As the right blames the left for political violence — despite being the main perpetrators of violence themselves — I can’t help but notice this to be another tool directed by the right to detract attention from actual problems.
The politicization of Charlie Kirk’s assassination has the right searching for any way to blame transgender people, condemn the left’s supposed violent rhetoric or suddenly become pro-cancel culture — like the recent instance with Jimmy Kimmel. This all serves as nothing but a perpetuation of culture wars as a wedge to dilute the seriousness of actual policy issues.
Look no further than what the second Trump administration has been doing with Blackstone in recent months.
Side note: In the process of researching for this article, typing “blackstone ceo” into Google suggested an autofill of “blackstone ceo killed.” He in fact is very much alive, so I was left with nothing but pure wonder on exactly why so many people are searching for such a thing.
The CEO of Blackstone, the largest alternative investment firm in the world, lobbied for President Donald Trump to pass an executive order that allows your 401(k)s to have broader investments into alternative assets.
Loaded, boring sentence — I know. So, let’s break down exactly what this means and why it matters so much more than a right-wing grifter getting assassinated.
First and foremost, social security is dying. It’s meant to be a way to fund citizens’ lives after retirement, but as the American population continues to age and fewer young people are finding employment, the rate of contributions to social security is less than the rate of the money going out to citizens.
Pew Research Center data shows that by the time we, Generation Z, reach the age of retirement, we won’t have social security to our names, despite currently contributing to it. Essentially, the money we’re currently putting into social security through taxes on our wages isn’t going to trickle down to us at all in the future.
Secondly, homes are expensive. They’re idealized as an asset that grows in value over time, so you can sell them away for profit when you’re older — a retirement fund in itself. But when houses are so expensive that Gen Z became the first renter-majority generation in history, becoming homeowners isn’t really an option for us.
Finally, 401(k)s are the most popular retirement fund option. You select a portion of your income to be put into a fund chosen by your employer, such that it’ll grow over time for you to cash out on when you retire. This is the most successful retirement saving option, and it has proven to be safe, as employers choose growing stock options like the entire S&P 500. In fact, 401(k)s have a market value of $12 trillion.
Wall Street people, like Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, see this as an opportunity for profit. He sees your retirement fund — something that will safeguard your life post-work as social security dies and homes are impossible to buy — as something for him to profit from.
So, what’s the big idea? Wall Street thinks 401(k)s should be allowed to invest in more than just stocks and allow for employers to choose additional options called “alternative assets,” like cryptocurrencies and private equity.
There are a couple of problems with this.
Assets like crypto are not a historically proven investment. The upswings, downswings and volatility of something like Dogecoin does not exactly inspire the confidence I need to depend on it when I retire.
On the other hand, private equity is already known to be a morally corrupt concept. At the heart of the industry, it’s investors who just want their money back. But at times, these private equity firms can’t sell the companies they bought, and are thus losing money.
That’s where your retirement fund comes in. It’s Schwarzman’s “out” after he failed to deliver on his promise of turning private companies profitable. Your retirement is his get-out-of-jail free card.
The punch line of this story? Naturally, it’s to ask how any of this may have to do with us.
Schwarzman’s bailout through Gen Z’s retirement isn’t just something he needs. It’s something he got. Trump passed an executive order Aug. 7 that does exactly what Schwarzman wants.
Because while we’re debating on Late Night talk show hosts being fired, our futures are being plundered.
