Grace is refining her skills as a writer. Her challenge was to tackle a large problem in a persuasive paper. Here is the results! John and I did not help her other than a draft review :o)
Social Security:
Past, Present, and Future
Name: Grace Denson
Date: January 8, 2013
Class: Composition
Grade: 6th
What is
Social Security? Social Security is a government program that pays seniors once
they get out of the work force. Social Security was instituted during Franklin
Roosevelt’s presidency as part of the New Deal program in 1935. Up until this
program, people worked until they died. The purpose of Social Security is to
remove older workers so younger people can have jobs.
A very common misconception
though is that money taken out of your paycheck for Social Security is saved
for you. The money you pay is handed out to the older people on Social
Security. However, Social
Security is supposed to run out of money in a very short amount of time. It is
predicted to run out of money in the year 2043. That seems like a long time,
but it is 2013 already! That only leaves thirty years left in the life of the
program. In fact, Social Security was supposed to run out of money in the
1970’s. The only reason Social Security kept going was the baby boomers that
came after WWII. Now that all those people are retiring, there just aren’t
enough workers to support the retired ones. The system worked a while, but
Social Security doesn’t work anymore. The problem is clear, but the solution
isn’t.
What should
we do about Social Security? The program isn’t going to hold out much longer,
so we should privatize it. If Social Security was to be privatized, here’s how
it would work. The money you currently pay into Social Security would go into a
private account. When you retire, your money would be waiting for you.
How is this
solution better than Social Security as it is? Social Security can’t guarantee
you’ll get money when you retire. The money comes and goes. With privatized
Social Security, you’ll have access to the money that you put in your account.
If Social Security was to be privatized, you wouldn’t have to rely on the
younger workers to make money for you. The system would be more stable.
Other
people don’t agree with this idea. They argue that if you didn’t save when you
were young, you could still have a source of income. Social Security’s whole
point is to get older people out of the workforce. Privatized Social Security
would still get people out of the work force, but you would be using your own
money for retirement.
Social
Security has been around a while, so for some people the concept is difficult
to grasp. Some people say that Social Security is too large to privatize
effectively. Other people worry this change might cause more people to be in
poverty. Another point is that it
wouldn’t be public anymore. It wouldn’t
be public because you’d have your own account with your money in it though.
Social
Security was never a stable system, but this might be our chance to change it
into a stable system. Privatized Social Security wouldn’t rely on a pyramid of
people, just you. Privatized Social Security could potentially last for quite a
long time. Social Security is falling apart, so privatizing it could be a
chance to change the future of American citizens. Are you going to stand in the
past, or reach into the future?
Bibliography:
"An
Argument for Privatizing Social Security." Money Talks RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Jan. 2013. .
"Politics
Opinions." Should Social Security Be
Privatized? N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Jan. 2013.
.
"Privatize
Social Security." Privatize Social
Security. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Jan. 2013.
.
"Social
Security Basics." Social Security
Basics - Just Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Jan. 2013.
.
