This is not, strictly speaking, true.

Many people retire early, in which case they stop working before they die.

It may not be a universal truth, but it would seem to be general for those of us not already close to retirement age.

First, let's ignore the rich for the purposes of this discussion. The vast majority are not and never will be rich, so it can still be generally true (generally true being "true with exceptions").

How to the non-rich afford to retire? Living off savings and Social Security. So what happens when all the Boomers rerite? "Damn! 50% of my check is going towards supporting the boomers!" If Social Security is still around and not pushed to 100 by the time i reach retirement age, i'll be surprised. Maybe they'll just create a new Socual Security only for those born after September 30, 1983. Whatever. With half the check going towards supporting old farts, saving enough to live off of (with inflation) is an unlikely prospect...

Maybe i'm overly pessimistic. But maybe i'm right, and if i'm not then it'll be a good surprise.

Then maybe the trick is to try to enjoy school and work. Sounds horrible to some people. But me? If I'm getting paid to do something I like, I won't feel too bad. School on the other hand, is somewhat different. That's why I want to get out of school ASAP, preferably with a degree.

Instead of going through life pessimistic, I'm going to enjoy it as much as possible, no matter what the situation is. Being overly pessimistic is probably bad for your health anyways.

Sidenote: Why do you think I hate paying taxes? anomie just wrote a really good reason why.

"Term, holidays, term, holidays, till we leave school, and then work, work, work, work till we die." -- C.S. Lewis

There is no good reason for not enjoying your entire life (with, perhaps, the exception of personal laziness). Find a school that teaches something that interests you, find a job where you can do something you enjoy. This might not be the easiest thing in the world, but give it a little time effort and some of that ol' fashioned elbow grease, and well, nearly everyone should be able to do it. And if not....?...make one up; you just need to convince people that what you have is what they want.

(if you can't join 'em, fuck 'em)

The only people I've ever heard say this are angst ridden teenagers, and they always take this as the whole truth. They drag their feet, trying to stall the onslaught of responsibility. 'Party as much as you can until it's time to let yourself die' they say. But in stalling, they cease to plan for a future they think they won't want. And in the end, they end up forced into the worst jobs, doomed to a fate they tried so feebly to escape. I'd laugh at the irony if I wasn't destined join them...