I don't think the situations are comparable. The employees that lost their shirt in their 401ks did so because they had most of the 401ks invested in Enron stock. So when the stock tanked, so did their retirement.
How would you save everyone's retirement when they were based on promises that just can't be met? I mean, that's a question a lot of people are asking now, but if you are saying no one's retirement should be cut for any reason... I'd like to know how to make that happen.
The similarity is in the corruption that allows those super rich to largely remain untouched in these things. My thought that retirement should be untouchable is possibly based on a false premise. It's my understanding that 'retirement' is something that people pay regularly into out of their income and in a best case there will be at least some interest to boot. Realizing that's never guaranteed, I would think that at the least, the saved money would be available. Wouldn't it be the same idea as banks insuring your funds in the event of a robbery? Of course any stock market investment is a gamble so I understand false projections lead to new balance sheets. And if the entire retirement is based on a gamble then that's what you've signed up for. Perhaps this will better help you explain what I'm missing. Is it not similar to us paying into social security because it's our money and therefor shouldn't have ever been touched by the gov in the first place.