My brother and I have nothing like this reserve, and so the choice is work - or be binned off.
However, my daughters should have a far more optimistic outlook - but are not free in the UK.
I shall remain un the UK until mum dies, not not a second longer.
My daughters hopefully will have found happiness by then - or if not, can find freedom outside the UK.
Thanks Andrew, very best of luck to you all.
Because the pension scheme is not a 'saving for retirement' investment club but relies upon those presently earning to pay for today's retirees, it was always to become a Ponzi scheme with a dwindling birth rate, needing more and more contributors to keep it afloat.
The problem with children is that they're such an expensive investment before they produce a return, with their constant demands on health, education and just feeding and keeping them supervised.
Perhaps our leaders think that it's much easier to import boat-loads of ready-made adults, who are eager to immigrate and then do the best we can.
I think you're right, Kevin. In the past, having children was a matter of survival, much like having goats and chickens and growing food - i.e., if you didn't, you'd perish. And bringing up a child in a traditional environment was relatively low cost and they could start directly contributing much younger than 18.
Things are totally different now. As you say, having children is a huge financial and time investment which is not actually necessary to anyone's survival and can actively make it more difficult as raising children becomes more and more expensive (nursery fees for a start are cripplingly expensive and barely affordable to many families). So, increasingly, children are becoming a "luxury item" that only the rich can comfortably afford - which obviously is all by design. So yes, I think your concluding paragraph is likely correct.
"I celebrate the old because young people are fvcking stupid."
- Salvador Dali.
Very accurate summary, Miri. When the early morning radio news started going on about a new killer disease in China in late Dec 2019 early Jan 2020, I immediately concluded that this was the CCP instigating a cull of their elderly population. Right from the word ‘go’ reports stated that it was primarily affecting the elderly, and knowing the demographic situation facing China and the consciencelessness of its leadership it seemed perfectly obvious. But, as you so accurately have summarised the Covid fracas was but one component of an almost endless, centuries’ long determination to control every aspect of humanity. I suppose Covid did act as a catalyst to wake a lot of us up, but despite many doing so there are millions or billions who will still unknowingly/ignorantly answer the call to self-destruct. I fear that Eric Weinstein’s comments this week may be true: that our ‘enlightened civilization’ was actually an aberration and the norm is to revert to tyranny and totalitarianism. You’ve now got Starmer. We’ve had Ardern. Roll on Kamala and bye bye to the world we thought we knew. Bugger …
You are right on with this missive Miri.
Living in Canada, we are "getting used to" the MAID (medical assistance in dying). Lately, I hear people say that they will call the maid when it's time and I know a few who have. That's another thing the psychos want is for people to commit the worse attack on oneself...suicide. Part of their ritual to serve the demons?? Thousands of people are going for this. The maid will come and clean up the mess!