I used to enjoy watching Charlie Rose on PBS, but he has become increasingly insufferable. All the money and access to political and entertainment celebrities has made him a Very Important Person who knows what's best for us. And apparently he has bought the austerity/entitlement reform bullshit, because he simply can't shut up about it.
I don't watch him regularly, but I do catch a few minutes here and there while I am channel surfing. The last three times I've tuned in, I've caught him babbling about the need for entitlement "reform", including raising the Medicare/Social Security age and chained CPI. He seems really eager to see these "reforms" enacted, because apparently all the little people have it too good in this country.
I am tired of affluent talking heads assuming that these "reforms" would be no big deal for working and middle-class citizens. Have any of these blowhards ever worked a hard day of physical labor?
I am lucky enough to work at a comfortable desk myself, but as a young man I did a lot of physical labor. I watched my father's body break down after a hard life of farming. All his brothers were tradesmen who struggled to keep working until they could retire. My aunt was a nurse whose feet ached so badly she could barely get out of bed in the morning, but somehow she did it. Because she didn't have a choice.
All these austerity assholes have absolutely no clue what it means to have to keep working while in pain. None of them can imagine being an elderly person who can barely make ends meet. There is such a disconnect between the media elite and the ordinary citizens of this country. Maybe Charlie should get out of the studio and talk to someone other than hedge fund managers and corporate CEOs. I won't hold my breath waiting for it to happen.