George Will’s Nov. 6 column (“American self-reliance lost amid government payments”) repeats the traditional complaint about Americans’ alleged loss of self-reliance, cradle-to-grave coddling, the nanny state, government transfer spending, etc.
But Will admits that by far the greatest cause of growth in this transfer spending is our aging population and associated Social Security and Medicare costs, while the working-age population that pays into those trust funds shrinks. Either Will does not realize that these facts totally destroy his basic argument about self-reliance, or he actually believes that unless you are rich, getting old, retiring and needing health care is an immoral lifestyle choice.
Will’s column is symptomatic of the politics that blames liberal social philosophy while ignoring true causes and offering no solutions other than trickle-down economics and “let them eat cake.” A significant step toward better Social Security and Medicare funding would be available, but Americans apparently prefer to elect fascist racists who will slam the door on immigration and deport millions of hardworking, productive people who otherwise would have paid those taxes for decades before ever using those benefits.
But the rich will be fine. They will have their tax cuts. True American self-reliance means the rest of the people should just work until they drop dead. Or better yet, just drop dead now.
David Richie
Wyomissing
Source: Berkshire mont
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