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Opinion #1
Debater: paraquat99
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The "problems" with S.S. are short-term, shortsighted and exaggerated.
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Although I pretty much classify myself as a liberal-Libertarian, I support the Social Security system as it stands. As such, I find it disturbing that people in their 20s and 30s today so easily buy the conservative movement's twenty-year perpetuated distortion that Social Security won't be there for them. The fact is 70% of the "Boomers" now starting to retire had at least 2 children. Those children as workers will thereby supplement roughly 2/3rds of the Boomers S.S. checks until they die off in 25-35 years. The other 1/3rd can be compensated for by: 1) Raising the age to collect S.S. to around 68 years old(the average life expectancy of Americans today is 75-80, much higher than it was in 1935 when S.S. started); 2) Raising the S.S. income cap and begin collecting S.S. from those now making six-figures; and lastly 3) Boosting the amount of S.S. payroll tax 1-2% from current workers and employers under generational sunset conditions. To privatize or phase-out S.S. is shortsighted.
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Opinion #2
Debater: The Wild Goose
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Social Security destroys the fabric of society.
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In a normal society, people are cared for by their communities and families when they become old or infirm. People are cared for by their children, or by their local charities, or by their churches. They receive this care because they have spent their lifetimes cultivating good ties with these institutions. Therefore there is an incentive to be a good parent and an upstanding member of one's community. Those who don't maintain good ties with their children, or who deliberately anger their communities, are less likely to be able to obtain care late in life.
Social Security and other programs like it, however, destroy these incentives. When all the elderly are cared for from a common pool, a misanthrope with no children gets just as much support as a dedicated father who was a pillar of his community. This destroys the system of incentives that makes society function, in addition to all the practical considerations that make Social Security problematic. By all means, read the URL below.
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Supporting URL[s]:
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http://www.mises.org
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