122 SAGA.CO.UK/AUG-MAG I^2018Have your say
Z‘philosophical materialism’
Russell (above) espoused
provided fuel for the material
obsession of today. If there are
no transcendent values and life
is ‘nasty, brutish and short’, then
it is only through the material
that we can gain any sense of
‘happiness’ and so the ‘more the
merrier’, so to speak.
The Revd M Tinker, HullA question of economics
Sir Peter Rubin (Happy
birthday NHS, June), worries
about patients’ unrealistic
expectations, citing
‘troublesome but non-life-
threatening cases’. But it is
definitely not unrealistic
to expect effective NHS
treatment for conditions that
so hugely deprive the country of
human resources.
I was treated with
antidepressants, with many
absences from school and work,
and discovered only in my fiftiesthat depression may be
a symptom of food allergies.
Thirty years of private
immunotherapy has cost me
thousands. How I wish the
NHS had the resources to help
me look after myself.
J Samuel, Luton, BedsRelating to fibromyalgia
Sarah Green’s My story:
Fibromyalgia (June) felt like
I was reading about myself.
Being given a diagnosis more
than 18 years ago totally
changed my life. I am under
the care of a neurologist due to
the severity of cognitive
problems – ‘fibro fog’. I also
have spinal problems and audio
and visual hallucinations.
I would like to wish Sarah all
the best.
S Just, Kendal, CumbriaNot so ‘hard-earned’
Regarding Giving it all away
(June), isn’t it time we had a bit
of honesty here? Most retirees’
savings and assets have not
been ‘hard-earned’ as you say,
but are a result of being in the
right place at the right time.
Their biggest asset is their
property and this will have
increased in value at a rate far
higher than either price or
wage inflation.
In certain parts of the
country, property values have
increased by tenfold in the past
20 years. How on earth cansuch an increase be considered
‘hard-earned’?
Taxes are used to fund all
public expenditure, and this
benefits older people
disproportionately to any other
group. And who pays for this?
Why, younger people, of course.
Tax is a duty that should be
welcomed.
E McCusker, NorfolkPigeon post
Re John Conlin’s response
(Home and garden Q&A, June),
the problem is not so much
pigeons ‘perching’ on solar
panels on roofs, but nesting and
roosting underneath.
Companies will remove the
squatters and erect guards to
block access, though it can cost
several hundred pounds.
Pigeons may be resourceful in
finding a warm, sheltered spot,
but they’re not clever enough
to realise that nests and
eggs have a tendency to roll off
a pitched roof!
C Marlow, BirminghamCould you help a lonely person?
Loneliness is one of the scourges of our age. That’s
why Dame Esther Rantzen started The Silver Line –
a free 24-hour phoneline offering advice or just a chat.
It’s Saga’s first national charity partner and has so far
taken more than a million calls – but the service needs
your help. Could you spare an hour a week to call a lonely
person or donate towards keeping The Silver Line’s night
service open? Thank you from all of us at Saga.Here’s how you can help
Find out how you can get involved at saga.co.uk/silverline.
To donate, visit thesilverline.org.uk/SAGAdonate.
Or call020 7224 2020
Monday to Friday (9am to 5.30pm)YOUR LOTTO
Readers have
expressed their
concern about the
Your Lot to
advertisement in
the June issue.
Any new advertiser
is checked by our
stringent due
diligence. When we
ran these checks
on Your Lotto,
there were no
concerns raised.
However, in using
terms such as
‘thank you to you as
a loyal reader’ the
advert suggested it
had been endorsed
by Saga. This was
not the case and
this should have
been corrected
prior to publication.
It is very
important to us
that our advertising
partners treat our
customers with the
same level of
service you would
expect from Saga.
As a result of
readers’ concerns
we shall not include
any further adverts
of this nature.GETTY, SHUTTERSTOCK