social insecurity

Good4Nothin said:

This is what you said: "Like Oscar above, I've spent a lit of years playing music and traveling. I've always lived for the day and never thought about the next."

You know what? A LOT of us would have LOVED to live for the day and not think about the future. A LOT of us wanted to play music and travel!

You weren't "greedy" and you didn't want to work hard. So you're glad the society helps provide for your retirement. What you do not know is, it is GREEDY to let other people take care of you!

I had that hippie mentality when I was very young. But after a while it occurred to me that the society did not owe me anything. If I wanted to be worth something, I had to stop being selfish and greedy. I had to do something that I could get paid for. Every day, if I felt like it or not.

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I also said

I've always had some sort of job.

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I've mostly worked in between playing music which was merely beer money. I've been on someones payroll most of my life unfortunately. The SS administration sends me my yearly statement of what I've accrued and my projected payout at retirement. It's a nice little buffer that I've earned same as anyone that's paid into the system their whole life.

Back in th last century I was told by an elder (our society used to respect the knowledge and wisdom of elders), that "Luck is Too Often Mistaken For Hard Work." Now, as an elder myself, I understand the knowledge and wisdom of his statement.

A rich man I once knew (he'd dead now), told me that to have a happy and successful life, follow your passion. And working at a 'job' for the money instead of a 'vocation' for fulfillment is following someone else's passion.

Some of us are passionate about making guitars; others, about playing them.

SenorXm/Sirius said:

The larger agenda is the brainwashing of the Republican base by the rich in this country. As you mentioned there's MANY ways SS can be easily fixed. 20 years ago or so it ran in the green by BILLIONS of $'s. But times and our society has changed so it now needs a few tweaks..

But instead of fixing it because the rich don't like it, and they don't need it, so they want to kill it, and they got a large number of Republicans to agree with them..So that base continues to vote Republican and slit their own throats.

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Funny part, it's those same republicans who want to kill it.

The Old Soul said:

Back in th last century I was told by an elder (our society used to respect the knowledge and wisdom of elders), that "Luck is Too Often Mistaken For Hard Work." Now, as an elder myself, I understand the knowledge and wisdom of his statement.

A rich man I once knew (he'd dead now), told me that to have a happy and successful life, follow your passion. And working at a 'job' for the money instead of a 'vocation' for fulfillment is following someone else's passion.

Some of us are passionate about making guitars; others, about playing them.

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Ok, but you have to find a passion that the society needs or wants and will pay you for.

My passion is playing guitars, and that's all I do now that I am not working any more. There are way too many of us, so hardly anyone gets paid enough to live. I think we can blame it on recording technology, which has made music easily available to everyone. Bars and restaurants don't need live music -- sometimes they want it, but the demand is low and the supply is high, so they can get it cheap.

Most of the musicians I know did NOT try to follow their passion when they needed to make money and were raising their families. They would have wound up poor and having to depend on relatives or the government.

Most young people probably think about supply and demand, as well as their own talents and preferences, when choosing a career. Giving them the advice to follow their passion is not helpful. And I think maybe that's what a lot of the college loan scammers did.

Social Security Fact Sheet

12 Top Things to Know About Social Security

KEEP TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS AWAY FROM SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE !!!!


Do not allow this mad and vile regime of mobsters (TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS) back into our government !!!!

The biggest impact upon Social Security is not that more people are getting older... its the fact for the past 40+ Years American "EXPORTED THE JOBS THAT AMERICAN PERFORM"... Those 10's of millions of job... has led to the decline in good income earning job which means, less earning = less contributions.

One can lay blame purely on the wealthy and industrialist who engaged malice for 40+ years convincing UNEDUCATED people with the fallacy that "we can't compete", while filling these same UNEDUCATED with a Serf Mentality of believing that the Executives should be paid at rates 200-300 time more than the people doing the actual work... and the UNEDUCATED working poor Right Wing Republicans bought into it...... blind, ignorant and unaware they were cutting their own throats... they did not care... they only cared about the groomed in segregationist bigotry they grew up having that vile drilled into them. They were taught to do anything to block and stop the upward mobility of women, poor whites and for certain trying to stop minorities from moving up economically.

