I found myself in a discussion about personal finance earlier and we made our way to the topic of Social Security. During the course of the conversation, my beautiful and incomparable lady love simply illustrated the importance of the program and how it effectively works.

People who are working right now are making contributions to the massive pool of funds that make up Social Security. The department responsible for handing out the checks takes money from the current pool to pay recipients who made sufficient contributions in the past to collect now. So the people who are working now are not investing in their own fund, per say, rather, they are helping to keep the elderly and disabled of the country afloat in the present. The social contract is that in the future, there will still be a fund, and the younger people of that generation will continue to work and contribute, making it available to our generation at that time. It is, as the base, one of our most socialist programs, and part of what makes us truly special.

But it’s also one of the first things on the chopping block literally every time a discussion about fiscal responsibility comes up at the federal level. Every one of these schmucks ran their campaign saying that they would protect this crucial program, but the second shit gets tight, they are sharpening their blades and eyeing vital organs.

Social Security has existed since 1937 and during my adult lifetime it has stood as a pillar of what all of this “hard work” was really for. You put in the time so that later in life, you can enjoy literal security in the form of a monthly stipend.

But one of these times, the calls for cuts will put the program in danger of becoming completely unviable and eventually the pool dries up and it ends. When I started working out of high school, I couldn’t even imagine this happening. It didn’t come up because there was no way such a shift could occur.

And then:

9/11.

The Dot Com bust.

2008.

COVID-19.

Hyper inflation and what might be permanent changes to housing affordability.

(Enter next world-shattering event.)

Alongside all of these devastating events, I saw the increasing threats to gut Social Security to make up for budgetary shortfalls. And more and more I see a real possibility that the program will dry up and die in my lifetime, ahead of when I might stand to collect from it. That leaves a person feeling insecure and not especially social.