As to what 'the system' should provide...well, you know, it's roughly that American Dream story we're always telling ourselves about. Try hard enough and you can afford to have a place, have a family, have a bit left over to save in good times, increasing economic prosperity is widely shared, and you don't have to worry that one bad shock (unemployment, health) will essentially destroy all future prospects.
And that's not where we are right now.
