During the 1990s corporate funded pensions were phased out and rolled into the employees 401k accounts for less than a penny on the dollar as corporations realized they could not sustain pensions without serious damage to the bottom line. The main cause was retirees were living to long, and the paper pyramids they had used to manage the pension funds were collapsing.
The general workforce had been steered to the 401k plans to take control of their future because it was ‘a wise thing to do’. Millions of Americans dutifully put away a small percentage of their paychecks into stable accounts. That was a reasonable idea, but did little to bolster the economy. So the laws were slightly rewritten, and employees were enticed to invest their savings in the stock market. Private firms were allowed to manage these funds, and they all promised the workers high return rates, and bolstered their claims with quarterly statements showing everyone how their little nest egg was growing by leaps and bounds.
But then the unthinkable happened. People began to retire and take out their money. But there was a problem. The money the oldest baby boomers were taking out was the only money that actually existed, all the rest of it was promissory. It was the biggest ponzi scheme ever. The only way out was to collapse the stock market and devalue the long term investments of millions of Americans. People who had been socking away money for close to 30 years saw their account balances shrink by as much as 75%, to less than they had actually contributed as a percentage of their pay. What happened to all the money?
It never existed. It was the great fleecing of the middle class of America, designed to give more money and power to the 5% of the nation that now controls over 95% of they wealth in the United States.
The elitists now throw a few dollars down so people can have ‘TEA’ parties (tax protests held on taxpayer supported property with taxpayer paid police providing crowd control and security, and leaving huge messes that are cleaned up by taxpayer financed cleaning crews) so people can feel that they are fighting back. Meanwhile the largest portion of our taxes go towards securing the oilfields of Iraq (and soon Iran) so the control of the world’s resources stays within as few hands as possible.
Meanwhile, the media, which is owned by the elitists, continues to bubble over with issue designed to separate and divide Americans, gay marriage, health care reform, clean air or jobs, abortion, etc. By polarizing the citizenry those in power can rest assured that no mass unified effort to demand change can ever be mounted.
They have divided and conquered us, and as long as a majority of Americans watch that flickering electronic fireplace known as TV, we will continue to be squashed like bugs.
The private equity crisis that looms on the horizon is just another nail in the coffin of the American Dream.
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