Remember the 401-K?? and the investor class for the masses?

[SoCalDem]

Well, that worked out well, didn't it? Middle class workers gave up (not their choice) those boring old defined benefit pensions, but they were "promised" that they too could be rich..rich..rich I-tell-ya..

It had to appear better than sliced bread, to get MOST eligible people IN it.

Much like the charter school thing & vouchers, the rush to GET IN, created a vacuum that "proved" that there was no longer even any need for regular old boring pensions, and that would drive more and more companies into 401-k plans..

Companies were freed up from having to keep track of pension money and to account for the shenanigans that often occurred..so it was a win-win for companies.. give out 2% pay raises (if any) and then just plop in 2-4% into the 401-ks...knowing that as people get strapped for cash they often reduce their participation percentage or drop out altogether, letting the boss off the hook as well..


People all over the country with high school educations (many with less) that probably did not even teach them how to successfully balance a checkbook, were suddenly "investors"..

Don't understand it?.. well never fear, the cable TV people will hook you up with the likes of Jim Cramer & his cohorts..and the online folks will offer you their website casino hosts... um ...experts..

How could this plan possibly fail? :eyes:

For a while, many people did ride the bubble successfully (on paper..even Bernie Madoff sent out glowing statements), and some managed to pull their money out in time, by retiring at just the right moment in time, but for many many many more, all that money faithfully deducted every payday & matched (somewhat) by their employers...over all those years, was little more than a huge wad of "walking around casino money" for all the wall street hotshots. They were supposed to invest your money over the long haul, so you could retire with MORE than that stodgy old pension would have given you.

It's no surprise that the 401-k came along as the Boomers entered their prime earning years. Those were also the merger & acquisition years, so it made the 401-k seem like a fantastic way to avoid losing a pension as some companies merged & others flopped dead in their tracks.

Substitute "Health Insurance corporations & Pharma" for "Wall street" and we've got pretty much the same deal going on here, folks.. with a twist ..

the twist?

fines if you do not participate, unregulated cost increases if you do.

Corporations NEVER operate for the good of mankind.. They serve the bottom line...the BIG-investor class.

Our nation has a saddle on the Boomer Generation..and they've ridden us our whole lives (for optimum extraction of money).. This is the final act..

REAL health care will start after most of us are gone. Why? Economics