Forced Choices, Part 4

This is Part 4 of a multi-part post.

This post is an attempt to explain how people can be forced to make financial decisions that are not beneficial, why Social Security is necessary, and why the system of medical insurance and private doctors in the United States needs to change.

There are SO many things wrong with what goes on in the U.S. Congress; it is hard to know what to talk about first.  I share the feelings of many Americans that the members of Congress are completely out of touch with the people they are supposed to represent. It seems that the majority of members either don't know, or don't care about the hardships most working and retired Americans face every day.  The policies they advocate are just plain bad for the average American, and only benefit the very rich and the biggest, richest corporations.

Now that I’ve firmly established that I’m not the brightest light in the sky when it comes to finances, I’m sure some people would say that I don’t deserve any sympathy because of my financial ignorance.  In fact, that sounds a lot like what so called “Conservative” politicians are telling the entire country these days.  It really seems like they are saying, “Hey, if you aren’t rich, you should just do us a favor and die so we won’t be inconvenienced.”

Now I am a classic reason why we NEED the Social Security system in the U.S. 

I’m a relatively bright guy; for example, I earned BA and MA degrees, worked for some of the top technical sector companies in the U.S. and never had a bad performance review, served honorably in the U.S. Air Force, and was number 11 in academics, in a class of 80, during my Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training, Class 71-08, at Vance AFB, Oklahoma.

However, I have consistently made bad financial decisions.  When I worked for Oracle Corporation, I lost money on company stock, when everyone else was making thousands, if not millions.  Personal life issues, such as divorces, haven’t helped, because after each divorce, it is like you are starting from zero financially.
Sometimes you are actually starting from a large NEGATIVE number.  I really needed a retirement plan where I HAD to put money into the system, it would be managed for me, and paid to me as monthly income, when I reached retirement age.  You hear people saying things like, “It isn’t the job of government to protect people from themselves.”  and, “I don’t need government acting like my parent.” That may be great for them, but a LOT of Americans do need help managing their retirement savings plans.

The theory behind the current Social Security system is that it is better to be proactive than reactive.  In other words, it is better to help workers save for their retirement so they have a reliable monthly income, than to have a large number of destitute elderly people.  Of course the current advocates of “Rugged Individualism” would do away with any kind of welfare system too, so the families of the retired poor and religious charities would be the only places the destitute elderly could turn.  We all know how little empathy many of the very rich have, and how ruthless the corporations are, so in reality, the elderly poor could expect very little help.  It sounds like the “Conservatives” who long for “The good old days” are actually trying to take us back to conditions in England, during the Industrial Revolution.  Next thing you know, the Tea Party will be advocating the establishment of Work Houses and Debtor’s Prisons.  Yes, I think it really does come down to the Tea Party saying to Americans, “If you aren’t rich, you don’t matter, so just go die and don’t bother us. We have shopping to do on Rodeo Drive.”

I’m sure some adjustments need to be made to ensure to continued financial stability for Social Security, but this system has worked since it was implemented in 1935, and it just doesn’t make sense to scrap something that works.

Setting up some “privatized,” patchwork system of mutual funds and bonds you can buy and sell is just going to make Wall Street richer and leave most working people with very little in their retirement accounts.

I believe that is the whole point of the current attack on the retirement system.  The rich aren’t content with the majority of the wealth of the country, they want it ALL, and they don’t want you and me to have ANY.  In addition, I think lots of employers would like to reduce the cost of having employees, and see the employer’s share of the Social Security Tax as something they would like to abolish.  The freshman class of Representatives seems to be firmly in the pocket of those interested in stealing the little, that working and middle class people still have, to further enrich themselves and their campaign contributors.

Social Security certainly isn’t socialism, because all workers and self-employed people put money into the system.  I contributed to the system from 1966 through 2010. I deserve a return on my investment, and I hope you won’t sit quietly in your rocker and let some lying politician steal the hard earned money we contributed to the system.

To be continued  …