Social Security's Looming Crisis Is Political, Not Economic

Ted

FYI: There are few traditions in American politics as cherished as the semi-regular panic over Social Security. There are equally few that are such utter balderdash on the economic merits.

The latest example of this time-honored practice comes to us courtesy of The New York Times. "Social Security's so-called trust funds are expected to be depleted within about 15 years," the outlet warned this week. "Benefit checks for retirees would be cut by about 20 percent across the board." The cuts could potentially rise to 25 percent in later years. About half of all seniors rely on Social Security as their primary means of income, and the program reduces the poverty rate among the elderly from 39 percent to 9 percent. If the benefit cuts do happen, that would be devastating. The question is whether the cuts, at the basic structural level, are actually necessary at all.
Regards,
Ted
https://theweek.com/articles/847000/social-securitys-looming-crisis-political-not-economic

BrianW

SSN will blow up in our lifetime. It will blow up because it is ultimately tied to the health of younger generations necessary to keep it afloat. Because of the triad of corruption between medical professionals (willful ignorance), big pharma and big government, SSN, medicare and other programs, have to fail.

We eat based upon recommendations of the government (food pyramid). This will insure more 20 year olds will have a medical problem requiring a prescription earlier in life than baby-boomers. From the moment they take their first prescription, they are caught in the matrix and become the intended milk cow for the said triad. And most will be caught in this matrix until they die. Big Pharma will continue to create drugs to address 'side-effects' of their drugs while curing nothing.

Medical professionals will play along by prescribing these maintenance meds because they have to. They have too many patients to actually concentrate on root cause and their patients want a pill to address their suicidal diet. We are literally eating ourselves to death.

Politicians get re-elected based upon the support of the food and big pharma industries.

We get to be blissfully ignorant to all of it while taking the blue pill.

All the while the rates of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cancer and other metabolic diseases creep ever northward. All of which is easily resolved by controlling insulin resistance.

And, best of all 'they' just need to sit back while we do it to ourselves.

But at some point, something will have to give. Because as the sick get sicker, and the needy become more needy, none of the social programs will be able to keep up. Especially SSN, the pyramid scheme dependent on the health of the youth.

davidrmoran

@BW,

>> All the while the rates of ... cancer ... creep ever northward.

Huh?


>> All of which is easily resolved by controlling insulin resistance.

How nice to think this.

You do know that this whole apocalyptic take is bad for health, right?

BrianW

@davidmoran: my view is actually worse than previously stated. The design of Social Security is very clever in that most will die before it has to pay out. This clever design would be exposed if most just changed their diet and lived longer, because then the Government would have to keep their promise, which they can't.

“It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”

Old_Joe

I guess that I never thought about it in quite that way. That certainly explains why there are so few older people now alive compared to the historical past.

Crash

"...At some point, however, you'd think the better move would be to acknowledge the trust funds are a political gimmick, and just spend whatever benefits our elected representatives deem appropriate.

Social Security may face a very interesting political crisis in the coming decade or two. But in hard economic terms, there is no crisis at all."
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Once again, for the 212th time: LIFT THE CAP. I have to pay-in on all the money I make. Why doesn't the guy making $12M or $16B have to pay-in on all the money he makes? Any attempt to rationalize that cannot justify the cap.

davidrmoran

Old_Joe said:

... never thought about it in quite that way. That certainly explains why there are so few older people now alive compared to the historical past.

Ooh, you bad, to be droll in the face of paranoia.

(Very good.)

Crash

Soylent Green is PEOPLE!

Old_Joe

@davidrmoran- Distance provides safety.