Poverty Eternal

Published on January 24, 2005 By stevendedalus In Politics

For social security to be under attack is nothing new — conservatives have for seventy years viewed it as nothing but an anti-poverty program. Poverty to conservatives is a matter of bad choices made in one’s lifetime of incompetence. Being low on the economic scale is no excuse for not putting aside a nickel or dime on every dollar made or going to night school to upgrade one’s pathetic existence. As for those truly incapable — orphans and disabled — there are abundant private charitable institutions to care for them.

Since, however, social security is so imbedded in our lifestyles, conservatives are conspiring to settle for nibbling away at the system by partial privatizing and ultimately abandoning altogether this safety net that has worked well for two generations and warranted for a third and more till 2042. The key to the conspiracy, which incidentally was pioneered by Britain’s Thatcher with disastrous results, is to slander anything bordering on socialism or social support as though individual choices were made in a social vacuum or from the highpoint of the well-to-do who obviously see no rhyme or reason for mandating savings since it is but second nature to those who have the surplus to do so without hardship. Now, however, since the nation is no longer made up of affluent conservatives, but also of the increasing unwashed that consistently vote against their own economic interests as they brazenly exhibited in voting against the interests of their fighting sons and daughters, the fear technique is again in the works to impress the populace that the system is bankrupt — equivalent to WMDs.

Therefore, the great unwashed is bombarded with no alternative but to partake the risks of Wall Street snickering.

http://stevendedalus.joeuser.com

Comments

kingbee

on Jan 24, 2005

to slander anything bordering on socialism or social support as though individual choices were made in a social vacuum or from the highpoint of the well-to-do who obviously see no rhyme or reason for mandating savings since it is but second nature to those who have the surplus to do so without hardship

the spectre of impending socialism/communism--the terms have been flung about interchangably since the late 1800s to denigrate a variety of causes, movements, legislative initiatives, etc.--has a unique history in america of driving middle & lower class opposition to unions and social programs.

national health care--villified by the ama as 'socialized medicine'--is a perfect example. it's terrribly ironic that one of the few cogent arguments against nhc used to be: "i prefer to retain the privilege of choosing my own doctor". in fact, that choice privilege was all but eliminated by the proliferation of corporatized medicine's hmos.

until recently, social security has been one of the few notable exceptions. while voters should be soberly considering what theyve gained and lost in the healthcare wars, they seem rather to be eagerly awaiting their opportunity to wager their future (as well as their children's earnings) in the national stockmarket lotto.

that's probably an innacurate assessment of the situation. one rarely hears of a fixed state lotto.

stevendedalus

on Jan 26, 2005

Very well expressed--I concur wholeheartedly.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!