All right, Social Security has been going since 1937, August 14--a Leo, just like me.  It’s been pretty successful.

What the heck, think I’ll give this Libertarian thing a try.

 

Here goes:

Cato

“The final element of the strategy must be to propose moving to a PRIVATE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM in such a way as to detach, or at least neutralize, segments of the coalition that supports the existing system. A necessary step toward this objective is to honor all outstanding claims on the current system. Without such a commitment, we can never overcome the political opposition to reform, because the retired (or nearly retired) population will continue to strongly oppose any package that threatens to significantly reduce their benefits. Retaining the obligation to fund existing liabilities, however, will necessarily place constraints on the mechanisms that can be used to move the country towards a private system…DETACHING WORKERS who have made substantial tax payments into Social Security may not prove to be too difficult.” – Stuart Butler and Peter Germanis, Cato Institute.

http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/1983/11/cj3n2-11.pdf

That article was from the Cato Institute.

(As an aside, Charles G. Koch was the co-founder of the Cato Institute, a think tank based in Washington DC, with Edward H. Crane in 1977.  Get this, David Koch presently serves on its Board of Directors. Along with wanting ownership of the social security system–nice work if you can get it–Koch Industries is an aggressive opponent of climate legislation and a major funder of climate skeptics, including the Cato Institute.)

Check out these links:

Plotting to Privatize z-facts.com

The premier libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute, was  founded by the Koch brothers, and David Koch ran as the vice presidential candidate against Reagan in 1980. Libertarian positions at the time included:

  • Abolish public schools, welfare, and Social Security
  • Do away with the I.R.S, the F.B.I., the C.I.A., and the Border Patrol
  • Legalize drug use, prostitution, and gambling.

You get the drift. Big government is bad, so get rid of government and let big corporations (like the Koch industries) have the run of the land. Eventually, Koch learned that these ideas were not popular and so he decided to take a secretive approach instead of running for Vice President. Now he sells toned-down versions of his ideas through the Tea Parties by using deception. It’s working much better.

“Social Security Reform: Achieving a Leninist Strategy” (1983)

As far as becoming a Libertarian, Na, not working yet.  I’m not gettin’ it.

Roosevelt

Seventy-eight years ago today, when President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, he sent across a simple but significant message: Americans, no matter their age or physical ability, should be able to live their lives with dignity. Though the times and technologies have changed, that message remains at the core of this Administration. – White House 

Anyway, isn’t a libertarian simply a Republican with a bong?  A Republican is a person currently with the party platform generally based upon American conservatism. Conservationism is, as an adjective, holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in politics or religion. As a noun, a conservative is a person who is averse to change and holds to traditional values and attitudes, typically in politics.  You know, an aristocrat.

“From the pharaohs of ancient Egypt to the self-regarding thugs of ancient Rome to the glorified warlords of medieval and absolutist Europe, in nearly every urbanized society throughout human history, there have been people who have tried to constitute themselves as an aristocracy. These people and their allies are the conservatives.” Philip E. Agre.

There you have it.

Will I be learning more and more about libertarianism? Yes. Will I take the plunge? Not today. But with all this crazy talk about people like the Koch brothers owning SS,  I am thinking more and more about the five rules of Neoliberalism–a  nauseatingly ill put together word in my mind. It involves:

1) The rule of the market
2) cutting expenditures for social services
3) deregulation
4) privatization
5) eliminating the concept of “the public good” or “community”

I guess I would be a failure as a Libertarian. Maybe I think too much.  Lord knows I’ve tried all the talk about freedom and liberty. My question is whose freedom are they talking about, David Koch’s or mine? 

 

Terry Gresham

 

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