So you take home 76% of your pay, and get free police, fire department, probably waste removal, sewers, some maintained parks, libraries, roads, Bass Pro, a military to protect you from Bin Laden, space exploration, and protection from unsafe foods and drugs?
Sounds like a bargain to me when I think about it that way. 
But yeah, there probably won’t be a dime of retirement money for us. Shitty, but such is life.