Public Employees Pensions Will Be To The 2nd Civil War What Slavery Was To The First

[kybkh]

Full disclosure, this issue impacts my family IRL. Not only do I have children in one of the school districts mentioned but my family is also tied to the KY teachers retirement plan.

Kentucky’s two largest school districts in Jefferson and Fayette counties were among 26 across the state that closed schools Friday after hundreds of school employees refused to work following the legislature’s passage of pension reform.

Fayette County District spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said on Thursday night, more than 1,200 school employees reported they would be absent

The news came after the state legislature passed a surprise pension-reform bill in Frankfort. At least 15 districts said they were closing because of teacher absences. About another 10 closed Friday morning without explanation. In addition, Breathitt County said it’s dismissing at 12 p.m. but gave no public explanation.

http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/educ ... 99739.html

My submission to the local AM radio guy who I got a DM line to...

We live in a state which is governed by elected officials. If those officials enact policies the citizens of this Commonwealth disapprove of, they should come out and vote. That is the time to protest. When the Affordable Healthcare Plan was enacted, millions of hard-working Americans in the private sector suffered severe penalties in the benefits they are provided. Most have seen a 100%+ increase in the cost of healthcare. Those citizens did not call into work sick, they went to the ballot box and voted. These teachers want the people of Kentucky to feel pain because they are feeling the same pinch citizens in the private sector of the economy have been experiencing for years. Maybe if the teachers would have stood up when coal miner union's pensions and benefits were being stripped bare or when autoworkers were forced to renegotiate their pensions I would have more empathy. I encourage any teacher who feels they can receive a better offer elsewhere to go find it. I encourage them to pursue their dreams of becoming millionaires teaching kindergartners and allow the good people of Kentucky who remain to sort things out because we will. One thing standardized education has taught us is everyone is replaceable.

[DBTrek]

Good letter.

You don’t have to live in Brazil to realize that generous public pensions are a disaster waiting to happen. Demographic shifts alone (birth rates) can bankrupt them. This is because the state doesn’t invest the money they pay pensioners with (like a private company paying annuities would), they simply take the money from the current taxpayers and hand it to the pensioners.

All well and good until you have a large generation retiring on the backs of a smaller one. That’s when the math starts going sideways and governments realize “Shit, there’s no way this smaller generation can pay all the shit we promised to the older, larger generation. Derp!”

When you invest money, like firms who offer private annuities, that money goes to work making more money. When you just lift the cash from the people at work to directly hand it to the retired people, you don’t create any additional wealth. You also better have more people at work than you have retired as well, or the money you plan to lift for the retirees won’t be there.

[Martin Hash]

I’ve come to the conclusion that The Collapse will not come due to financial issues; we can simply print more money, and inflation is not a problem as long as productivity exceeds consumption, but pensions will trigger both. Retired people are by definition, consumptive.

[Zlaxer]

Won't lead to 2nd civil war - Americans are pussies....especially most teachers....when they're hungry, they'll look to Nanny Warren and Co. for Gibs.....we're headed for collapse/balkanization - not civil war.

[Fife]

I've posted this link before, I think; but if this is a topic anyone is interested in, it's a treasure trove: http://pensiontsunami.com/

[Zlaxer]

I’ve come to the conclusion that The Collapse will not come due to financial issues; we can simply print more money, and inflation is not a problem as long as productivity exceeds consumption, but pensions will trigger both. Retired people are by definition, consumptive.

Isn't inflation a "financial issue", counselor? :snicker:

[Martin Hash]

Pensions, Welfare, Social Security, Disability, other forms of retirement, plus children, have consumption well over 50% of the population, maybe as much as 70%. At what point does consumption overwhelm production. Add Basic Income and that will probably take it over the top.

[Martin Hash]

I’ve come to the conclusion that The Collapse will not come due to financial issues; we can simply print more money, and inflation is not a problem as long as productivity exceeds consumption, but pensions will trigger both. Retired people are by definition, consumptive.

Isn't inflation a "financial issue", counselor? :snicker:

Nothing wrong with inflation, I just meant it occurs when consumption exceeds production.

[DBTrek]

I’ve come to the conclusion that The Collapse will not come due to financial issues; we can simply print more money, and inflation is not a problem as long as productivity exceeds consumption, but pensions will trigger both. Retired people are by definition, consumptive.

You should do a “pray tell” on pensions. I’d listen to it.
I like the idea of having a secure retirement option for retirees to enjoy their golden years. I just don’t see how to pull it off in a sustainable or secure way. The government method is vulnerable to birth rates. The market method is vulnerable to economic downturn/collapse. And Americans don’t have a culture for Asian/Indian style multi-generational family support of the elderly.

[Zlaxer]

Americans don’t have a culture for Asian/Indian style multi-generational family support of the elderly.

We did pre-WWII.....

Americans have collectively decided (whether knowingly or not) that they don't want a middle class....the DNC does't , nor does the GOP....so most Americans are going to have to get used to being poor as fuck. Tough noogies...