Must read article: why those under 35 will support SSI piratization

[DebJ]

The first half or so of this article explained clearly to me why a young Christian man I work with has no concept of poverty and what government programs (including but not limited to SSI) have done. He is clueless, and now I know why. Below this little snip from the article is my response on www.thereisnocrisis.com and my email to Michael Moore.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2000/0011.mcdonnell.html

(snip)
While Clinton's speech was a substantive response to the Bush's, I suspected that Clinton's homage to Johnson and Roosevelt held as little meaning for much of Clinton's audience as my friend's allusions to St. Paul held for her art students. The reason? Much of Clinton's audience no longer has any understanding of poverty---whether working with the poor, being poor, or even sharing a bus seat with someone poor.

Nearly half the country is younger than 35, and the percentage of Americans who can remember Black Friday or the War on Poverty is on the decline. Those coming up behind them view poverty through a very different lens---if they view it at all. Not only have today's young adults come of age during an unprecedented time of peace and prosperity, their social history has largely been informed by such leaders as Ronald Reagan and Jesse Ventura, not Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. And, as America's class segregation has sharpened over the past 20 years, today's newest generation of affluent adults has had very little opportunity to fully appreciate their good fortune.

This shift in perspective is already having an impact on national politics; even the Democrats understand that talk of noble causes like ending hunger or combating illiteracy does little to rally the voters. During the first presidential debate, the only mention of poverty from either candidate came when Al Gore suggested that welfare reform should be extended to the fathers of poor children.

(end quote)

MY EMAIL TO MICHAEL MOORE:

Subject : America needs your help Michael

This is now posted on www.thereisnocrisis.com:

America's Most Realistic Home Videos

We need to make a documentary comprised of the stories of those who remember the Great Depression, and life before SSI impacted. We need these people to relate their tales of how government programs, like the GI bill with VA educational assistance, housing assistance, and the very many other government programs made a huge difference in the lives of so many.

Here is a great link to why we need to do this:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2000/0011.mcdonnell.html

I grew up hearing stories of the Great Depression from my parents, and grandparents. That story was reinforced by the daily choices and decisions that they made: the echoes of stories of food ration coupons could be seen throughout their lives. And thus, influenced mine.

Today's young people reflect none of those echoes: everything is me first, me now, only me; materialism run rampant: must have the latest cell phone, designer clothes, etc. This coincides with the lowest savings rate in our history.

Today's youth lack not only personal experience with the lessons of history; they also learned little to none of this in school, where history is too often taught as names, dates, places, and not the drama of conflicting ideologies and the results of implementing various ideas.

We need to acquire a massive library of videos of those who were educated by living it, before they are gone, and then choose to put the best of these into the media. I already emailed Michael Moore; someone needs to do a documentary; NOW.


So, anyone with a video camera willing to start video-taping stories from family or neighbors? I need to go borrow one.

[cap]

1. something is going wrong here...

we aren't in prosperity... we are still in the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression.... there are families who just arent making it... we need to publicize their struggles and why Social Security can't be messed with. There are young people who see what their families are going through.

[HughBeaumont]

2. If not because of materialism, then

maybe look at history (particularly Argentina) and finance - you can NEVER assume that stocks won't go through slumps at some point. It's called BALANCE. If you already have a 401k, a mutual fund and an IRA, you don't need this. The secure, low yield trust fund is something you WANT to have to balance out the nest egg, not a 15 trillion increase in debt over 40 years that will likely result in dollar devaluation and an SS account that's worth bupkis.

[Justyce]

3. I grew up during the Reagan years, which

is why I have first-hand knowledge of what it's like to be poor. I'm amazed that so many people have forgotten the Reagan/Bush nightmare.

[Career Prole]

4. Ah...the generational battle lines have been drawn!

"Nearly half the country is younger than 35..."
Tell you what, youngsters...you don't support screwing your elders and your elders won't support that 35-and-younger draft. Deal?

[mattclearing]

5. As a member of that generation, I find this argument wholly insulting.

I think people my age know better.

In case anyone missed it, we made Howard Dean happen last year with meet-ups.

I didn't see too many older people at those.

We're also the only age group that voted decisively for John Kerry.

I find this rationale insulting.

Older voters are the ones that were hood-winked into voting for Reagan, Bush, and Bush Jr. And for what? To protect from the commies and the terrorists?

Give me a break. It's the over 35 voters who can't be trusted to protect our future.

They've proven it with the candidates they send, the debt those candidates ran up, and the failure to frame the debate.

Get out of our way.

[Bridget Burke]

6. We'd love to get out of your way....

But we keep getting told the retirement age will go up. So we'll be sitting in these jobs for some time, yet.

