Most readers of my column are very nice and very normal people. Some are more progressive in their political thinking. And some are more conservative in their political thinking. But most of these folks, whether they lean left or lean right in their politics, generally agree that Social Security has been a force for good in this country.
But then there are those whose politics are just a little to the right of Attila the Hun who hate Social Security. All I have to do is write something rather benign such as, “Social Security has helped some people in the United States.” And these guys (and it’s almost always guys) blast me with emails labeling me everything from a “socialist” to a “communist” to a “traitor.”
One recent email I got illustrates their views. He wrote, “Social Security is a deep-state plot to bring down the United States.” What these guys just can’t understand is that countries around the world recognize their citizens must come together as a caring society to provide some kind of base of support to older people; people with disabilities; and widows, widowers, and orphaned children. And the mechanism all these countries use to make sure this happens is social security.
I have always been amazed by the number of people who think the concept of social security is unique to the United States. Or they figure that maybe a couple of those “socialist” countries, such as Sweden and Denmark, have social insurance programs in place, but surely not too many other places.
Actually, just the opposite is true. Almost every country on the planet has a social security system in place for its citizens. And many of those countries had social security laws on their books long before the United States jumped on the social insurance bandwagon in the 1930s.
I have in front of me a book called “Social Security Programs Throughout the World” that is produced by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It provides thumbnail sketches of the history, funding, and benefits of each country’s social insurance system. There are currently about 190 countries around the globe. And 177 of them have social security programs.
I always point this out to young people who fret about the future of our Social Security system. I tell them that social security isn’t an American experiment in socialism that will someday run its course. Instead, social security is a worldwide phenomenon. It’s a system of rules and laws in place everywhere in the world, from Albania to Zimbabwe.
The United States
First social security laws: 1935.Funding: Workers pay 6.2 percent of wages matched by employers. Self-employed pay 12.4 percent.
Germany
First social security laws: 1889.Funding: Workers pay 9.8 percent of wages matched by employers. Self-employed pay 19.6 percent.
Argentina
First social security laws: 1904.Funding: Workers pay 11 percent of wages; employers pay up to 17 percent; self-employed pay set monthly fees based on the kind of business.
Australia
First social security laws: 1908.Funding: Paid for with general tax revenues (no payroll or self-employment taxes).
Niger
First social security laws: 1967.Funding: Worker pays 5.25 percent of wages matched by employer.
Benefits: Retirement at 60 or age 58 for government employees or age 55 if “prematurely aged”; disability benefits with a loss of 66 percent of work capacity; survivors benefits to children under 14 and to widow(er)s if caring for a dependent child.
These are very brief outlines of just five of the 177 social security programs around the world. But I hope they help make the main point of this column: We don’t have a social security system in this country because politicians are trying to ram socialism down the throats of a naive American populace. We have our Social Security program because we are civilized people who, like human beings across the globe, recognize that citizens must come together as a society to help older people, people with disabilities, widow(er)s, and children when a worker dies.
