Brainwashed by the Financial Industry

Many people in the United States pour a significant chunk of their income into a 401(k) because of tax advantages and employer matches. The incentives to save via a 401(k) are so great, it's foolish not to do it, and in fact, for many people it eclipses any alternatives. Their entire plan for their after-work future is to live off the 401(k) savings and a meager social security check. In the past few decades workers who are contributing to 401(k) plans are fueling the massive income disparity between executives and the work force and fueling corporate data mining, crapflation, offshoring jobs, and so on.

The most profound effect, though, is to suck resources out of the country and deposit them in a handful of cities. Instead of people investing in their home, in productive assets, and in their family, a monthly tithe goes to Wall Street. The investor is supposed to be the beneficiary of corporate activity, but often the two parties are largely at odds. The legislative agenda of corporate America is anathema to mom and pop America.