“The way I see it, let the other side be the party of personalities. We’ll be the party of ideas, ” he said. “And I’m optimistic about our chances—because the Left? The Left isn’t just out of ideas. It’s out of touch. Take Obamacare. We now know that this law will discourage millions of people from working. And the Left thinks this is a good thing. They say, ‘Hey, this is a new freedom—the freedom not to work.’ But I don’t think the problem is too many people are working—I think the problem is not enough people can find work. And if people leave the workforce, our economy will shrink—there will be less opportunity, not more. So the Left is making a big mistake here. What they’re offering people is a full stomach—and an empty soul. The American people want more than that.”As the popular early retirement blog Mr Money Mustache has noted, if you want to retire early and are prepared to live in some way other than a typical American consumer, Obama Care is your friend. Yeah, that's not enough for some people. Exotic vacations, the latest cars and fashions, the latest electronics. OK. Obama Care doesn't prevent that. What it does is say that if you're a different kind of person that wants something else, now you have that choice. For Paul Ryan this is a bad thing. You should be compelled to work for a wage, whether you want to or not. You should not be given options that allow you to pursue a different path.
If someone that is 50 years old now decides to retire due to Obama Care, what that will often mean is that employers will need to find a skilled laborer to fill that slot. That could be a young kid with a lot of student loans, maybe a family. A guy that isn't at the point where he can get by on $25K/yr. That kid will get this job, and get experience that he now can't get because he's working a McJob right now due to the fact that more elderly people just aren't at a point where they can retire yet. This is a big improvement. New choices available for the 50 year old. Job opportunities for the 25 year old. Paul Ryan doesn't want to see this happen. Why?
One reason is because when people are scared and have few options they work for less. If you must work to survive you can be pushed around. If you work only because you want to then naturally you won't work unless the conditions are good. That can harm profits, which means less for the super wealthy. Making the super wealthy a little more wealthy is definitely more important than freedom of choice for a 50 year old and a decent skilled job for the young.
