Old people have lived through the most prosperous time in our history. The fact that some don't have a savings and rely solely on social security is really their problem - why should people working 60 hours a week and barely feeding their own kids be responsible for these elderly who couldn't be bothered to save for a rainy day. They need to move in with their kids, nieces, and nephews like in the olden days - or deal with being sick and poor. I know that sounds cruel, but this is the reality of our economic times.
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 7570540 No one likes to think about the young. Old people want you to pay for their retirement, never mind that people in their 20s and 30s have college debts, might want to start their own families, can barely find work as it is and are struggling to feed their own families, if they have a family.
When Social Security was set up in the 1930s, it originally exempted business owners from paying in to it. The reason? The government thought if you were smart enough to run your own business then you shouldn't have to pay in to Social Security. Stated different, the average person is too stupid to save money.
Many people will decry these cuts as barbaric, but Social Security is a terrible program to begin with. Just because politicians over promised the Baby Boomers, doesn't mean that Social Security is underfunded. That's why promises shouldn't be made unless they can be kept. But politicians don't care about the public, they only care about themselves and getting elected.
Baby Boomers will just have to admit they were lied to and bought in to the idea of a generational ponzi scheme. Either there's honest cuts to Social Security and other entitlement programs or the purchasing power of our money will further decline due to higher inflation than what already exists.
Regardless, we're all going to pay dearly for the idiotic policies voted for by the masses and implemented by the political class. Thanks to military adventurism, excessive taxes, excessive regulations, Wall Street fraud, enormous government deficits and Ben Bernanke monetizing our deficits to the tune of over $1 trillion a year, we're all fucked.
If you're old, consider moving back in with your kids. If you're young, consider moving to another country that has more freedom and opportunity.
"A government big enough to give you everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything you have...." -Thomas Jefferson
