Ryan Streeter
In 2002, 59% of Americans thought they'd have enough money saved up when they retire. Today, it's down to 42% according to Gallup.
More than this, in the past 15 years, the percentage of people thinking they would be able to retire before turning 65 has dropped from 50% to 28%.
We may have been flying on the wings of credit during the good ol' days when optimism colored our vision of post-65 life, so maybe today's opinions reflect reality as it has actually been for awhile.
But the figures are alarming anyway, because they give you a sense of the environment in which our entitlement reform debate will play out.
The gloomy outlook is made even more difficult when you consider it next to something else happening in America: the emergence of a dole mentality, which Jonah Goldberg writes about at the Enterprise blog today. A growing dole mentality among able-bodied younger workers, Goldberg says, "gives you the sense of how tough the opposition to Ryan’s plan – and vision – will be when so many Americans are content to endure their lot in life rather than lift a finger to change it." He bases his comments on an anecdote, not hard data, but nevertheless, the mindset he points to is something that comports with experience, I think.
So, we are facing:
- A steady decline over time in people's view that they will have sufficient resources when they are older, and
- A growing sense among younger people that work isn't really worth the effort.
This can change, of course. But it's really only going to change with:
- Leadership
- A new message
So far, we have very few public leaders who are truly leading. Paul Ryan comes to mind as an exception. There's Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, and some others. But we're still waiting for Reagan, that leader who is able to point the way forward, which in many ways in a view to the past when life didn't cost so much and we could get ahead by working hard.
Which brings us to the "new message" point: Republicans should have a strong 2-part message: (1) Let's reduce how much it costs to live (entitlement reform, health care overhaul, lower tax burdens), and (2) let's increase disposable income (job growth, tax reform).
Right now, the message is too one-sided (spending cuts) and too incoherent (who can say what any leading Republican thinks we need to do to foster economic growth?).
The left won't figure out anything that energizes Americans, because they have truly become the draconian-solution folks these days. It's up to the right...but the right needs to get it's act together. It probably won't do it well until one person rises up and nails it. Which brings us back to the point about leadership...who will it be?
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