Let’s Stop Fooling Ourselves: Americans Can’t Afford the Future
Unemployment, Taxes and Unfunded Retirement are Squeezing Each Generation
The American spirit is rooted in the belief of a better tomorrow. Its
success has been due to generations of men and women who toiled,
through both hardship and boom times, to make that dream a reality.
But at some point over the past several decades, that hope for a better tomorrow became an expectation. Or perhaps a perceived entitlement is more accurate.
It became assumed that the future would be more prosperous than today, irrespective of the actual steps being taken in the here and now.
And for a prolonged time – characterized by plentiful and cheap energy, accelerating globalization, technical innovation, and the financialization of the economy – it seemed like this assumption was a certain bet.
But these wonderful tailwinds that America has been enjoying for so many decades are sputtering out. The forces of resource scarcity, debt saturation, price inflation, and physical limits will impact our way of life dramatically more going forward than living generations have experienced to date.
But at some point over the past several decades, that hope for a better tomorrow became an expectation. Or perhaps a perceived entitlement is more accurate.
It became assumed that the future would be more prosperous than today, irrespective of the actual steps being taken in the here and now.
And for a prolonged time – characterized by plentiful and cheap energy, accelerating globalization, technical innovation, and the financialization of the economy – it seemed like this assumption was a certain bet.
But these wonderful tailwinds that America has been enjoying for so many decades are sputtering out. The forces of resource scarcity, debt saturation, price inflation, and physical limits will impact our way of life dramatically more going forward than living generations have experienced to date.
59% Say It’s No Longer Possible To Work Hard and Get Rich In U.S.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 27% of American Adults now say it is possible for anyone in the country to work hard and get rich, generally unchanged since late 2012.Fifty-nine percent (59%), though, say that is no longer possible, up from 55% in late January and the highest level of pessimism in over four years of surveying. …
These numbers tell an unsettling story about the U.S. economy
From Global Economic Policy Journal:In the last 5 years:
| • | The Civilian Institutional Population rose 9.9 Million |
| • | The Labor Force rose 0.9 Million |
| • | Those Not in the Labor Force rose 9.8 Million |
| • | Employment fell by 2.3 Million |
| • | Full-Time Employment fell by 5.3 Million |
| • | Part-Time Employment rose by 0.9 Million |
| • | Unemployment rose by 4.5 Million |
| • | Food Stamp usage rose by 20.3 Million |
Let’s consider the ratio of workers to non-workers. Workers are those employed, non-workers are everyone else (the unemployed + those not in the labor force).
In the last five years, the number of non-workers rose by 14.3 million while the number of workers fell by 5.3 million.
In 2008, there were 144.6 million workers supporting 88.3 million not working.
There are now roughly 142.2 million workers supporting 102.6 million not working.
… In the year 2000, there were 1.78 workers for every non-worker. Now there are only 1.39 workers for every non-worker. Meanwhile, food stamp usage is up from 17.2 million to 46.6 million, and medical costs are soaring…
World poll: Image of U.S. declines
Worldwide approval of U.S. leadership dipped considerably during President Barack Obama’s fourth year in office — but it increased in some countries, including Mexico.The median approval rating for U.S. leadership for 130 countries was 41 percent in 2012, down 8 percentage points from the 49 percent approval during Obama’s first year in office, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.
Gallup asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of the leadership of the United States?”
“This shift suggests that the president and the new secretary of
state may not find global audiences as receptive to the U.S. agenda as
they have in the past. In fact, they may even find even once-warm
audiences increasingly critical,” Gallup’s Julie Ray wrote.…
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