This ain’t a movie with a happy ending. Greek workers are in the streets protesting to try and save their retirements. The Greek government has already announced that the retirement age will be raised from 60 to 63, and has pledged to do whatever it takes, to get their debt levels back to EU mandated levels.
Greek workers are being asked to pay for the corruption and criminality, of Wall Street banks and past Greek governments, with their retirements. Why should you care what happens to the retirements of the people of Greece? Because you’re retirement is next.
Remember when the New York Times served as the propaganda tool for the folks who wanted to invade Iraq to rob their oil? They’re at it again.
This time around, the New York Times is serving as the propaganda tool, for the folks who want to rob your retirement. A front page article in the March 12, 2010 edition of the New York Times, blames Greece’s retirement system for the economic problems facing Europe, and suggests that Greek workers, European workers, and U.S. workers will need to sacrifice their retirements.
The situation in the United States is different but also painful. The government will face its own fiscal reckoning, analysts say, as 78 million baby boomers begin drawing on and programs to support them in retirement. Without some combination of higher taxes, benefit reductions or an increase in the retirement age, both programs will run short of money to make their promised payments within the next few decades.
Why do Greeks (and Americans) have to give up their retirements? According to the New York Times, it’s because “Its pension promises will grow sharply in coming years, and investors can see the country has not set aside enough to cover those costs…”
Who are these “investors” that want Greek workers to give up their retirements to insure they get their loans paid back? Goldman Sachs.
From the Washington Post…
Goldman served as investment banker for Greece as the country borrowed billions by entering complex financial contracts known as cross-currency swaps. The contracts allowed Greece to limit the amount of debt it seemed to be taking on to fund its national budget.
Now, with a widening budget deficit, Greece has been struggling to raise money to pay off old debts and continue to fund government operations.
Goldman Sachs lent, and then helped hide the billions of dollars of loans that it made to Greece, so that it could enter the European Union. Now, worried that it may not get paid back for it’s role in helping Greece commit accounting fraud, Goldman Sachs wants Greek workers to give up their retirements.
The New York Times story about how Greece’s economic problems are due to it’s retirement system, and why Greek workers will need to give up their retirements, is nothing but a propaganda piece for Goldman Sachs.
And, as you can see from the earlier quote, about how Americans will have to accept higher taxes, reduced benefits, and a later retirement age, they’re coming for you next. In fact it’s already started. President Obama has been trying desperately, even before he was elected, to put together a team (Budget Deficit Commission) to rob your retirement.
Yes folks, as painful as it may be to hear, President Obama wants to rob your retirement . Your Social Security and Medicare to be exact. Why? Because your Social Security and Medicare benefits is money that the government owes you. Just like Greece, the U.S. government needs to reduce it’s debt and deficits, so that it can keep paying it’s investors. And the easiest way for the U.S. government to reduce it’s debt and deficits is to rob your retirement.
Who are these “investors” that want American workers to give up their retirements to insure they get their loans paid back? Same answer as above – Goldman Sachs. Shame, once again, on the New York Times. And shame on you, if you let Obama and Wall Street rob your retirement, to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy and out of control military spending.
Here are more articles from the retirement blog on why, how, and who, is trying to rob your retirement:
- Please Do Not Retire
- Obama Wants Your Retirement
- Wage Slaves to Wall Street
- Retirement Propaganda to Keep You Working
- Why Goldman Sachs is Dangerous for Your Retirement
- Wellderly – A New Word to Rob Your Retirement
Visit the Green Retirement Website and learn how you can break free from Wall Street and retire early. Try our Free Retirement Calculators
1 response so far ↓
1 Nick K. // Mar 24, 2011 at 5:05 am
The political system of Greece is not a free-thinking democracy but it is mainly a sociocommunistic state regulated democracy.
The people who vote in political elections and re-elect the same political parties over and over again composed mainly by 1 million public servants and the 1,2-1,5 million people who work in closed services in private sector highly regulated by the state.
Now by taking under concern also the families of these highly privileged working classes, the number of voters can easily reach 4-5 million people out of 10 million people of the total population of Greece. Excluding, the wealthy Greek classes (privileged in monopolistic markets), the older people (due to health issues they cannot vote) and young generations (under aged to vote).
In Greece there are only approximately 2-3 million people, Greeks and foreigners, who basically have no rights and they straggle to make a living in private sector and these people must also produce enough wealth in order to compensate the economic losses from the public sector and the highly regulated private sector.
Obviously this is not viable and for this reason Greece is in dept of 150% in relation to it’s GDP(Gross Domestic Product) and this dept is not by taking under concern the real Greek GDP, which can make the dept more than 250%. In addition the 200 billion euros dept of the Greek central bank and the private-public companies (electricity, transportations etc.) launch the dept in an outrageous number more than 350% in relation to Greek GDP.
Greece historically can be analyzed as another political example that when governments have the tendency of not managing the economy but ruling the economy, in the name of ‘‘common good’’ and another highly manipulative sociocommunistic ideas for the masses, the form of government from democratic becomes dictatorial.
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