Communist Party USA: Talking crazy about Social Security

[Karmadillo]

These guys are nuts. Doubting Our President, thinking about the "future". Crazy stuff. CNN will never take them seriously.

http://cpusa.org/article/articleview/618/1/27/

<edit>

Section 5 -- Secure the Future by Securing the Present
Let me double back and discuss one of the arguments that claims Social Security faces a crisis. This is the demographic argument. It goes like this: In 1960, there were 5.1 workers per retiree. Today there are 3.3, and after from 2040 until 2060, there will be about 2 workers for each retiree <5.1>. Taxes from those 2 working people, according to this argument, will not be enough to provide benefits to each retiree.

This argument, coming from the right, implicitly recognizes the labor theory of value. It points out, correctly, that all value comes from active workers. But if we really face a demographic time bomb, privatizing social security will not solve the problem. With or without private accounts, we will still have the same ratio of retirees to workers.

But the whole demographic argument is hogwash, as shown by economist Doug Orr in the latest issue of Dollars and Sense.<5.1> "It's the overall dependency ratio (the number of workers relative to all non-workers, including the aged, the young, the disabled, and those choosing not to work) that determines whether society can 'afford' the baby boomers' retirement years. In the 1960's, we had 1.05 worker for each dependent, and we were building new schools and the interstate highway system and getting ready to put a man on the moon. No one bemoaned a demographic crisis or looked for ways to cut the resources allocated to children; in fact, the living standards of most families rose rapidly. In 2030, we will have 1.27 workers per dependent÷ While it is true a larger share of total output will be allocated to the aged, just as a larger share was allocated to children in the 1960s, society will easily produce adequate output to support all workers and dependents, and at a higher standard of living." Orr points out that real productivity per worker roughly doubles every 36 years, so that workers and retirees should be able to enjoy a higher living standard in 2040 than today, despite the increase in the senior population. <5.2>

The demographic changes are real. Orr asks, "Where will the that baby boomers are going to consume in retirement come from?" He says, use today's social security surplus to invest in health infrastructure that seniors will need, along with training doctors and nurses.

I agree with Orr, but think his vision is too narrow. The U.S. needs massive investment in the social and physical infrastructure to enable young workers today, and the next generation of workers, to lead fulfilling and productive lives. This means building schools and training enough teachers and aides so that every child graduates ready to be a productive member of society. It means closing prisons and funding every young person with the talent and ability to go to college. It means ending imperial military ventures around the world, and devoting those funds, and the energy of young people, to the hundreds of billions of dollars in backlogged rail, public transport, water supply, and environmental projects. It means solving the growing crisis of state and local government funding. Carrying out this program would also create millions of new jobs, with additional billions in payroll taxes going into the SSTF, making the program even stronger financially.

more...

[dorktv]

1. Yep commies suck. :)

[leftyandproud]

2. even though virtually everyone here agrees with the commies on this...

don't expect them to admit it..

don't want to give the freepers any ammo. That's why this got zero responses. ;)

[struggle4progress]

4. Actually, some have stayed away from commies because ...

... after the mid-1950's their organizations consisted largely of FBI infiltrators and provocateurs. This historically meant that certain circles for decades contained clusters of professional disrupters who were experts at provoking schism and producing bad publicity.

[JoshK]

3. Yeah, that stuff about "ending imperial military ventures" is wacko

All red-blooded Americans should certainly turn up their noses at anything that deranged subversives like this have to say!