Social Security is not Welfare
March 8, 2011 Leave a comment
I cite this interesting blog because some my think that social security is welfare. It is, in fact, an insurance program for the uncertain future.
Read on if you are interested and you think that the government should start whacking away at social security, you may need it one day.
The main feature of Social Security is not welfare… The main feature is insurance against economic risks and as such it makes us collectively better off. Calling it welfare when it isn’t is misleading and causes unnecessary class distinctions and resentments from the losers ex-post. More importantly, it ignores and obscures the important role Social Security plays in society as insurance against the economic risks we all face.
If you think you are so rich and powerful that you don’t need such insurance, consider this. The stock market collapse of 1929 at the onset of the Great Depression wiped out substantial quantities of wealth. The typical stock was worth only one sixth its pre-crash value once the bottom was reached. Whatever insurance existed in the stock market evaporated as the crash unfolded.
It wasn’t the poor jumping out of windows on Wall street. If you think it can’t happen to you, think again.
About Stephen E. McGaughey
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