“I’m against all of these programs, but no generation is going to die. The rules will just change.”
I think that state and local governments should be planning for the demise of medicare and social security, so that the suffering is minimized. I think that when it fails, that it is certain that needed care will be denied to whichever generation in which the system fails.
The failure of systemic federal socialism is in the cards.
Roughly 50% of Medicaid expenditures come from the federal government with the states picking up the other half. The Feds pick up 100% of expanded Medicaid under Obamacare for the first three years and then it is reduced to 90%. 22% of the average state budget is spent on Medicaid now.
The failure of systemic federal socialism is in the cards.
I disagree. I believe that your prognosis is based upon the assumption that the rules cannot be changed.
But, the rules can be changed. And, whenever necessary, the rules will be changed. If necessary, taxes will be increased or money will be printed. One way or another, the people who vote will continue to receive what they demand. And, old people vote.
Let me give you one example. When I was young, there were many, many politicians who opposed both Social Security and Medicare. See if you can name one presidential candidate of either major party who is today advocating the repeal of either Social Security or Medicare. When it comes to senior benefits, every one of them is now a socialist - every one of them. Those who talk about reductions in those programs talk about reductions that they cannot make, changes that begin in 10 or 15 or 20 years. They know (and they know that the voters know) that they cannot make laws to govern people 10 or 15 or 20 years from now. Those decisions will be made by people living then.
Every society faces the issue of caring for old people. What you are seeing now is the way we are deciding to deal with that issue now. How people in the future will deal with that issue will be decided by the people living then. We cannot decide that issue for them.
All this talk about the future (20 or 30 years from now) is baloney. If we decide to run up huge debts, that does not mean that future generations are going to pay that debt in the way you imagine. They might, for example, change the rules by raising taxes. They might, for example, change the rules by paying the debt with dollars that have less value. They might, for example, change the rules by refusing to pay the debt at all. People should consider these realities when they lend the U.S.money.
In 20 or 30 years, this country will be producing goods and services. It will undoubtedly be producing many more goods and services than we produce today. The people living then will decide how to distribute those goods and services. It is a mistake to assume that we can bind them to rules we devise today. Believe it or not, they may decide against using all that they produce to pay bills that we run up today. No generation is going to commit suicide.