Posted on 07/18/2005 1:15:39 PM PDT by qam1
Three weeks ago, my wife and I brought home our first child, a brand new baby boy. The experience has invigorated my thinking about the kind of world we will leave to the next generation.
We Generation Xers have big challenges ahead: Getting Medicare spending under control. Reining in Medicaid. Fixing the health-care system. Repairing private pensions. Simplifying the tax code. But the centerpiece of the world we will pass on is Social Security.
Our grandparents -- the World War II generation -- created Social Security and expanded it to include disabled persons, survivors and spouses. Our parents -- the Baby Boomers -- expanded it further. Today, we're living with the result: A program that can't afford its bills and is designed to reflect the needs, wants and desires of a society that no longer exists.
**snip**
The answer is clear. We know Social Security is in trouble. We know it cannot afford what it promises to our generation. We know there are models for how the program can be reformed, and we know they work. What are we waiting for?
As I see it, in 20 years when our children are running the show, I want them to be able to say: Our great-grandparents created a pay-as-you-go Social Security system. Our grandparents did nothing and threatened our financial future. But our parents recognized the problem and fixed it once and for all.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
If he honestly believes this, then he is (as dear Mark Steyn says) on Planet Zongo. A person whose world revolves around any government program has left orbit.
Maybe he's afraid his child won't do a thing for him in his old age. Personal responsibility does make child-rearing a high-impact activity!
Get out and vote in greater numbers than your greedy parents...
I still maintain that most Gen Xers are the children of Silent Generation and not Baby Boomers. The bulk of the baby boomers were only turning 20 in 1975.
I also maintain that we (Gen X) will not fix Social Security. It will go backrupt when we need it most. Best to prepare now.
I agree. I'm a Gen Xer (1971), and my folks were born in 1933 and 1935. Instead of Baby Boomer indulgence, I was raised with Depression-era stoicism. I think I got the better deal.
I'm not about to fix it myself--I would see it end before I see it fixed, and I certainly won't pay what the AARP expects me to pay in order to fix it. I'd rather sink with the Boomers who didn't prepare for their retirements, who'll scream "you owe me!" as the system once again demonstrates otherwise, than spend the rest of my life carrying them.
I have three letters for you: I-R-A.
My parents are pre-baby boom. And my mother doesn't understand how she raised a bunch of conservatives.
True, But the late silents (i.e. John Kerry) were just as bad as the early Baby Boomers.
I also maintain that we (Gen X) will not fix Social Security. It will go backrupt when we need it most. Best to prepare now.
It will go bankrupt before we get it, I doubt we will be able to fix it before then because it's going to be hard to dislodge the Baby Boomers from power, Paul Ryan a Gen-X congressman is the leader in pushing for SS reforms but unfortunely he's just one Xer to the hundreds of baby boomers in congress
My mom bought me a Roth, so I won't be a bag lady when I'm old :-).
A relative was a traveling salesman who visited some relatives on the road in S. Dakota. A young niece showed him her birthday present - a doll, or rather a *picture* of a doll pasted on some construction paper. Out of the Sears catalog. How far would that fly to-day in the age of iPods and GameBoys and all that? As a practical matter there is a whole lot more stuff to spend money on, but as a student of U.S. history, we can see that the real "greatest generation" was the one that produced the folks that lived through the depression and raised the WWII/K/V generations...
It should not be your childrens' and your grandchildrens' burden to support me when I'm an old fart!
My retirement is my responsibility alone!
Getcha ta put me back on?
Sorry,
I keep copies of 3 list on 3 different computers that I post from and someone quit recently and I think on my list at home when I removed him I accidently deleted the whole line of people he was on.
I'll make sure to put you (and the others) back on all the list
Well just in case you missed anything, Here's all the pings i've done this month
A generation's challenge
The Cosby Show - Season 1 [Warning: DVD set uses edited for syndication prints.]
As Generation X begins to hit 40, it's finding its place in the world
No matter the generation, reality TV is still a sham
Designed for Sex:What We Lose When We Forget What Sex Is For
"Back to the Future" Turns 20
George P. Bush: Lawmakers can't ignore Social Security problems
FReeper Canteen ~ Flashback Friday 1985 ~ 01 July 2005
Again sorry
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