The Generational Warfare Fantasy
by digby
Here's another in a long line of articles by conservatives filled with many lies and distortions one of which is the assertion that generational warfare is going to be the death of social security because young people are convinced that there will be no benefits for them so they'll vote to kill it. The problem is that young people always say this. I said it. It is also enormously difficult to persuade young people to save money in their 401ks, but I don't see anyone proposing that this is because they have no faith in the stock market. It's because they can't picture being old and they have other, more pressing, things to spend their money on. Aside from a few college Republican hitmen, most young people simple aren't engaged in the issue.
It is true that recently the polls have shown that general pessimism about the solvency of social security is at an all time high. But I would attribute it to pessimism about everything being at an all time high. (And needless to say the dishonest campaign being run by Pete Peterson aristocratic overlords is helping to create hysteria over it.) But keep in mind that traditionally, the people who vote on this issue are retirees and those for whom retirement is a looming concern --- usually those over 50. (This latest poll breaks it down as 35-55 and 55+, so I don't know how that plays out specifically, but my anecdotal experience with people my age is that retirement becomes a serious concern in the late 40s.)
And here's the demographic reality. The large number of people who are both focused on social security and who will vote on social security is a very, very large number of people:
I am sorry about this. But we have, since the 1980s been paying extra to cover the extra expense of our large demographic by buying US Treasury bonds like good responsible adults. The idea that we are now being told those treasury bonds are worthless strikes me as a tad disingenuous unless Pete Peterson thinks the billions he has invested in the same treasuries are worthless too.
And one other little observation, which I've made before: if young people don't want to pay into social security they probably need to start saving for a very big house with a couple of extra bedrooms for mom and dad and possibly grandma and grandpa too. That's how everyone used to live before social security was enacted --- with most of those that didn't have kids able to take care of them living in grinding, horrible poverty. Perhaps the prospect of that will make people realize that social security is a very good deal.
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