Now, they whine and cry, "they have been left behind"; when fact is... they did everything they could to push everyone within the working class down!!! all to feed the ignorance of their racial bigotry, and their lust of trying to retain white nationalism and expecting white skin priviledge to save them. They screwed themselves and everyone else in the process of that vile madness. Today, they are still "ignorant enough to try and deny it" .. while its overtly clear and visible in their backing of this mad man monomaniacal bigot Trump... who has screwed America since his government rip and looting daddy taught him how to do it... with this incessant tax dodging and swindler groomed mentality. The same bigot who has never had any respect for the working class in society, except how much he could 'fleece them for"...

the tax-cut legislation passed in late 2017 could lead some lawmakers to look for places where they might cut spending. “The stage has been set by the tax bill to take another run at Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,” says Max Richtman, CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. Control of Congress after this year’s elections will play a key role in how Social Security’s funding is addressed.

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Unless America get Republicans out of office, that include The Presidency, get them out of the Senate and Democrats keep control of the House.. Then and ONLY THEN... will there be legislation to "Fix and Improve Social Security, and strengthen Medicare.

These program will get worst if there is another Republican Administration and nothing will get done to benefit America People if we don't get the Republican out of the Senate.

America cannot afford to allow the mass of under-educated and un-educated Republicans to continue to vote to damage America. Most Democracy loving Americans by now.. know conclusively, that the under-educated and un-educated Republicans have been amassed into a cult of serfs..... still chasing the delusion after 100's of years to think the wealthy will give them something because they have white skin. It's the damnest thing ever in this 21st Century that a mass of people could remain that ignorance for 100's of years and still not be aware they have been groomed into a cult of serfs... 'worshiping the wealthy and still chasing the delusions of white nationalism... Still unaware that the whole premise of white nationalism is the reason they have been 'generationally poor and many destitute"... That level of ignorance is and has been damaging to America for 100's of years.

The wealthy made sure to create a form of segregation to keep them from thinking they could become more than serfs... they labeled them as "Poor Whites"... which was a form of Segregation by Class!!!! Poor White accepted it blindly and willingly and they knew what parts of town not to go to, they knew what place not to go to and they were happy to be wrapped in credit debt and segregated into gerrymandered serf voting groups... The sad reality is... they continue to try to blind themselves from acknowledging that reality in conscience...
They make excuses to avoid the truth of such facts. This is how the mentality of Serfdom maintained a consistent base of Serfs... they were groomed to make serfs out of their offsprings and of their communities. Still chasing a white skin delusion and totally blind and unaware that "white priviledge" was a construct for wealth whites... and white skin would never give access to white privilege that the wealthy reserved for themselves.

That's how Generational Ignorance has damaged America.

Many are still today, too caught up in that delusion of "white skin expectations" to wake up and join women and minorities in the push for equality and opportunity for economic equilibrium.... and to stop worshiping and expecting the wealthy will one day give them something.

Women and Minorities know not to expect that vain hopeless madness. Poor white blind themselves to the fact that well to do and wealthy whites do everything they can to avoid poor whites and will ignore them in general public every opportunity they can. If poor whites come into their wealthy community, they stand out like a blood stain on a white table cloth... which becomes considered as nothing but suitable for the trash.

integrityrespec said:

retirement plans of all stripes were intended to be investment over time. The company or organization you pay in to promises a return because they intend to invest your money for 30-50 years and make much more profit than they pay out. The problem with social security is the u.s. Government is the one managing it. Ever seen anything involving money the u.s. Government didn't mess up?

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World War Two

Luther said:

I would love to see the look on everyone's faces when the Government will have to raise the eligibility age to collect social security but yet again

Keep the faith and just trust

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Or the govt could raise the earnings cap.

Nickyjo said:

World War Two

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It was the Dixiecrat's taking over the Once Upon A Time (in the past) People Concerned Republican Party..... Today, the Republican Party is a Remake of the Dixiecrat's!!! The same Dixiecrat's who are filled with Confederacy Idealist.

People should be thankful the Democratic Party ridded itself of the Dixiecrat's... and Took Up the Fight for Civil Rights, Civil Liberities and the Respect of the American Ideals of Equality For All.

(Dixiecrat's = Southern conservative white politicians who objected to this course organized this party as a breakaway faction of the Democratic Party, determined to protect Southern states' rights to maintain racial segregation."

In the 1960 presidential election, Republican Richard Nixon won several Southern states, In the 1964 presidential election, Republican Barry Goldwater won all four states .
In the 1968 presidential election, Republican Richard Nixon won every former Confederate state except Texas.)....

