Agreed....in order for us to change our way of life and to become more socialist, we would have to be smart with how we spend money...and preventive care would make healthcare so much more efficient....as with making those people do public service who get welfare..maybe four hours per day cleaning parks, sweeping streets, cleaning out abandoned lots, etc...
I like the fact that you said
"smart with how we spend money", as opposed to "smart with how we spend
our money. I think that's one of the biggest problem, ...inappropriate spending, and the mistaken belief that the people's money is actually the government's to spend. Even today, people are looking at Social Security as some form of government benefit. They've even changed the name to "Federal Benefit payment" when it is infact your own money that was taken from you and spent without your permission.
Pay attention to your next Social Security income, whether you get a check or an electronic deposit....note what it is now called. Have you noticed, your Social Security check is now referred to as a "Federal Benefit Payment"
The government is now referring to your Social Security checks as a “Federal Benefit Payment.” This isn’t a benefit – its earned income! Not only did you all contribute to Social Security but your employers did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that's close to $180,000 invested in Social Security. If you calculate the future value of your monthly investment in social security ($375/month, including both you and your employer’s contributions) at a meager 1% interest rate compounded monthly, after 40 years of working you'd have more than $1.3+ million dollars saved! This is your personal investment. Upon retirement, if you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $39,318 per year, or $3,277 per month. That’s almost three times more than today’s average Social Security benefit of $1,230 per month, according to the Social Security Administration (Google it - it’s a fact).
And your retirement fund would last more than 33 years (until you're 98 if you retired at age 65)! I can only imagine how much better most average-income people could live in retirement if your government had just invested your money in low-risk interest-earning accounts. Instead, the folks in Washington pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff ever did. They took your money and used it elsewhere. They “forgot” that it was YOUR money they were taking. They didn’t have a referendum to ask you if you wanted to lend the money to them. And they didn’t pay interest on the debt they assumed. And recently, they’ve told you that the money won’t support you for very much longer. But is it your fault they misused your investments? And now, to add insult to injury, they’re calling it a “benefit,” as if you never worked to earn every penny of it. Just because they “borrowed” the money, doesn't mean that your investments were a charity!
As for making people do public service who get welfare ... that's simply another form of slavery imo.
I think a social safety net should be just that... a net to catch those who fall, ...and help them to fly agin, but it appears the way these programs are administered, it has become more of a net to catch people and ensure they remain caught.
