After the demise of company pensions in all but a few union industries, I had to take responsibility for my own retirement planning and saving, like most of the baby boomer generation.  I have regularly contributed to the max in my 401K. We also used to receive a company match – but that went out the window in cutbacks by my employer a couple of years ago.  The financial turmoil of the past few years has decimated my account balances, despite my attempts to continue contributions and diversify the types of investments, the industries, the geographic concentration, domestic vs. international, and dollar cost averaging.  Whatever.  I feel tricked.

I feel as though all my investment money (and the billions aggregated from all of the boomers) have served as nothing more than Wall Street’s cannon fodder.  Our money became “play funds” for investment managers and Wall Street traders, who took a massive piece of it for themselves in the process. When the trading charades collapsed, we then supported these institutions through financial bailouts with even more of our money.

Ominously quiet, the baby boomer generation has sat idly by on the sidelines watching their economic future being ruined by the actions of Wall Street amidst government policy and regulations driven by a plutocracy of the wealthiest campaign contributors.

For the past couple of weeks, there has been a quiet protest brewing in New York City with people angry with Wall Street.  Yesterday, as these protestors began moving to Union Square, it became somewhat chaotic and the NYPD stepped in with a heavy hand to stop the assembly.

I hope that our government leaders will start to pay attention to people’s anger and frustration. The inequality of income distribution in the US is statistically one of the worst in the developed world – on par with some countries in Africa.  People are hurting in every demographic in this country –  but in particular we are destroying the economic future of millions of  young college graduates and the economic security of 76 million boomers.

Watch what is happening in New York.  It may have started out of frustration by the young and the unemployed, but the baby boomers interests are intermingled with Wall Street even more.  We can not sit quiet and idly by.  We need to peacefully raise our voices, and let the political and corporate leaders of this country know that enough is enough. The plutocrats don’t get to both ruin everyone else and keep us quiet.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/80-arrested-as-financial-district-protest-moves-north/?scp=2&sq=city%20blog&st=cse