One quarter of Americans will never go back to work

The reality of this depression (2009) just has not set in on the masses yet. It must be accepted that 25% of the people laid off or being laid off will never go back to work earning their previous wages in their lifetime! The Baby Boomer generation are going to be facing a brutal reality that their careers have been shipped away or is now obsolete due to technology and their younger lower paid replacements.

Any one of them that voted against and believed that "Government" was the problem will now be relying upon and siphoning from the very system they opposed. And by opposing public entitlements, they have essentially bankrupted these resources and put the burden of debt on their grandchildren as they enroll in Medicare in record numbers. To make things worse, they lived a gluttonous lifestyle and now have tremendous medical problems from excesses. Though this is not a generational tit-for-tat, the blame of this economic mess solely relies on their lifestyle and political choices. Selfishness and new fashion greed had facilitated the deregulation trend that their parents worked (and some fought) so hard against. There were very necessary reasons that regulation was needed in the first place. Putting life-sustaining resources in the hands of the free market seems almost laughable that only an idiot would support, yet it happened across all industries.

Though some of these newly displaced workers will simply slip into a lowly semi-retirement, many will need to continue working since their "401k" (don't get me started on those pyramid scams) retirement plans have greatly devalued. With their professional careers as just a distant pleasant daydream now, they will need to focus on the crappy jobs available to them. Walmart, McDonald's and every other low paying franchise that they help create with their support will now be their embarrassing minimum wage slog until they drop over.

This economic mess is worse than anything before it. Because of Americans insistence on buying foreign manufactured products, there are more unemployed people than there are jobs. I see no way out of this for a very long time....at least until factories are rebuilt and the American middle class returns.