I don't get out a lot, but in the past couple of weeks, I have talked to maybe three or four

[JDPriestly]

people of working age who are afraid of losing their jobs and scared about how they will survive.

The MSM is working in a bubble. They do not see the fear and anxiety out there.

It used to be that you got a job and were needed and appreciated and felt pretty certain you would still be able to have that job next year or at least next week.

But now, employers just criticize and are angry and demand more and more and good people lose their jobs. As one woman who had lost two jobs in the past few years told me, when that happens, you don't get another job.

The basic issue for white people is economic security.

The basic issue for black people is fearing for their lives in our horrible justice system.

Write a bad check and you risk going to jail.

Write a bad mortgage and you make lots of money and get a bonus. The more bad mortgages you write, the more money you make, the less likely you will go to jail.

And then Obama and his friends want to foist the TPP on us and it is likely to make our jobs and our lives even more insecure.

Work is survival. Work is life. Because without work you cannot pay the bills that allow you to exist and live.

No candidate is speaking to this basic anxiety about jobs and survival as clearly as Bernie.

I am posting this as an OP at the suggestion of a DUer who responded to this post.

[Angry Dragon]

1. Almost all politicians live in their own little bubble and do not see the other people

[yurbud]

6. because the bubble is wallpapered with money

[Angry Dragon]

12. Politician battle cry: SHOW ME THE MONEY!!

[appalachiablue]

2. K & R. All true, unlike earlier times and disturbing as h*ll. Thanks for this!

[canoeist52]

3. Those who are comfortable and supporters of the status quo...

think the economic situation just need a little nip an tuck, tweaking it around the edges, and all will be well.

I don't believe they know the angst and anger levels out here in the real world.

[sabrina 1]

4. The people are angry. That is something the Status Quo doesn't understand. Very angry.

Bernie gets it because he never lost touch with the people. His long record of VOTES demonstrates his dedication to the PEOPLE.

Some were roped in by the money they were told they needed from Corporations.

DC is a bubble. The Real World is very different.

You can see it here where people think their talking points are important to the general public, and are puzzled at how little traction they are getting. Maybe they need to stop the shouting and start listening.

Meantime Bernie continues to bring in the people to hear the only candidate who is talking to THEM.

[Dont call me Shirley]

5. Great post, JD. And great suggestion DUer.

[Enthusiast]

7. Kicked and recommended to the Max! Thank you, JDPriestly!

The MSM sure is working in a bubble. They report what their masters tell them, right or wrong.

The TPP will certainly make our jobs and our lives more insecure. The advocates of the TPP freely admit it will cost the nation jobs. WTF?

This nations spends an obscene amount on what they call "security". But the American people want real security which includes job security, health care security and retirement security. These things are under attack by the PTB and their strictly controlled media.

[heather blossom]

8. Another Point No One Addresses

Candidates, especially Republican candidates, state that the age to qualify for Social Security needs to be raised. I know that many DUers have had the misfortune of finding themselves out of work in their 50's. It is so difficult if not impossible to find they same type of job at the same pay when you pass 50 years of age. I had the misfortune to find myself out of work at age 58. I was willing to take any job, even clerical temp in my field. I was too experienced, I would be bored, blah, blah, blah. What is one supposed to do between 58 and the higher retirement age when no one will hire you for even part time work because of your age? If anything, the retirement age should be lowered so people can survive.

[JDPriestly]

9. Precisely. Age discrimination is against the law but that law is not enforced.

Employers give you bad reviews even though you are doing your job well. The reviews are completely subjective. Unless you have a union, you have no meaningful recourse against your employer.

I remember some years ago, a friend of ours had worked at Disney for many, many years. Within a short time before he was due to retire with a pension, they fired him. How convenient. He lost his pension rights.

They do this with people all the time. Teachers, all kinds of people, are promised pensions that don't materialize because the boss finds some lame excuse to fire the employee within a few years or even months of the scheduled retirement.

Very often, unions look on helplessly because the very existence of a union in a workplace is something employers hate.

And those who might get pensions are the lucky ones.

Nowadays, most people are not even offered a pension. Many are not offered sick leave or vacation time.

And one of the worst problems (at least it was in the early 2000s) is that an employer can promise a pension, appear to be saving money in your pension account, sell the business and then either your employer or the buyer takes the business in to bankruptcy court and uses your pension to pay the bills.

We need a solid wall built around all pension funds.

And we most of all need strong Social Security.

Plus employers should be required to pay anyone they fire who is over 50 their pay until they reach the Social Security retirement age. Then we would not have so many employers firing older workers, because a real penalty would be imposed on them, and people over 50 would not have to starve or live on their pension savings while they look for another job.

Alternatively, as you suggest, we could lower the retirement age.

Why not lower the retirement age? If employers need fewer workers over the age of 50, it makes sense to let people retire. And that is one of the things we could do with the increased profit due to our new technologies, the increased profits that now flow almost entirely to the 1% of investors who do not pay adequate taxes on those profits.

[Skittles]

11. excellent post, heather blossom

you speak not only for the older folk but for anyone who can see this situation could happen to anyone - it is a real, constant fear

[Hydra]

10. Among the comfortable, all they worry about is feathering their nest a bunch more

And that's just the not overtly evil ones(who are rare). The others are looking for ways to take a big juicy bite out of whatever is left, and the people it hurts? Well, they were just unworthy anyway.