[noonwitch]

8. I can't collect SS at the full rate until age 68-Thanks, Reagan

Luckily, I have a pension and have been working at the same place since I was 22 (I'm 40, now). I will work full time at this job until my house note is paid off, unless some incredible opportunity comes along, or I marry a rich (or even a middle-class) man.

Both of my parents were able to retire early, dad at 58, mom at 62. Dad went out on a disability, mom was forcibly retired because she was irritating her employer big time.

[mattclearing]

9. My main point is that liberal policy should be coming from the bottom up.

This article cites theory and conjecture as the basis for its conclusion, something that seems preconcieved for the weakness of supporting evidence.

She cites Maslow, but for huge masses of people...Maslow's process was meant to be applied to individuals, not successive generations.

This article is, in a word, crap.

With all due respect to the older folks, we are going to be the ones to clean up after what you didn't do in the 70's and 80's.

I'm not going to take the blame for what you guys collectively allowed to happen. If your retirement is endangered, maybe its time you did something about it.

According to the polls of young people I've seen in the past ten years, at some point we assumed en masse that we wouldn't be getting social security.

Something tells me though, that if anything happens to stop it from this crazy privatization scheme, it will come from people under 35.

The people over 35 have only themselves to collectively blame for our current predicament.

I'm amazed that more people didn't immediately shoot down this ridiculous article. People under 35 couldn't, and didn't vote for Reagan. We couldn't, and didn't vote for GHWB.

And if you examine the numbers we strongly supported Clinton, Gore, and Kerry.

Imagine the fiscal place (not to mention the geopolitical) the US would be in had voters under 35 gotten their way.

Young people, as always, are the solution, not the problem.

[fasttense]

11. You are sooo wrong.

B*sh stole the election twice while both young and old stood by and watched. It's not a matter of age. It's a matter of using your God given reason and logic to see the truth. I've met some dumb old folks and some dumb young folks. Neither has the monopoly.

[mattclearing]

12. Yeah, but the further away you get from college...

...the more likely you are to allow the MSM to do your thinking for you.

That's the way I see it. People my age know what's going on.

The older ones? My parents? They are grossly uninformed, and they read the newspaper every single day.

[DebJ]

16. of course there are always exceptions. My own children for

example. But I went to work today and asked everyone there, all but 2 under age 35, and none of them had any comprehension of those very hard times.

I remember the Reagan and Bush years, and if you look at my SSI reports that come out every year, you can find those years by the dive in my paycheck. But this is not the same as massive poverty as was seen before SSI.

Glad to see you are more informed. Come talk to those that work with me!

[alarimer]

7. They are very self-centered

Our society as a whole has become that way. People only care about aquiring stuff, the latest technology fad, whatever.

[newportdadde]

10. I agree with article I think. I'm 28 and your right

the people around me, my friends do support privitization. Now I think thats mostly because they are Republican to start with but I think it also comes from hitting that late 90s boom and thinking they can make huge returns with their SS money.

I'm different, I grew up much poorer then my friends(no AC 100 year old farm house, even qualified for food stamps for awhile though my father never took them, he got a second job instead). So I'm more conservative in my spending because I remember what its like to have no money. My friends never had that issue and carry a lot of debt. Right now they think I'm crazy for not being in the stock market as I feel its an overvalued trap ready to spring. NOTE: in 2000 I moved all into bonds and made 10% while they lost 20%+ during the decline. :beer:

So my generation around 30 has some flaws.

1) We have never seen really high home mortgages.(This is a GIGANTIC FLAW).
2) The housing market has always gone up in our buying lifetimes.
3) Credit card debt is considered okay or normal.
4) We believe in the whole if you work hard your rewarded method of thinking still.

Now the generation below us is even worse. They have all of the above and they have never lost money in stocks at all. They also are very big spenders. These Ipods... damn those things are expensive for kids to be grabbing them left and right.

Thats my take.

[fasttense]

13. It has nothing to do with age and experience of poverty.

It has to do with lazy thinking. It is so much easier to just buy into what politicians and TV pundits tell you than to use your God given reason and logic to see the truth. Neither young or old has the monopoly on laziness.

[mattclearing]

15. I agree with you on the lazy thinking.

People need to wake up.

[DebJ]

17. but when you grew up often hearing stories of the depression,

and with parents/grandparents making daily decisions and explaining the depression is what taught them to be that way, then you have the advantage of that living history, right there in your face, and you can't close your eyes, escape or deny it.

You live the experience vicariously.

[seabeyond]

14. the morons. in this liberal household and many other

liberal households who understand and embrace our past and value education will make sure our children will be the group of elite in the generation of attack on the worker and the middle and poor classes.

my kids will sqeak thru this time and be ok as i fight for the rights of the blue collar worker who voted for bush

they so dont get what they have created.