> Date: Sat, 02 Jan 1999 21:23:51 -0800
> From: "Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu at mindspring.com>
> Subject: Carter on Social Security
>
> I just heard Carter say on the King show that twice as many people
> believe in UFOs than there are who believe they will actually collect
> social security someday. What do LBOers have to say about that?
There is a Libertarian group, [something]-2000 (sorry, I don't remember the exact name) that sponsored a poll which sure enough found that more young people (it was young people) believe in UFOs than will collect social security someday. This particular group is supposed to be a youth group concerned with financing Social Security in the next millennium. It first supported means testing, and now supports privatization.
The poll was clever, and I think accurate. However, it's a factoid. It measures not what people want but what they fear. There has been an unbelievable amount of crisis mongering on Social Security. People want Social Security. The crisis mongering has led them to fear they won't get it. In turn, their fear is worked on to get them to support programs to "save" Social Security that will divert Social Security income to private interests.
In addition, younger people have difficulty imagining benefits that far in the future even without crisis mongering. Speaking for myself, the benefits were unreal and not part of my thinking. Yet here I am about to collect my first Social Security check next month.
My memory is shaky, but I seem to recall widespread public doubt about Social Security in the first funding shortage in the 70s. This was reinforced by the next shortage in 1983.
What is really amazing is that young people believe in UFOs.