Contemporary scholars, pundits, and politicians often describe Social Security as a social insurance program, which each of us pays into during our working years, that, one day, will protect us and other older people against the ravages of poverty. That description ticks all the boxes of contemporary piety: virtue (you worked for it); prudence (social insurance, setting money aside for a rainy day); fairness (reducing poverty); compassion (for the elderly). But just take a look for a minute at how Social Security was pushed in 1939 by the Roosevelt administration. “A monthly check to you—for the rest of your life.” The phrasing and imagery spill out and over with promises of the good life. That once was the program of […]