Reply #34: "Financially" is the only way for older people to hold up their end? [View All]

I'm not disagreeing with you regarding the benefit of the social security system. There is a reason that conservatives have tried to undo it over the past 70 years -- because it is a wildly successful government program for the purpose for which it was designed.

However, that does not guarantee that SS will be feasible in the future. With the demographic bubble of baby boomers moving through the system, combined with declining revenues due to the decline in employment and economic activity, maintaining the system as we've come to expect it may not be possible within a decade or so. Are you insisting that there is absolutely no way that SS will be changed from its current form due to continued economic uncertainty and/or contraction?

Finally, the idea of older people "holding up their end" through strictly financial means is one borne out of the commodification central to the development of capitalism. I prefer to look at the other things that older people bring to the table -- most of which lay outside the realm of "productive economic activity." For example, I have to return to the role of elders I mentioned before -- the passing on of culture and tradition to younger members of the family, as well as helping to take care of children while parents work either inside or outside of the home. Such things may not show up in GDP calculations, but they are invaluable from a social standpoint.