Sorry to repeat a phrase I used in an earlier post, but the
latest mealy-mouthed mumbling to dribble from the lips of Establishment figures
– academics, this time – stems from some research that’s been carried out at Sheffield University. The story is this:
For some time now there have been calls to introduce minimum
pricing for alcohol. It’s aimed, so it is said, mainly at curbing binge
drinking among young people. Personally, I don’t think it stands a chance of
working, but that’s another story. Now, our clever friends in Sheffield
are turning the spotlight on old age pensioners. They say that many of them
are drinking ‘too much’ and that, since pensioners are generally among the
poorest people in society, making alcohol more expensive will curb their habit.
Listen, you soulless bunch of nerds, old age pensioners are on the
last leg of their lives. If they want to drink ‘too much,’ just leave them
alone and let them get on with it.
‘Ah, but,’ say the academics, ‘then they get ill, and that
costs the taxpayer money.’
So what? Overpaid academics who conduct mean-minded and
often pointless research don’t exactly come cheap. So why don’t we just sack
half the academics and use the money we save to let the poor old pensioners
have a drink?
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