I'm a Generation Xer with 30 years until retirement, houseguests on the way and a Christmas tree still up in the living room. Brooding about Social Security isn't a top priority for me, like most others in my demographic.
So thank goodness for the senior citizens fighting the latest proposals to dismantle Social Security. While those of us in our 20s and 30s stay busy balancing work and family, celebrating the return of carbs and watching "Desperate Housewives," retirement-age people are watching our backs.
The proposed changes wouldn't affect today's senior citizens, as President Bush and other would-be reformers repeatedly say. But the AARP and other groups that speak for retirees, elderly women, minorities and disabled people are fighting back anyway. Older generations know better than younger ones what Social Security is supposed to be: society's insurance against poverty for the elderly and disabled.
It's not a get-rich plan, or a personal entitlement.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002155024_nielsen20.html