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By 59 he should have saved enough so that he could retire.

In retrospect, yes. But our economy depends on the purchases of those who failed to plan their careers effectively.

If all this country can say to laid-off workers is "too bad you can't find a job, you should have planned better," I guarantee you there will be a revolt as disgruntled, out-of-work have-nots overthrow their corporate overlords.

It won't be pretty, and it won't be good when it happens - but if corporate America and the Establishment don't wake up to the fact that it is unsustainable to pay executives ridiculous golden parachutes while expecting the worker bees to work for peanuts, then an economic revolution is inevitable.

America's working class puts up with a lot, what with unemployment, low wages, out-of-control health care costs, and the like. Eventually, the workers of the world will unite. It won't be pretty when they do. Unless Corporate America wakes up and rediscovers the concept of nobless oblige, then some sort of Communism will be inevitable.

Market capitalism isn't free. Corporate responsibility is the price for keeping communism at bay. Call it enlightened self-interest. If corporations keep screwing 59-year-old retirees, eventually the workers will say "Enough."

In retrospect, yes. But our economy depends on the purchases of those who failed to plan their careers effectively.

If all this country can say to laid-off workers is "too bad you can't find a job, you should have planned better," I guarantee you there will be a revolt as disgruntled, out-of-work have-nots overthrow their corporate overlords.

It won't be pretty, and it won't be good when it happens - but if corporate America and the Establishment don't wake up to the fact that it is unsustainable to pay executives ridiculous golden parachutes while expecting the worker bees to work for peanuts, then an economic revolution is inevitable.

America's working class puts up with a lot, what with unemployment, low wages, out-of-control health care costs, and the like. Eventually, the workers of the world will unite. It won't be pretty when they do. Unless Corporate America wakes up and rediscovers the concept of nobless oblige, then some sort of Communism will be inevitable.

Market capitalism isn't free. Corporate responsibility is the price for keeping communism at bay. Call it enlightened self-interest. If corporations keep screwing 59-year-old retirees, eventually the workers will say "Enough."

I remember my father telling me, "the new American Dream is to hit the lottery." He's been telling me since 1973 that "if this crap keeps going on, American will cease to exist as we've known it." I think he might have been a generation off, I think he was expecting the crap to hit the fan by 1985 or 1995, but it is like the War on Terror, we've been at war with Islam since 1972 with the Munich Massacre but it took them a generation to hit and bring the WTC Towers down.

Digrtessing..... I can see it coming. The rhetoric of some of the "made it myself crowd" here will be falling on deaf ears, heck, it is right now. I know there are some who made bad decisions and have to live with them and such, heck, that is the price we pay for our hyper-consumerist, "Have it all now" society, but that is only part of the picture. There are people out there who cannot afford to save, maybe due to medical bills, living expenses, thrown out of work, or just plain bad luck (it happens, OK?). When I was in IT over 10 years ago, I had one weird shift a week, a graveyard shift, to backup the computer systems. Well, that is the most boring job in the world so sometimes I would put a reel of tape on, knowing that it would take 40 minutes, go down and talk to the security guard. Well, the Hillary Healthcare debate was big at the time and I was opposed to it and told the guard so (making conversation for the heck of it) and he said, "it wouldn't be bad for me, it would be a step up." I can't recall if he had no healthcare or bare bones coverage, but I cannot argue against that, maybe then I could, but not now as I am nearing 40 and seen more of what really goes on, aka, "wising up."

I do fear what you are saying could come true, this could preclude some sort of nationwide or worldwide collapse. I just watched Star Wars 3rd Episode and there are times I can draw a parallel between the first three episodes and what we are seeing now. You have the likes of Nute Gunray and Count Dooku supporting the uber capitalist Trade Federation, a sort of galatic version of the free traders and Chancellor Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious) supporting the Republic fighting against them. Palpatine is playing both side though, unknown to all except the very few, because he wants the war to increase his power. Basically, Palpatine wins with the help of Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) and imposes a dictatorship and an Empire on the Galaxy.

Fortunatly, on our case, our equivalent of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Sidious are yet unamed and unknown, but they are out there. I can see where the average Joe/Jane would have to make a decision, either fight, hide or support our "Darth Sidious" when he comes along.