For a long time I have speculated about the coming collapse of stock values based on what I shall refer to here as the "Great 401K Raid."

Point one is this: People, at least the great majority of people, by nature are not savers. In just about every society that has ever existed throughout human history, the great majority of people retire into poverty, and very few retire into wealth. I have for a long time considered this uniquely American idea that everyone can retire rich as somewhat of a cross between fallacy and lunacy.

I mean, after all, what is it that makes us so special that we deserve to all retire rich? The Bee Gees? The iPod? The atomic bomb? The last answer unfortunately probably lies closer to most people's belief in their greater worth in relation to other denizens of the planet earth. It's the bully mentality, so common to affluent nations near the end of their periods of great affluence, i.e. "Of course I deserve all this stuff. I can beat the crap out of you and anyone else I'd like to." Unfortuately, the atomic bomb might end up being the way we try to get out of the mess we're in. I hope it doesn't come to that, but anything can happen when people panic.

And people will panic. I think they are going to panic right out of those retirement accounts they've been adding to unconsciously for the past twenty years. Most people, if given the choice would just NOT be savers. People, in general, are spenders. That's why thrift is considered a virtue, because it's a laudable quality that most people don't possess.

You can reign people in and force them to put money away with a 401k plan, but you can't make them thrifty. So when the crap hits the fan, as it does every once in awhile, those people's savings get spent. This is what people have always done. Look around at your friends and neighbors, those who surround you. What is it that makes them so different, so special that they won't react in exactly the same way people always have for thousands of years before them? Bull