That was when the former Democratic ideals of segregationist.. became under the Republican Banner. )

Nickyjo said:

Or the govt could raise the earnings cap.

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Democrats will get that done... along with creating a new type of Industrial and Manufacturing Boom for the 21st Century and Beyond.

Democrats will also reverse the madness created by Ronald Reagan... and again make Education and Skill Training Accessible to All American within the Working Class Society.

Currently Trump's Betsy DeVos is doing everything she can to damage anything and everything of education... because they'd love to turn American working people into the same type of "indentured servants' that Andrew Johnson tried to do after the end of Slavery. The only people who can't see it is the cult group of serfs the Republican party has created.

Serf = Serfdom was the status of many peasants specifically relating to manorialism, (Manorialism or seignorialism was an organizing principle of rural economies which vested legal and economic power in a Lord of the Manor in simple terms 'Plutocrats") and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude,

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Today's people are caught in a defeatist cycle of "debt bondage"... and can be forced to work for low wages, because of their debt bondage. They can't afford to pay for skill training, higher education and in many places, they can't even keep up maintenance on the homes and vehicles or the standards to provide their kids quality educational programming within the schools system.

Good4Nothin said:

Ok, but you have to find a passion that the society needs or wants and will pay you for.

My passion is playing guitars, and that's all I do now that I am not working any more. There are way too many of us, so hardly anyone gets paid enough to live. I think we can blame it on recording technology, which has made music easily available to everyone. Bars and restaurants don't need live music -- sometimes they want it, but the demand is low and the supply is high, so they can get it cheap.

Most of the musicians I know did NOT try to follow their passion when they needed to make money and were raising their families. They would have wound up poor and having to depend on relatives or the government.

Most young people probably think about supply and demand, as well as their own talents and preferences, when choosing a career. Giving them the advice to follow their passion is not helpful. And I think maybe that's what a lot of the college loan scammers did.

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There's a world of difference between having the passion to play guitar and being good enough to make a decent living as a guitar player. Getting married and raising a family has snuffed the hopes and dreams of quite a few that had the potential.

d0gbreath said:

There's a world of difference between having the passion to play guitar and being good enough to make a decent living as a guitar player. Getting married and raising a family has snuffed the hopes and dreams of quite a few that had the potential.

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I've been playing instruments since young, but I was never interested to play the "struggling musician role"... so I worked... I saw no need to get hung up in the cycle of seeking value of being called a struggling musician with a vain hope that I could one day say, I was a struggling musician who made good". For some that is a pathway they choose, some make it and some don't.

Music is many things but the music industry itself is a program of its own, a few people select who will and will not get financial backing. There's been a lot of "One hit wonders" who fade into obscurity, to revert to a lower circuit and carve out a living.

Today, a determined person can "produce themselves", as digital recording equipment is very inexpensive in comparison to how it was before, and there are web platforms or one can create their own to promote their own music.

Rap Music was once thought to be a short lived category, but now it has found its way into many other categories of music, and the commercial and movie industry has embraced it within its sound tracks that become big market moving tracts.

A great many musicians spend their time trying to be "cover players", repeating other peoples music. I personally never took that as a measure mark of whether or not I can or cannot play. I play what feels good to me of what I want sounds to do.

Therefore: No one can tell another what pathway to choose.

As to work, I've had long careers working, as I was never a Job Jumping Fanatic. I held various jobs before I engaged the long career job... and now I work a second career. My work cannot be "exported"... !!!! It is also in the best interest for the entity I work for that it not be "outsourced"... So... I can work until I'm ready to not work anymore. When I am not willing to keep a daily job, I can work as a consultant, and I have various readily available choices of areas I can do consulting work.

I keep building my home music room, and I will also build a "small craft wood working shop in my back yard".... of which I can market items via the internet.

So... I say its interesting for any individual to develop a variety of skill sets... if they can and if they want to... some people choose to specialize in one.

I'm not interested in any concept of "Retirement" where I just do recreational and lounging things.... I can already do that... "after work" and "weekends".

I have friends who retired from various jobs, and went out and found jobs...

Some do other things, and one for example, 'Restores old cars", because that's what he has done his whole life even while working, he also Builds Custom Made "Steel Bar-B-Que Pits.

I see some who do lawn service work, and one older guy did "stump removals"... Therefore, I know as long as Health is Good... People are amazing in what they can find to do.

Some people do like the recreation and lounge life and if that works for them... then its "great too".

Money Only is not everyone's objective...