I've puzzled over that drop for a while. Many have speculated that some won't make it to the end, or that they won't benefit from the end of the DS. But after being around liberals for a long time, and some crazy ones at that, I wonder if maybe it's a simple statement that some people are going to be really angry to see some people thrive after the DS is removed.
I recall one particular person who didn't think it was fair that anyone should have more than her, or be better off than her, even if they worked hard for it, and she wasn't afraid to say it out loud. She was convinced communism would be much better for the country. And some of the comments I've heard from other more reasonable liberals over the years sound remarkably similar in retrospect when you see the pattern of comments.
I'm interested what anyone else thinks about The End Won't be for Everyone
Good points. One thing that would have to be phased out is social security, and slowly replaced with something self / employer funded. Too many people wouldn't survive without it, and not always because they didn't make an effort. Some lost their pensions due to corporate raids, leveraged buyouts, and chronic underfunding. Can't blame someone who thought part of their compensation was the retirement pension. If you invested in the market in a 401K (usually with very limited options) or privately without inside information or incredible luck, you saw the markets steal from you with every manufactured recession and naked options selling. Real-estate is great if you want to be a landlord and you don't become a victim of some government zoning, price controls, or protected criminals. A friend of a friend rented his house to a lawyer, and lawyer made a couple rent payments then stayed rent free for almost a year. He knew the rules and knew he could pull that stunt with no ramifications to himself. Also, its tough to make out where the taxes eat up any long term gains and the banks are manipulating the markets. Anyway, enough ranting...
Totally agree. You can't just rug-pull retirees who planned their whole life and retirement around having social security. On the other hand, you can't just saddle the current generations with 100% of these obligations which would be unfair and they probably won't stand for it anyway and would rebel.
I believe that personal charity is something that was wrecked by the welfare state. Suddenly taking care of others in your community and the less fortunate was considered the govt's responsibility. To close social security it is going to take hard choices and some combination of means testing, reducing benefits to the bare minimum and private charity.