To borrow a favorite phrase of John Stossel, “What we know, isn’t so.”  I ran across these two stories today, both of which expose and challenge some deeply ingrained beliefs that most of society holds that are in fact, completely false.

The Biggest Retirement Myth Ever Told.

Usually Morgan Housel can be found trashing gold and generally being a mouthpiece for The Fed and the government, but occasionally he comes up with some genuinely informative and thought-provoking articles.  This is one of the latter.  We all seem to have this idea in our heads that back in the “good old days” everyone had great union jobs where they worked for awhile, retired at 65, and then lived comfortably for the rest of their lives off of private pension plans.  Except the statistics show that this isn’t the case at all.  Today’s retirees are much better off than in previous decades.  As usual, things keep getting better, and we refuse to appreciate it.

Gun crime has plunged, but Americans think it’s up, says study – .latimes.com

Speaking of things getting better while society thinks they get worse, polling indicates that is exactly what is happening in regards to gun violence.  It has fallen dramatically, but most Americans think it has risen.  Gee, now why might that be?  In any case, this should shed light on why so many favor gun control.  They think that pro-gun policies have made gun violence worse.  Perhaps if they somehow were made aware of the facts, they would change their position.