Save? Save What?

I think I'll go crazy if I read one more stupid article about Americans not saving money like they used to in the past. In the last week I've seen no less than 4 of these articles admonishing American families for not saving. They say nobody is saving for their future, nobody is saving for college, nobody is saving for there medical costs and goodness knows nobody is saving for a rainy day.

Well you know what? We're all living in a perpetual rainy day and there is nothing to save! Smart ass tips about brown bagging it to save money do not help people that can barely eat dinner every night. I have news for you, many of us can't afford bread and butter, so no thank you, you're condescending tips about passing up on Starbucks are useless.

Nobody is saving like they used to because the rules have changed and we didn't get a vote. Wages have gone down, jobs have gone overseas, manufacturing is about as esoteric as the lost art of alchemy but we're all supposed to believe that the real problem is that we're not saving? How about this friends, we have nothing to save!

I love how the focus remains steadfast on families across America and people just ignore some of the real issues at hand. Go on watching American Idol and ignoring the fact that the only work out there is in the service sector. No more companies with benefits, no more pensions, no more real reward for your priceless resource of time. Instead you are outsourced if possible and fired when inconvenient.

Sound good?  You want some fries with that bit of harsh reality?

So no, Americans aren't saving. It's not because they're buying expensive shoes and going on vacations. It's because they have nothing at the end of the month to save. It's because food has gone up over 300% since the 1970's. It's because the cost of college educations have gone up 1,120% since the 1970's. It's because inflation has crippled us, corporations have stolen and enslaved us and because every effort we've made to remedy the problem has failed.