456 Positive Covid-19 in UK as of 11th March

[AtW]

It is fair to assume that there are peeps walking about out there who are positive but haven't been tested yet (and may never be tested as their symptoms are so minor they don't know they are infected). But, of the c.21k tested, only 163 have been shown as positive.

We at start of pandemic, it won’t take long before testing will be pointless

[GigiBronz]

Maybe it does not happen but...
Let's just hope that all that QE that they talk about and businesses preparing, puts a £ in our pockets and keeps us busy during the period.
Having nothing to do, no income going in and a prolonged crisis would be worse than the disease for a lot of us warming the bench.

[WTFH]

At least one major error in that. Relatively few had free university education back then.

You say “back then”, quoting 1960.
What were the figures for 1970-1980 - i.e. the people who are now 60-70?

Someone who graduated in 1960 is going to be 80+ years old. I don’t think there are many that age posting on here, blaming the under 50s for everything wrong with the world.

[Whorty]

You say “back then”, quoting 1960.
What were the figures for 1970-1980 - i.e. the people who are now 60-70?

Someone who graduated in 1960 is going to be 80+ years old. I don’t think there are many that age posting on here, blaming the under 50s for everything wrong with the world.

I'm 50 this year and got free uni fees, full grant etc. It's so wrong that our generation, and those prior, had this yet we send graduates out in the world with £50k plus debt.

I get back then only about 15% went on to Uni or Poly with those less intellect went into the Army or trade. Now we try to convince over 50% of kids to go to Uni, and we try to turn all jobs into graduate level (i've even seen this at admin level FFS ...). We need to thank the Thatcher and Majot governments for this, as they needed to keep unemployment numbers down so they encouraged kids to go to Uni to delay UB40 payments. Blair took this policy up and ran with it quite successfully to a point now that it's probably too late to go back.

And we wonder why the younger generation are not happy - they've been well and truly shafted.

[NotAllThere]

I am always amazed by how younger people are disrespectful to the older generation. Maybe we should put them into extermination camps to save money? Let's say once you older than 60?

Good idea. They're only boomers. Woke Macht Frei.

I just can't see how you can contain something like this, isn't it just another flu?

No. Flu is an airborne infection. Just breathing the same air as someone with flu can infect you. Covid-19 is particulate. To catch it you need to ingest it in someway. E.g. shake hands with someone who has it, or touch something they've just touched, and then rub your eyes, or pick your nose, or rub your lips.

[Whorty]

Good idea. They're only boomers. Woke Macht Frei.

No. Flu is an airborne infection. Just breathing the same air as someone with flu can infect you. Covid-19 is particulate. To catch it you need to ingest it in someway. E.g. shake hands with someone who has it, or touch something they've just touched, and then rub your eyes, or pick your nose, or rub your lips.

Should I stop doing this then when I meet people?

[BlasterBates]

You say “back then”, quoting 1960.
What were the figures for 1970-1980 - i.e. the people who are now 60-70?

Someone who graduated in 1960 is going to be 80+ years old. I don’t think there are many that age posting on here, blaming the under 50s for everything wrong with the world.

Quite ridiculous to suggest a modern economy can function by lowering education standards. Even developing countries educate to much higher levels than the UK in the 1960's.

[escapeUK]

I'm 50 this year and got free uni fees, full grant etc. It's so wrong that our generation, and those prior, had this yet we send graduates out in the world with £50k plus debt.

I get back then only about 15% went on to Uni or Poly with those less intellect went into the Army or trade. Now we try to convince over 50% of kids to go to Uni, and we try to turn all jobs into graduate level (i've even seen this at admin level FFS ...). We need to thank the Thatcher and Major governments for this, as they needed to keep unemployment numbers down so they encouraged kids to go to Uni to delay UB40 payments. Blair took this policy up and ran with it quite successfully to a point now that it's probably too late to go back.

And we wonder why the younger generation are not happy - they've been well and truly shafted.

We desperately needed young highly educated people for the future. We also needed gardeners, plumbers, electricians, brick layers etc. Trying to send 50% to uni meant that many were doing degrees in name only, that would not improve their employment prospects, it also meant that far fewer were steered towards manual trades which probably would have suited their skills and guaranteed them a great and happy future.

So here we are today with young people with a degree in literature, history, art etc etc with a big debt, who think they are too good to do manual work.

It would be hard to have got things more wrong, than our government has for decades.

Personally I would have made degrees in skills we need to be "free". Medicine. Computer science. Architecture. Law. Etc etc And even that is no guarantee of success, as I know someone with a law degree who drives a fork truck.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Was speaking with an italian colleague about this and he mentioned how all his 4 grandparents, still alive and all well over 90 years of age, basically retired when they were 50-55. We're talking about 40 years of state pension only (private pension plans don't seem to be common in Italy because state pension is so good that they don't need a private one).

How can a country cope with this?

No wonder Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece are basically bankrupt. All those old bastards refusing to die are ruining it for the young generations. Same thing gonna happen to the uk.

I hope you live to be 90.

Having seen what living into your 90s is like, I sincerely hope you get to experience that joy.

We desperately needed young highly educated people for the future. We also needed gardeners, plumbers, electricians, brick layers etc. Trying to send 50% to uni meant that many were doing degrees in name only, that would not improve their employment prospects, it also meant that far fewer were steered towards manual trades which probably would have suited their skills and guaranteed them a great and happy future.

So here we are today with young people with a degree in literature, history, art etc etc with a big debt, who think they are too good to do manual work.

It would be hard to have got things more wrong, than our government has for decades.

Personally I would have made degrees in skills we need to be "free". Medicine. Computer science. Architecture. Law. Etc etc And even that is no guarantee of success, as I know someone with a law degree who drives a fork truck.

You can thank the sainted Margaret for dispensing with proper apprenticeships, but then again once she'd got rid of most of industry proper apprenticeships were really unneeded.

Changing Models of Capitalism in Europe and the U.S. - Google Books

Quite spectacularly effective: reduction of 244k apprentices in 1966, 115k in 1979, to 34k in 1990, gradually increasing to 80k odd in 2010.

Vote Tory for A Better Britain. Not fit to run a whelk stall as someone once remarked.

There was talk some time ago of increasing the fees for STEM subjects since they cost so much more to teach than the arts, where labs etc. aren't needed.

Quite ridiculous to suggest a modern economy can function by lowering education standards. Even developing countries educate to much higher levels than the UK in the 1960's.

Are you serious? Have you compared the level needed to attain a degree in the 1950s vs the 1970s vs now?

As one of my ex colleagues observed: I couldn't teach the same level of stuff to current degree students that I taught to HNC students 30 years ago because they couldn't cope with it.

"Dumbing down" is responsible for the ongoing grade inflation.

[BlasterBates]

We desperately needed young highly educated people for the future. We also needed gardeners, plumbers, electricians, brick layers etc. Trying to send 50% to uni meant that many were doing degrees in name only, that would not improve their employment prospects, it also meant that far fewer were steered towards manual trades which probably would have suited their skills and guaranteed them a great and happy future.

So here we are today with young people with a degree in literature, history, art etc etc with a big debt, who think they are too good to do manual work.

It would be hard to have got things more wrong, than our government has for decades.

Personally I would have made degrees in skills we need to be "free". Medicine. Computer science. Architecture. Law. Etc etc And even that is no guarantee of success, as I know someone with a law degree who drives a fork truck.

If you check the statistics you'll notice that the vast majority study "useful" subjects, removing media studies wouldn't make much difference.

In China enrolment to higher education is around 50% as well. A modern economy needs a higher level of education.