So if the young didn't do anyone a favour, you'll be OK with them going about their lives as normal now will you?
Try to read and understand what the various laws and regulations state. The young and most other people in the UK cannot go about their lives as normal as that is against the law, there are a whole host of laws and regulations which prevent that.
Oh hang on, no - you want them to behave like there's a pandemic that's likely to kill them, when actually there isn't and never was - there's a pandemic that's likely to kill the old.
No I want them to be sensible and obey the law of the land, I certainly do not want them to live in fear of a pandemic which could kill them, but to take sensible precautions as they like every other person in the UK who has not had Covid-19 could catch it. Most people who catch Covid-19 survive though many if not most are left with some consequences that may affect them for the rest of their lives.
The law they followed wasn't to protect them, it was to protect you. In England alone more than half of all deaths were in the 80+ age group, drop that to 60+ and its over 90%.
No the law is their to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed and to try to protect doctors and nurses being killed in the course of helping those who caught the virus. There are many people under 60 who have caught covid-19 and are still suffering the consequences, they might not have died from it, though some have, but that does not mean their lives have not been blighted by it in some cases for the rest of their lives.
Your claim that many pensioners also work is unsubstantiated. But even if true, they did not lose 100% of their income - a pensioner by definition receives a pension, and they still received 100% of it throughout. And unlike young entrepreneurs who have no 'second income', self-employed pensioners are also more likely to have 3-years of accounts simply by definition of their age, thereby qualifying for the furlough pay.
By pensioner I meant a person eligible to collected their state pension. Many such people carry on working and have deferred their pension, in other words they do not get it. Some are self-employed and are not eligible for any of the furlough schemes and other schemes in place for a number of reasons, even if they have been working for themselves for over the three year requirement.
If the elderly were caring for children then they were breaking the law, unless they lived in the same house. Schools were open for the children of essential workers. I know, my husband works in one.
Many grandparents have done precisely that, they have some of their grandchildren living with them throughout the lockdown, perfectly legally, to enable the children's parents to work. Many parents withdrew their children from school as they thought it was the safest option
I saw first hand how older people suffered - I'm a carer for one - but other than loneliness and relying on others for deliveries etc, it was no greater a suffering than anyone else. At least for the old there was a reason - preserving their own life - the purpose of locking down the young was what?
And sorry, but the young have no reason whatsoever to thank anyone, other than their own families and the small number of veterans still living. The majority of pensioners (over 65's) have done no more in their lives than what the young are trying to do - work & raise families.
Many of us are carers, who incidently cease to be eligible to carers allowance on reaching retirement age, even though they still care for the disabled person.
Who do you think those pensioners are they are the mothers and the fathers and grandparents of the young, you think they should be helping yet again?
Perhaps when you retire you may have time to read and actually learn just what sacrifices you parents and grandparents have had to make for you throughout their lives, and I don't just mean in monetary terms.
I stand by my original statement - if you did not suffer financially then you have a moral duty to put some money back into the economy to protect the jobs of those who did.
You are entitled to that opinion but there is no moral duty on anyone to pay more into the economy than they already are doing and who will continue to do so for many years to come probably at a higher rate than they do today.
Cheers
Guy
