The ADVANTAGES would be enormous. Many would be willing to take early retirement with social security benefits and medicare kicking in at this age. All workers would benefit from this early option. The economy would benefit from the redistribution of income. The early payouts would be funded by corporations and businesses returning a larger share of the wealth workers generated back to them in the form of old age pensions. Think of it as borrowing and repaying with interest. We all know how that works. The older generation would have more leisure years to enjoy life, embark on second careers, hobbies, travel. The younger generation would be able to fill the shoes of their predecessors instead of postponing meeting their career goals. Redistribution of labor as well as income.
As it is now, corporate America wears out workers, casts them aside and steals the profits they generate. The social security system is solvent. It is a lie to state otherwise. There are more than enough younger workers to fund older workers' retirement pensions; there is plenty of money all of us earned available to fund this idea. Where is it? In the hands of corporate America. They scream that redistribution of that money is socialism. I argue it is stoploss, recovering theft of workers' money which has been ongoing and relentless since at least the late 70's.
Seems like my idea is worth fighting for. I am sick of begging for crumbs. I want my share of the pie because my sweat generated the profits.
Some simple economics to consider. I am a public school teacher. My students generate 1000 dollars per head for my school. I teach 250 students per year. So I generate 250,000 worth of tuition for my school, a relatively inexpensive state school. I don't make a fifth of that. You might say, but what about all the support, buildings, system, etc? That takes money. You assumed no risk! Someone else built the infrastructure. I rarely, however, see much change in my daily classroom assignments. 20 years. I use the same white board, overhead projector, same unpainted room, the desks are the same. All that changed was I got a computer in my office. The president of the college makes about ten times what he made 20 years ago. About 10 administrative support people for every faculty member. None however have really ever had any input in my classroom practices or even set foot in that classroom for that matter. I sent an occasional student to counseling, more likely though they are in my office seeking guidance or support. I have a dean who will try to meet my needs in a pinch. Whose income I might ask was redistributed over the twenty years? Mine!! I read and corrected 1000 term papers and tests per year. I spent the weekends doing homework. I struggled to create daily lesson plans all the while meeting the busywork demands of my "support" staff. I suspect these numbers are even higher if you worked at Stanford, or you were a Boeing engineer or a Microsoft IT person. The re-distributed gains from all our labors built the empires of the Bill Gates and George Bush's of the world. We are the ones thrown the crumbs while those who assumed the "risk" redistribute the fruits of our labor like they earned them.
Call it whatever you want. I call it robbery, fraud and working for minimum wage. I say it's time we fight back for what is owed. If that's what socialism is, sign me up brother, sign me up!
Malvina Reynolds "The Little Red Hen"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdfvHayuLMo
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