Has America really drunk all the Kool-Aid?
Or, has denial set in so deeply that if people were transported back in time to the Titanic and were told to get into the lifeboats, disaster dead ahead, they would probably respond with "Oh no, not me, I have a state room, I can't give that up."
Or, "Tomorrow night, we're dining with the Captain; we don't wan to miss that."
Reality has a way of being pushed to the back burner when our comforts and needs are challenged.
Just recently, a national poll was taken about Medicare.
Only 22% of respondents thought it should be changed.
That means that an astonishing 78% of those polled believe that Medicare is just fine, thank you.
In fact, a normally Republican district in Upstate New York, my home turf, just went Democratic in a special election ostensibly on the Medicare issue.
Old folks were told if you vote Republican, there goes your Medicare. Yet, there isn't an American alive that's not aware that Medicare has to be changed or it will go bankrupt.
In fact, it's probably bankrupt already. However, politicians continue to say "It's OK for now, we'll deal with that later." People believe that, they're gullible; they drank the Kool-Aid.
The gullibility of the American public is why I say the majority of people will lose the majority of their money over the next 12 to 18 months.
People believe what they want to believe. Right now, the administration is proclaiming the economic recovery, the turnaround, and the comeback.
Yet, we have GDP at 1.8%, real unemployment at double-digits, and housing prices declining daily, not to mention the Middle East, China, I could go on ad nauseam. All this contradicts the Kool-Aid the administration would have you drink.
On the chance that you enjoy this particular flavored beverage, you believe what the mainstream Wall Streeters proclaim when they tell you "Use every stock market decline as an opportunity to buy, and if the declining accelerates, hunker down and trust the old axiom "Don't worry, it will come back."
Unfortunately, this time it won't. The economics will not allow a comeback to happen.
In fact, the economics, Medicare included, are so dire that other programs such as Medicaid, Social Security, and Disability Benefits are also at risk.
Think about it, collapsing financial markets and social service chaos, not a pretty picture.
Not even with a healthy dose of Kool-Aid.
