Francis Perkins on Social Insurance (what ultimately became Social Security):

It has taken the rapid industrialization of the last few decades, with its mass-production methods, to teach us that a man might become a victim of circumstances far beyond his control, and finally it “took a depression to dramatize for us the appalling insecurity of the great mass of the population, and to stimulate interest in social insurance in the United States.” We have come to learn that the large majority of our citizens must have protection against the loss of income due to unemployment, old age, death of the breadwinners and disabling accident and illness, not only on humanitarian grounds, but in the interest of our National welfare. If we are to maintain a healthy economy and thriving production, we need to maintain the standard of living of the lower income groups in our population who constitute 90 per cent of our purchasing power.

- Francis Perkins   http://www.ssa.gov/history/perkinsradio.html

Just something to think about as our political leaders mull over privatizing Social Security. Lots of rich people lost everything in the stock market crash just prior to the Great Depression. Now days middle class people are invested in the stock market through mutal funds. Another crash could see them lose the retirement savings.

Guess the question is: “Do you trust your own wiles to make more for your retirement than the government will provide.”

No answer. Just questions.