Our philosophy of social insurance again arises out of the essential individualism of the American people. Our approach is that, within limits, the individual worker establishes the level to his protection by his individual contribution to our economy. I want to emphasize the distinction, "to our economy," not "to the system." Not to the Treasury of the United States but to our economy.~J. Douglas Brown
Untenable, unpalatable, unkind, historically wrongheaded and morally corrupt describes a Grand Bargain that takes money away from those, as stated above, who spent a lifetime investing in our economy, creating wealth; especially at the expense of giving the wealthy--who have greatly benefited from the labor of all--more tax breaks.
I've selected a few paragraphs for your perusal from the history of Social Security in hopes that as we move FORWARD, we honor the rights fought for and ingrained into our social fabric.
Passed in 1935, effective in 1936, declared constitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1937, the Social Security Act is now, in 1938, an American reality. Through its operation, allowances from combined Federal, State, and local funds are going each month into hundreds of thousands of homes where there are needy persons who are aged or blind or children deprived of parental support. Public-health programs have been expanded and strengthened from coast to coast. Similar progress has been made in promoting child welfare and vocational reeducation for the handicapped. Every State in the Union has an approved unemployment compensation law covering the majority of its wage earners, and in more than half the States unemployment benefits already are being paid. And finally, through the old-age insurance program, more than 40 million accounts have been opened to record wages on which will be based lifetime monthly payments to wage earners when they are old.
There can be no question that these facts represent something very new and very real to the millions of Americans whom they concern directly and the tens of millions who, as citizens, also share in the beneficial effects of this Nation-wide program. Basically, however, neither the purposes nor the methods embodied in the Social Security Act are new. Insecurity is as old as the human race; the history of civilization might well be described as a progressive struggle to master it.
In colonial days, when life was relatively simple, welfare activities were also simple and direct. Since, in the language of the times, "labor was dear and provision cheap," need was likely to occur mainly as the result of death or other physical disaster; and "the needy" were simply those of one's neighbors who kind suffered such misfortune A typical old town record recites, for example; that: "Whereas said Anthony is striker blind and his wife is very ancient, by which means they are incapable of getting a living," they shall receive yearly payments for their maintenance "during either of their natural lives." Our present public assistance program traces a direct line of descent from such early provisions.
The idea of joining forces for mutual protection has been a habit of ours throughout our history. Mutual cooperation has long been accepted as good business; and, practical men that they are, American businessmen have been its apostles. The pooling of risks through insurance is considered the epitome of economic respectability by those who can afford it. Social insurance simply extends this kind of protection to those who need it most and have been least able to obtain it.
A NEW AMERICAN REALITY, Frank Bane, executive director, Social Security Board. 1938
The first and foremost element in our philosophy of social insurance has already been suggested. Without that element social insurance does not exist. It is that the system must provide protection as a matter of right and not as a benevolence of a government, an institution or an employer. In establishing social insurance, our Federal and State governments reversed the presumption that a payment to an eligible individual was a generous act of mercy by a sovereign, to the presumption that such a payment, under social insurance, was the honest fulfillment of a contract between citizen and state. The right of the eligible beneficiary is protected, in general, by the conscience of the electorate and, in particular, by an established appeals machinery.
It is unnecessary to repeat that this concept of individual right in social insurance is peculiarly compatible to the American mores. We have fought for our rights more than once and our ancestors came here to preserve them. We are not given to the acceptance of wholesale assurances. We deeply prefer individual rights. We may on occasion crowd into great halls and stadia, but we prefer to hold our own ticket.
Now, it would be satisfying, looking back in history, if one could say-especially an economist-that it was the academic economist, the specialist group in the universities or Government, that brought about the change. But it wasn't. It was the people. It was the people who rebelled in the time of the Great Depression and who felt that individual personal dignity was not being taken care of under the concept of means-test relief; that rights were involved; that a man had a right not to have to be in that situation; and that with the universal franchise, he had a right to do something about it. It was the belated recognition that this was a poor way of taking care of individual dignity, and especially when one had a vote to bring it about.
Fortunately for all of us, the political leaders at that time, particularly Franklin D. Roosevelt, had sense enough to reflect the will of the people quickly and firmly, and through his leadership, to get this legislation on the books.
1955 speech by J. Douglas Brown, dean of the faculty Princeton University and staff member of Committee on Economic Security in 1934-35
Which elected officials will stand for the will of the people today? Republicans? Democrats? Who will stand with the conscience of the electorate?
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