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Ask a Comedian

Entry 2338, on 2024-04-24 at 20:26:36 (Rating 3, Comments)

When we want solutions to the "world's big problems" who do we go to? Often it is politicians, or senior managers and business leaders, or various types of "public intellectuals". Is this a good idea? Well, considering they are the exact people who have got us into this mess, maybe not!

At the other end of the spectrum we have people who are so naive and ignorant that their opinions are probably worth even less. Examples of these people might be climate protestors, university students, and social rights activists. Listening to these clowns is just as bad as listening to the politicians.

So who should we listen to? Me, of course! No, I'm not that arrogant. I'm going to suggest, British standup comedian, Jimmy Carr. Now you might be surprised by that idea, but hear me out.

Like a lot of comedians, who appear like crude simpletons on the surface, Jimmy has a level of intellectualism behind the facade which is worth listening to. In a recent podcast he featured in he offered some ideas to solve some major current political and social issues, and they made a lot of sense - in other words, they agreed with my own thoughts!

Here's idea number one: give women who have children tax relief. This idea has been implemented in Hungary where a women there with four children or more will be exempted for life from paying income tax. Fewer children offer lower tax reductions.

What benefit would be gained from this? Well, the population in many Western countries is falling and this places an economic burden on current generations as the general population ages. Some countries birth rates mean their populations are actually reducing because the natural fertility is below the 2.1 (if I remember correctly) per couple required to maintain the population.

You might say that immigration is another possible solution to this. In Hungary they ban Muslim migrants, but Jimmy did't comment on this. I wouldn't necessarily ban immigration completely, but I would only allow immigrants who have skills the country needs (and that would include Muslims).

So this would encourage more births and return the country to a more balanced profile of ages in the population. It would also increase the income of women who lose pay from having time off to raise children, making the "gender pay gap" (which doesn't really exist, but let's not go there right now) less of an issue.

If the birth rate became too high, the tax relief levels could be modified to aim for the target birth rate. This would apply to new applicants for the scheme, because those who already signed up get the benefits for life.

Remember also, that those extra children will grow up, get jobs, and start paying tax themselves. Brilliant, isn't it!

Here's another idea: put small nuclear reactors in every town in the country. Once they were installed and running, power would be effectively free for the life of the reactor, which could be 30 years.

Small reactors have been used in submarines and other places for decades with very few problems. And remember that the tiny number of nuclear accidents in the past were all the result of gross mismanagement of old nuclear technology, and even then there were few casualties (except perhaps Chernobyl, which was incredibly badly handled). Also note that nuclear has the lowest death and injury rate of any power generation technology (including solar) so it really isn't the problem it is often portrayed as.

If a country (Jimmy suggested Britain) did this, it could encourage investment by offering free power. Even if the pay rate for the workers was higher than other countries, it might be offset by free power, and this might return industries to the country which have moved to where operation costs were cheaper.

I think the numbers would need to be run on this to see how viable the idea is, but it is worth us getting over the infantile fear of nuclear technology and at least considering it.

Just briefly, here are two other ideas...

First, protestors are pathetic. They think gluing themsleves to a road and disrupting people's lives is productive. What about getting a proper degree in the STEM fields, instead of gender studies, and researching ways to really improve environmental standards? Of course, many of these people are too stupid to get a real degree but it's an excellent rhetorical point, at least.

And what about drug laws? Well, make all drugs legal but only for mature people. Jimmy suggested over 45 years of age, but that sounds a bit crazy. I believe the usual age quoted for a fully mature brain is 23, so maybe the limit should be 25 instead. Drug liberalisation laws of this sort laws have been created in Portugal, and according to most assessments, have been quite successful.

Maybe you think all of these ideas are crazy, or maybe you like some of them, or even all of them. I think they have merit and show a way that lives could be improved using classic economic techniques to encourage "good" behaviour. And whatever else you say, at least someone is thinking about genuinely innovative ways to improve the future.

You want genuinely innovative ideas? Just ask a comedian!

Comment 1 (7642) by Anonymous on 2024-04-26 at 09:36:26:

Sounds good when you say it quickly enough but what about the details?

Comment 2 (7643) by OJB on 2024-04-26 at 15:04:04:

Well I'm not suggesting that this is a detailed, final plan for what we should be doing in the future. I'm just saying these are general ideas which are worth taking seriously. We can evaluate if they are practical, and if they are, work out the details then.

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