NYT readers blast columnist Tierney

[Carl Remick <carlremick@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

NY Times columnist John Tierney has what is arguably his most vile column
ever today, though the competition is tough.  The piece, "The Old And The
Rested," states:  "Americans now feel entitled to spend nearly a third of
their adult lives in retirement. Their jobs are less physically demanding
than their parents' were, but they're retiring younger and typically start
collecting Social Security by age 62. Most could keep working - fewer than
10 percent of people 65 to 75 are in poor health - but, like Bartleby the
Scrivener, they prefer not to. The problem isn't that Americans have gotten
intrinsically lazier. They're just responding to a wonderfully intentioned
system that in practice promotes greed and sloth. Social Security is widely
thought of as a kumbaya program that unites Americans in caring for the
elderly, but it actually creates ugly political battles among generations."
He recommends the Chilean pension system as a SS alternative.  Full text at
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/14/opinion/14tierney.html?hp>

What's interesting is not Tierney's column (which is standard conservative
tripe) but the quality of NY Times readers' responses to it.  The comments
on Tierney at the the NYT Forum site are not only outraged, but also
unusually articulate and well-informed.  The comments may be found starting
here:
<http://forums.nytimes.com/top/opinion/readersopinions/forums/editorialsoped/opedcolumnists/johntierney/index.html?offset=1971>

Carl