Unite Against Social Secutiry

Crime in this country is really getting out of hand. I know this is obvious; it has been written about a thousand times, yet I still feel the need to share my frustrations. I have been robbed twice in the past 30 days.

So far, the criminals have made off with about $45 dollars. The worst part is, I know exactly who the thieves are, and I know that they plan to continue robbing me.

I was walking from work to my car about three weeks ago. I had been working at a local company for roughly two weeks. It was payday and I was eager to cash my first paycheck. I pulled into the bank parking lot and got out of my car. Just then, some FDR social program leftovers beat me up and took a huge chunk from my paycheck.

Ha. I fooled you. This is not about crime at all, it’s about paying for social benefits I will never see (which in effect is a crime in itself). Out of $240, Social Security took $14.88 and Medicare took $3.48. I know many of you have been numbed to the pain of being robbed by the federal government on behalf of a bunch of retired people, but this was my first time and I am still feeling a little burned.

Many youth my age who are entering the work force come into contact with a rather disturbing realization. Programs like Social Security and Medicare, which America’s youth will be paying into for the rest of their working lives, will be long broke by the time they reach retirement age. Frankly, I doubt the programs will last much past the first baby boomers.

Social Security seemed a safe program that allowed Americans to retire at a reasonable age and be sustained by the taxes collected on their paychecks back when they were working. Exactly what went wrong? Well, back in the Great Depression era when Social Security was introduced, the ratio of working people to retired people was 7-to-1. Then, amazing medical advances were made and people began to live longer.

Now the ratio of working people to retired people is 3-to-1. You don’t have to be a genius to realize that this requires higher taxes to sustain the ever-growing retired population. Oh, and those great medical advances I was talking about, well, those aren’t exactly cheap. Back in the ‘60s the federal government created Medicare. (Even without Medicare, the ‘60s were still a big mistake). Once again, my generation will be paying for Medicare, another program that will not last long enough to benefit us.

So, this just leaves us with the problem of what to do. Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of options. We can’t destroy these social programs as it would not be fair to the retired population who paid their share. And, don’t even think of trying to modify or reduce Social Security or Medicare because the AARP will not allow it.

The Association of American Retired People is basically a group of older voters. If you are a politician and wish to be re-elected, don’t propose to reduce or modify Social Security or Medicare because you will probably lose favor with the AARP. If you lose favor with the AARP, their members probably won’t vote for you and you probably won’t be re-elected. Groups like the AARP don’t realize that these taxes are a burden on the working class of America.

Taxes are bad enough, but it is almost intolerable to have to pay taxes for programs that will never benefit you. So along with paying high Social Security taxes, many workers also end up paying for a private retirement plans.

Fortunately, our generation does not have to worry about planning for retirement for a few years, but we do have to pay into Social Security and Medicare without hope of seeing any return. I really feel sorry for the workers of America aged 30 to 40 because they have been paying for Social Security all of their lives and they won’t see it either.

My recommendation is to become politically active (once you turn 18) and vote as often as possible against Social Security benefits. Vote for politicians who oppose a raise in Social Security taxes.

Explore the issue yourself. The AARP has their own Web page with information about their stance.

But please don’t vote against welfare. If you are an aspiring liberal arts major like myself you may need it in the future.