Everything you need to know about "shared sacrifice" and the devastating impact that the implementation of "chained CPI" in Social Security (or, for that matter, any cuts in social safety net programs for senior citizens) would have upon our society may be summed-up in the "Labor Force Participation Rate" (which is already at record lows) graphic by Doug Short, below.
While Kossack Joan McCarter explains one of the greatest crises of our generation in her exceptional, front-page post on the Rec List, as I write this, that: "The 'greatest retirement crisis' in history looms large," an even scarier truth communicated in one visual by Doug Short informs us, even without more draconian cuts to our social safety net, it's already here.
So, ten months ago, when I reported about how -- if folks in the one percent, such as the CEO of AIG, had their way -- the ninety-nine percent would all "work 'til they're dead," one of the many, greater realities of our twisted "new normal" is: that horse has already left the barn. Like income equality, privacy, the rule of law and so many other "quaint, historical references" to post-WWII, 20th Century America, those of us among the unwashed masses are supposed to forget about retiring--let alone retiring with with any semblance of dignity--and look "Forward!" into a society where "shared sacrifice" is the norm, even when it's merely a propagandized slogan that has absolutely nothing to do with an economic reality that dictates that the majority of us on Main Street, if we're lucky enough to hold onto or find a job, must work until the day we die:
(Note: Doug Short has provided diarist with written authorization to republish all of his charts and graphs on a "carte blanche" basis for the benefit of the Daily Kos community.)
Doug Short has much more to say in his must-read post, along with many other graphic representations of what he's saying,
RIGHT HERE.
But, before you do that, be sure to add your "stress-tax deductible" two cents to the Social Security Defenders' Blogathon.