A major concern of the capitalist class up to now has been what they have referred to as the coming “silver tsunami”, the retirement of some 78 million baby boomers and the massive strain this would place on the public purse. But the market has come to the rescue. The present slump has put an end to the retirement plans of millions of people and has the added benefit of throwing some cheap Labor in to the Labor pool.
“Older workers are actually coming in to the workforce” says Richard Johnson of the Urban Institute. The number of workers over aged 55 in work has risen by more than 800,000 since the start of the slump. (1) The trend is “driven by economic insecurity---they have become so desperate that they are returning to work” adds Johnson.
The idea that we send young workers to kill and be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan to defend freedom, an idea that is echoed by the big business media, and the majority of Union leaders and preachers, is revealed as utter nonsense when we consider that this is what they are fighting to protect; a future where you are forced to work until you die in an environment of never ending insecurity. The “freedom” they send our children to defend is the freedom to plunder the world’s resources and defend their right to exploit Labor, to find the most vulnerable workers at the cheapest price. In short, the right of capital to travel the world unfettered. Worker’s rights, so-called democracy for workers, fear of terrorism, these are all smoke screens. Fear of having no roof over your head or food to eat at 75 years of age in the richest country that ever existed is terrorism par excellence.
“So desperate they are returning to work” that says it all. It describes the actual insecurity that people face under capitalism. Day in day out people worry whether they will keep their home, their jobs, in short, their means of subsistence and survival.
Before the slump, 15% of baby boomers said they planned to work until they die. That is bad enough. Since the slump began that figure has risen to 25% (20 million people) as the retirement savings, which are dependent on market forces, have been halved. Other means of saving for retirement for workers has been property investment, the buying of a second home and renting it out as a cushion. But this avenue has also gone. The pensions of 22 million public sector workers are heading for the chopping block next.
The coming months will increase the number of older workers entering the workforce as their retirement hopes are dashed. The unskilled will be worst hit as they will be forced in to low waged jobs in stores or restaurants and the increasingly competitive and fast paced, non-Union workplaces. It will also put downward pressure on wages.
What a condemnation of capitalism this is. You work all your life only to be forced, out of desperation and fear of homelessness, out of retirement and back into the workforce until you drop. For young people, the cost of paying for the socialism for the rich that we have all witnessed in the past year is that they can forget retiring with dignity or retiring at all; more taxes, less public services---this is the future for them.
The trillions of dollars used to bail out capitalists were never available for public use, for social services or for retirement at an age where people could still enjoy the rest of their lives. Any older person supporting the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq that are costing some $12 billion or so should re-consider their position and see them for what they are, predatory assaults on other workers on behalf of the same people who stole your retirement savings.
George Bush gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the thug Alan Greenspan whose policies helped create this crisis. Bob Woodward referred to Greenspan as “The Maestro” in his book about the ex fed boss, who has earned millions simply for giving speeches. This should help older people re-consider their position on crime, on who the real criminals are and who should be in jail and who should be out.
The system is rotten. An economic system that cannot reward workers who spend their entire lives creating wealth through work with a period of enjoyment and freedom from it is a system that has exhausted its usefulness.
(1) Financial Times 5-9-09
1 comment:
I cannot afford to retire. I was going to retire this year but I lost half of my 401K, about $200,000.
I have worked since I was seventeen. My father was a Union president at a glass factory and died there. MY brother was laid off from the same factory after being told two weeks earlier by the boss that his job was secure.
Thanks for this site. Keep up the good work.
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