It’s hilarious when
people who tout the benefits of socialism point to the failed Ponzi scheme
known as Social Security to prove their point (George Wilson’s letter, “Elements
of socialism make life more livable” of March 19, 2019). Actually, Social Security is the poster child
for what happens under socialism – government sponsored failure.
Like most schemes
and games of chance, the odds were set up to benefit the house (government) not
the players (taxpayers). In its inceptions,
actuary tables insured that a majority of people paying into the SS system (and
often their dependents) would never live to see their first draw. So back then about 42 workers covered each beneficiary. As American society’s life expectancy has increased
the number of workers per beneficiary has steadily fallen. Today only about 2.8 workers support each beneficiary
and that number continues to fall. That Mr. and Mrs. America is an unsustainable
model brought to you by your federal government.
Wilson is
absolutely correct. He paid into the
system his entire working life. He did
his part. The government however took
Wilson’s payment and irresponsibly spent that money, much of it on self-serving
vote buying schemes, long before Wilson was ever eligible to receive his first
payment. The federal government has now done something Wilson and 99.99% of
other beneficiaries would never do, saddled their children and grandchildren with
the cost of supporting them in their old age.
Many of the other
things mentioned by Wilson such as roads are primarily funded by state and
local governments. Most of these
projects, like Ft. Wayne’s own downtown projects, are far from altruistic. They are undertaken in an effort to support or
attract business in order to expand the tax base i.e. more money for government.
The so-called “safety
net” Wilson peddles as an example of good government now more accurately resembles
a hammock creating cradle to grave, generation to generation wards of the state
(see using tax dollars as vote buying schemes above). Public education, once seen as essential to produce
a productive workforce and responsible voters, has morphed into nothing more
than a propaganda machine for leftists.
So now socialists
like Wilson want to turn over the means of production of key industries like
energy, healthcare, education, transportation, agriculture etc. to government.
Visit Venezuela to see America’s future in less than one generation under such
government control.
To put it in a
nutshell – big government sucks.
Elements of socialism
make life more livable
I enjoy getting a
Social Security check every month (I paid into it all my life). I enjoy the
health care I get through the Veterans Administration. I'm grateful to have
paved roads to drive on. I like being able to borrow books and other media from
the library. I'm glad the library has computers available for public use. I'm
thankful I have police and fire protection.
I'm willing to pay my
fair share in taxes so poor people have access to food, shelter and medical
care. I'm glad we have programs such as SNAP, Medicare and Medicaid. I'm
thankful that air travel, the medicine we take and the food we eat are made
safer because of government-funded safety programs.
If that makes me a
socialist, then color me red! Stop being afraid of a word, people. We've had
socialism for years, and you like it just as much as I do.
George Wilson
Fort Wayne
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