1 response so far ↓

• 1 Daniel // May 3, 2005 at 4:45 pm

  ââ?¬Å?There may be political reasons for cutting a monthly check to Bill Gates when he turns 65, but there are no sane policy reasons.ââ?¬Â Oh, come on. Political reasons are sane policy reasons. In an oft-used libertarian tactic, you point out the absurdity of the system and then claim that ââ?¬Å?Oh, if only policy was designed perfectly according to this philosophical concept, the world would be such a wonderful place.ââ?¬Â Yea, maybe, but thatââ?¬â?¢s not the way laws work. Democratic policy is never logical or consistent. You explain that ââ?¬Å?liberals will block such an improvement, because there’s no way for conservatives to credibly promise that, once Social Security is explicitly restructured as welfare, they won’t gut it.ââ?¬Â Thatââ?¬â?¢s it exactly. Social security was designed to solve a very real depression-era problem. But now itââ?¬â?¢s political. So what? Youââ?¬â?¢re not going to retire on social security. The amount of money deducted from your paycheck for social security is minimal; itââ?¬â?¢s really just not worth it to get so worked up over a philosophical concept.