Slog
News & ArtsMonday, February 18, 2013
Life Will You Be Better Off Than Your Parents?
Posted by Eli Sanders on Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 6:00 AM
In the end, the answer is probably no:
WASHINGTON — For the first time since the New Deal, a majority of Americans are headed toward a retirement in which they will be financially worse off than their parents, jeopardizing a long era of improved living standards for the nation’s elderly, according to a growing consensus of new research.
Happy Presidents Day! The guy who created that decaying New Deal? Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1
Republicans, with their usual disregard for facts, have continued since then to unravel the New Deal for their rich friends. Who, btw, are doing better than ever.
2
Well. It's good that "new research" and the Seattle Times have finally recognized the blindingly obvious.
Mother Jones published an article about this at least twenty-five and probably thirty years ago, during the Reagan recession, and it's governed my expectations and planning ever since.
Not that I'm hugely better off for it. A couple of times I avoided following the herd stampeding to giddy calls of endless growth, only to run off a cliff. Always assumed that Social Security would eventually get picked apart for no good reason.
Mother Jones published an article about this at least twenty-five and probably thirty years ago, during the Reagan recession, and it's governed my expectations and planning ever since.
Not that I'm hugely better off for it. A couple of times I avoided following the herd stampeding to giddy calls of endless growth, only to run off a cliff. Always assumed that Social Security would eventually get picked apart for no good reason.
5
Ah, socialism...
It works great until you run out of the other guy's money.
Thanks Democrats; You are SO smart.
Thanks Eli; You are wise.
It works great until you run out of the other guy's money.
Thanks Democrats; You are SO smart.
Thanks Eli; You are wise.
6
@5 "It works great until you run out of the other guy's money." We don't meet the 2nd clause since "the other guy" isn't running out of money, according to the article: "Although the surging stock market is approaching record highs, most of these gains are flowing to well-off Americans who already are in relatively good shape."
The fundamental problem with the shrinking middle class is that the bulk of the wealth is traveling upwards. And it's getting worse over time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_ineq… see especially: File:IncomeInequality9b.svg">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Income…
The fundamental problem with the shrinking middle class is that the bulk of the wealth is traveling upwards. And it's getting worse over time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_ineq… see especially: File:IncomeInequality9b.svg">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Income…
8
Investment tip: Find out which company will win the bid to build all of those "retirement dorms" that will be necessary to warehouse the tens of millions of our population that can no longer find the means to survive.
12
@9, no kidding. My parents were never bothered about money especially, but were a couple of neurotic wrecks about life in general. They died pretty young and with shot nerves.
My financial situation isn't much better than theirs was, but holy shit, modern life has given me SO MANY more tools to walk through all the good and bad of existence. I often wonder how much joy they could have recovered if they'd been able to pursue even a few of the remedies modern life has set in front of me.
My financial situation isn't much better than theirs was, but holy shit, modern life has given me SO MANY more tools to walk through all the good and bad of existence. I often wonder how much joy they could have recovered if they'd been able to pursue even a few of the remedies modern life has set in front of me.
13
@9 - Yes, there have been studies done showing that, proportionally, there is not a great difference in happiness for people making 50,000 dollars or 500,000 dollars a year. There sure as shit is a proportional happiness increase for people making 5,000 vs 50,000 dollars a year. The issue is that more and more people are sliding towards survival/the poverty line, which definitely affects quality of life.
15
What @4 said.
Republicans want... no, NEED people to be suffering, angry, and terrified. That's the only way they can get elected on their platforms of "here are your scapegoats: (insert minority group), they're to blame for your problems, vote us in and we'll crush them."
Same with evangelical christians (which goes along with republicans). They need suffering, they welcome it, they see it as "god's wrath" and the coming apocalyse.
Republicans, conservatives, teabaggers, evangelicals... look at everything they do - it's all to elevate more anger, more sadness, more distrust, more fear, more pain and suffering. I can't believe so few people recognize what they're doing.
Republicans want... no, NEED people to be suffering, angry, and terrified. That's the only way they can get elected on their platforms of "here are your scapegoats: (insert minority group), they're to blame for your problems, vote us in and we'll crush them."
Same with evangelical christians (which goes along with republicans). They need suffering, they welcome it, they see it as "god's wrath" and the coming apocalyse.
Republicans, conservatives, teabaggers, evangelicals... look at everything they do - it's all to elevate more anger, more sadness, more distrust, more fear, more pain and suffering. I can't believe so few people recognize what they're doing.
16
@15: I think lots of people recognize that as their only goals. That's why we hold our nose and vote for the largely spineless bunch of boobs that have a "-D" after their name.
17
@16 Obama is more than willing to cut Social Security by chaining it to the CPI. It's part of his desire for a "legacy" I mean he isn't going to need SS when he retires. He's got his scratch coming to him..
18
@15 + @16. totally. The Ds are spineless shit against the R visceral evil. FreedomLand® is just plain fucked.
19
My parent mortgage payment on a 3-bedroom home on one acre of land was $107/mo. starting in 1961. That's $810 in today's dollars.
No one except the well-off are doing better than their parents. Prices are way out of whack. It's expected during periods of severe inflation. But during inflation, wages usually rise, too. That's not happening.
With globalization and having to compete with people making $3 a day, I don't see any solutions. But it is very clear to me and most of the people I know that the standard of living in this country is falling while corporate profits have never been higher.
No one except the well-off are doing better than their parents. Prices are way out of whack. It's expected during periods of severe inflation. But during inflation, wages usually rise, too. That's not happening.
With globalization and having to compete with people making $3 a day, I don't see any solutions. But it is very clear to me and most of the people I know that the standard of living in this country is falling while corporate profits have never been higher.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Portland Voters Are Stoopid by Goldy
-
An I-5 Bridge Over the Skagit River Has Collapsed by Paul Constant
-
Rightwing Anti-Gay French Activist Commits Suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral by Dan Savage
-
Why They Break Windows by Unpaid Intern
-
Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness by Paul Constant
-
Usually When I'm Sent a Photoshopped Image of a Gun Pointed At Me... by Dan Savage
-
There Are No Atheists In Foxholes by Dan Savage
-
Tornado Truthers by Dan Savage
-
SL Letter of the Day: Did You Think I Was Going To Tell You Not To Come Out? (PLUS: Help Free Kate!) by Dan Savage
-
SL Letter of the Day: Have You Ever Heard of...? by Dan Savage
Stranger Personals
The Stranger
RSSSeattle Art & Performance Quarterly
A complete guide to Seattle's current art, film, dance, and theater season.
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (19) RSS