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. If the main three things people "used" to save for are now handled by "forced savings,

This would be more accurately described as forced spending since the money is immediately squandered without ever being put to any productive use.

Ever wonder why our fiscal burden of government is 2X greater than Communist China, well Social Security is the single largest government expenditure.

Ever wonder why our manufacturing base has fled the country?

Good ole Otto Von Bismarck is probably having a good laugh.

I'm not worried about our "manufacturing base." We remain BY FAR the most productive nation in the world. I question your stats on Commm China, but in places like that, they can have a "growing" GNP and have it be merely occur by throwing human bodies at production, not by adding value.

Everything I have seen on the ChiComs, they are the world's number one polluters, massive hand labor industry, but no real "value added" anywhere.

Is our government burden too high? (I won't say, "debt," because that is kind of a loaded term and, in fact, government debt is pretty average in HISTORICAL terms in the U.S.) Yes. Taxes/regulations should take no more than 15% of anyone's check. We could instantly turn the economy around with a massive, and I mean MASSIVE, tax cut. Incentives to save can be much better too. GOvernment spending could be slashed without seriously damaging ANY major problems.

Adam, I don't think any rational person (LIBS are not rational) would disagree with that. But it doesn't help to portray the U.S. as in ANY way worse off than the ChiComs. If you look back 20 years, there were actually people making EXACTLY the same arguments you are advancing here---that our mfg. base is leaving---and some people actually said (Galbraith, for instance) that Russia might soon eclipse us. It was baloney. The only economy in the world that are outperforming our SLUGGISH economy now is IRELAND, which has slashed taxes and cut regulations.