Things like 401ks are the biggest trick wall street pulled on the public at large. Now they don't need to defend their actions because many in the public are financially incentivized to defend them. It's not a sin if its done in the name of making my stock go up.
I hear you, but I just can't be convinced that was a motivator. The main motivator, I believe, was to drive costs WAY down by eliminating pensions while shifting that burden to the workers.
I guess what I'm saying is, the golden shields were just a happy accident of other terrible behaviors?
I heard this same kind of justification used by a CEO in a former workplace. I stood there thinking "I'm a multi-year permatemp with no 401k. Shove this BS and give me a good paying job so that I can put money toward retirement."; didn't say anything though.
