As President Biden contemplates Social Security’s solvency, there is a critical message that needs to be carried forward with any changes except new taxes.
Retirement is not about longevity, but, about function.
When Social Security was first legislated, it was to ensure that older Americans did not suffer through old age, but, aged with dignity and comfort.
US Senator Sanders is spot on in stating aging Americans are about rest and grandchildren. The greatest injustice to Social Security is that it is viewed as a wad of money that Wall Street should have access. That is “W”rong. It is not a wad of money Wall Street can salivate over, it is the result of hard working Americans and their long view of life in the USA.
The last insult Congress carried out to Social Security was making it whole at the age of 72. That is a full seven years from some time ago when full retirement with no penalty was 65 years old.
In a recent conversation with a complete stranger he told me he and his wife NEEDED to have the full income from SSI so they were determined to wait until age 72 to retire. He got tears in his eyes when he stated his wife received her SSI only a few months before she died of natural causes. He went on to say he believed that is what Congress intended. He stated Congress didn’t care about the people but were striving to get SSI payments as close to the death of Americans rather than aging into the Golden Years.
The man absolutely believed that and I think he was right.
For many Americans the Golden Years are not so golden when they are incentivized to continue to work rather than retire. It reminds me of the “Carrot and Stick” approach of capitalism. The Carrot and Stick approach maybe a good way to get consumers to “buy up” and spend more money, but, aging is no joke and for the average American 72 years old for retirement is unjust. It is THAT word that needs to be at the heart of any debate about SSI; unjust.
Expecting to run this country like a business is a strategy that depersonalizes the “human experience “ and treats money like a citizen. It is cruel, depersonalizes the American experience, and creates a false narrative about our country, the needs of the people, and falsely elevates dollar bills above humanity.
It is time for the people of the USA to take back the humanity that was originally written into government programs like SSI and Veterans Benefits. That means there will be new taxes that will come from the only source available, namely billionaires that were facilitated by the American experience and a tiny transaction tax on Wall Street which would never had existed without this democracy.
We have had enough of cutting into the Middle Class and victimizing those most vulnerable in the USA. We want the USA to focus on the humanness of all of us. It is time to survey the university physicians in this country who treat the most vulnerable and have them talk about the aging of Americans and the appropriate age to set full retirement of Social Security and Medicare.
