You are missing the big picture. This is not small potatoes. In the state of Illinois where Mish lives, the future unfunded obligations of the state pension and retirement medical payments for public union retirees is $25,000 per capita.
That does not include the obligations of the city/township and county he lives in. Let's say those obligations are $5,000 per capita for this exercise.
If we used private sector accounting to fund these obligations rather than pay as you go, an average household of 2.4 people would have to write a check to the state and local government of Illinois today for $72,000 to bring those obligations current, which they should be.
My question to you then is would you yourself gladly write a check for $30,000 to your state and local government to pay for these obligations today, or would you seek reform and/or bankruptcy? If I lived in Mish's town, do you think I'd be happy to write a $150,000 check to pay for this stuff to cover my family's slice of this?
In banana republics, public servants are a special class in the social structure. If we want to be so revered, then by all means let's maintain the status quo.
As for the banking crisis, that is a separate issue. It should not be linked to this issue, as they are completely different.
My guess is there are a lot of teachers who read Mish and are getting defensive because they know they're up next, as their pensions are massively underfunded. The gravy train is derailing, and they're not going to like giving up 25 and out, pensions, medical benefits in retirement, and overly generous current benefits. Sorry, they will.
In 1880 76% of people over 65 worked. In 2000 only 16% did. In 1880 the average life expectancy was about 50. In 2000 it was about 83.
We're not going back to working all our lives, but the days of spending the last 35 years of your life sitting on your can are as cooked as fried chicken. |
