Richard Hanania

or we can just look at the history.

The Social Security Administration's own website says that its generosity peaked in 1972, when the program primarily served the greatest generation.

Since then, it's been one contraction after another.

In 1983, the government increased the full retirement age from 65 to 67.

In 1993, they made Social Security more taxable.

Since then, most of the changes have been cost-of-living increases, which are indexed to inflation and not the result of active lobbying on old people's behalf.

So why do many believe that old people have discovered a vote-themselves-infinite-benefits hack?

Since old people represent an increasing fraction of the population, are living longer, and face a secular trend of rising healthcare costs, even when their benefits per capita per year are stable or declining, the government will spend more money on them as a group.

This spending is indeed rapidly becoming unsustainable.

The elderly will need to accept big benefit cuts to make it sustainable again, and they are resisting those cuts.

So, have we finally discovered the fabled boomer selfishness?

Call it what you want, but remember that the boomers did pay money into social security to support their own parents, believing that they would be supported in turn.

Learning that yours is the generation where the pyramid collapses is a hard pill to swallow.

Maybe they should suck it up and take the sacrifice.

You'd do this, right?

Voluntarily give up money which is yours by right in order to help other generations.

Oh, sorry, you didn't hear the question.

You were too busy writing your 500th.

You don't hate boomers enough.

Why won't they hurry up and die?