Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Thursday December 15 2016, @01:08PM   Printer-friendly
from the better-than-growing-up-to-be-a-sink dept.

Scientists at Kings College London performed a longitudinal study to test the 'Pareto principle' and found that adults who were greater users of public services were most likely to have had a low score on the intelligence and impulsivity test administered at age three.

"About 20 per cent of population is using the lion's share of a wide array of public services," said Prof Terrie Moffitt, of King's College and Duke University in North Carolina. "The same people use most of the NHS, the criminal courts, insurance claims, for disabling injury, pharmaceutical prescriptions and special welfare benefits.

"If we stopped there it might be fair to think these are lazy bums who are freeloading off the taxpayer and exploiting the public purse.

"But we also went further back into their childhood and found that 20 per cent begin their lives with mild problems with brain function and brain health when they were very small children.

"Looking at health examinations really changed the whole picture. It gives you a feeling of compassion for these people as opposed to a feeling of blame.

"Being able to predict which children will struggle is an opportunity to intervene in their lives very early to attempt to change their trajectories, for everyone's benefit and could bring big returns on investment for government."

Full Paper: Childhood forecasting of a small segment of the population with large economic burden DOI: 10.1038/s41562-016-0005


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @05:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @05:25PM (#441678)

    No, it means you absolutely lack a counter-argument.

    Not that I'm surprised.

  • (Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Thursday December 15 2016, @05:37PM

    by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Thursday December 15 2016, @05:37PM (#441689) Journal

    For me to have a counter argument, you would first have to have an argument. All I've got from you is "The free market is the answer to every question." You'll have to do a it better than that.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @06:04PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @06:04PM (#441699)
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @06:23PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @06:23PM (#441710)

        No one argued that the idea of entrepreneurship is bad and everything should be owned by the government.... But there are also a lot of other variables at play throughout history.

        Personally my take on this "analysis" (sorry, but a short article that is very light on details doesn't make the grade) is that giving humans freedom to pursue their own best interests is what made things better. Unshackling people from the state's oppressive dictatorships (Kings, Queens, Despots, Etc.) is what led to greater prosperity.

        Capitalism itself is a tool, the free market is a tool, and they must all be used properly. The US is the result of nearly unchecked capitalism, and it is tearing our country apart. Welfare programs are not a replacement for doing something with your life, they are to help the people in need. But why am I arguing with you, you're a true believer of free market capitalism and anything others say will be interpreted as "everyone on welfare forever!!!" which is of course impossible to sustain.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @06:17PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @06:17PM (#441706)
      • (Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday December 15 2016, @07:50PM

        by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Thursday December 15 2016, @07:50PM (#441738)

        Are the slums smaller because they are all lifted out of poverty?

        Or do the 35,000 private security forces just keep the undesirables out of sight?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @08:01PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @08:01PM (#441742)

          I dunno, if you bothered to fucking watch it instead of grandstanding your ignorance, you might learn that yes, the slums are generally less than average.

          But of course it is better to have most people living under poverty instead of having some path forward. In a short period of time, 100 million were lifted out of poverty.

          I defy you to show me any other program that has had such dramatic results.

          You know you can't, I know you can't, so the best you have to offer is complain that capitalism hasn't done more while decrying capitalism in the first place.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @11:33PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @11:33PM (#441843)

            I have yet to see any comments about capitalism being bad, only arguments that "the free market" will not solve all of the problems. Also, it isn't "capitalism" that is doing the work, its people! Humans used to live in huts, then millenia go by and they're building pyramids, castles, cities. All that without this modern capitalism. Progress is what humans do, and it isn't the magic "system of the day" which did the heavy lifting.

            Unchecked capitalism has also done a huge amount of harm, but I guess you don't want to address that...

            Now as for the video, that has to be the biggest joke ever and you fell for it!!!

            Unregulated city gets massive influx of international corporate financing so they can cut costs and reduce taxes. So, we shift the prosperity from one section of the world to another. This isn't magic, its globalization. Everyone agrees that globalization has helped a lot of people out of poverty, but it sure as hell wasn't the ideal way to go about it. The US is plunging fast into chaos for exactly this reason. Where did your jobs go? To India, Mexico, China, etc. Your magic capitalism is just wealth distribution, at least some people are helped by it but its the very thing you free market types like to complain so bitterly about.

            The only grandstanding ignorance is your own, you lack the ability to see the interconnected variables and effects. I personally won't complain too bitterly since this wealth redistribution is what I advocate, but don't kid yourself that this is some magic accomplishment. Roads get better in India, and worse in the US. Ideally we wouldn't need to make this trade off, but we're using a stupid economic system that does not favor a humane approach to problems. Instead we get slash and burn, in this case wealthy western countries are slashed and burned to make way for 3rd world growth.

            And to give myself that emotional little bump so I can personally feel better: you're a fucking close minded idiot.