More Americans Falling For 'Get Rich Slowly Over A Lifetime Of Hard Work' Schemes

[Danascot]

The Onion hits home:

OMAHA, NE—A report released Monday by the Omaha-based public-interest group Aurora indicates that increasing numbers of Americans are being defrauded by schemes that offer financial reward for a lifetime of hard work. "People don't realize that long-term savings and loyalty to one company don't pan out," said Sylvia Girouard, the study's author. Girouard added that steady employment which claims to offer long-term financial gain in the form of a pension plan is nothing more than an elaborate Ponzi scheme.

Prescient too, published in 2005.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43212

[Brickbat]

1. Hee! Awesome.

The American dream is nothing but that -- a dream -- and sometimes worse than that (a total lie) for so many people.

ETA: I recc'ed this, but it only canceled out someone's unrec. :eyes:

[raccoon]

4. "Is a dream a lie if it don't come true? Or is it something worse?"--Bruce Springsteen nt

[KharmaTrain]

2. I Wake Up This AM...

On my teevee is some infomercial about "how to get rich with real estate". Just send the teevee $99.95 and you're sure to be rich, rich, rich. Then I pop to another channel and there's a "financial advisor" with all sorts of games you can play on the market to get rich, rich, rich. C'mon, it's so simple...if they could do it, so can you.

Many in my generation bought into the "work hard and get the riches" line in the 60s and 70s and today too many of these same people are fighting to stay afloat...lured into large debts thanks to "easy credit" and a job market that has shrunk almost every year. Then there's those who worked hard for years...but then they became too much of a "financial liability"...insurance, families...they became "expenses" rather than assets.

The "American Dream" has been a nightmare for many...unless you got lucky or inherited that "dream".

[2Design]

3. wish someone had said to get a government job that gave you benefits for life

like become a congress person - sell your soul but be protected for life

actually - it would have been better to move to France or some other more developed country that wasn't into waging wars

[ThomWV]

6. You are misinformed

No Government employee is "given" anything. They pay for their benefits just like any other employee and they, the Government employees, certainly don't get any thing other than their retirement pay 'for life'. They pay for their health care insurance, they pay for their life insurance, they pay for their Social Security (and have for well over 20 years) and they have an employer assisted savings program. The Government's benefits are no different than the private sector, better than some, not so good as others but one thing that can't be said of it is that its a free lunch for those do the work and who participate in it.

[2Design]

7. congress has health care for life - a friend worked for state government for five years to have

health care - so maybe your one little job doesn't cover you the same but many do

[Angry Dragon]

8. Those people aren't the problem

I got the impression they were talking about congress and the other high ups........the ones that make the rules and laws.......the ones that do not do their job

[wuvuj]

5. The Am dream?

...fools gold.....salute that flag...get screwed...pretty much what it's all about....

But they will blow another bubble and forget reality again...?