Democratic societies in the 21st century must manage a disconnection between generations of a greater dimension than ever before. While the objectives and needs of younger and older people have always been somewhat different, seniors are becoming a larger percentage of the population in developed nations, living longer and needing more support. In America, as in many other advanced countries, older citizens are receiving a greater share of government benefits than their numbers would warrant, leaving fewer resources for the young and society as a whole. This is partly because political power rests disproportionately in the hands of those who are older and vote regularly.
In March of 1988, the cover and an essay in The New Republic depicted selfish “greedy geezers” draining America of resources that might be utilized in a more constructive fashion to provide growth and economic development. There was concern that the economy would be constrained by heightened expenditures on the older population and that less funding would be authorized for societal investments.
What was worrisome then remains an issue today, with federal, state, and municipal debt, and unfunded pension obligations all skyrocketing. While federal debt and budget deficits are partially the result of unwarranted tax cuts while the nation was involved in two wars during the Bush administration, the burgeoning of an aging population with their requirements for Social Security and Medicare is the major driver of America’s long-term debt. The questions raised by this, are how can a decent quality of life and medical care for the older population be maintained, debt controlled, and investments that will promote America’s future prosperity all be funded, guaranteeing that the millennial generation and the nation’s youth are treated fairly?
Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees in their 2014 annual report noted that “neither Medicare nor Social Security can sustain projected long-run program costs in full under currently scheduled financing, and legislative changes are necessary to avoid disruptive consequences for beneficiaries and taxpayers.” The two programs together were responsible for 41 percent of Federal expenditures in fiscal year 2013. As it has been doing, the Trust Funds will pay out more in hospital benefits, Social Security benefits, and other expenditures in future years than it obtains in income, given the aging of the population and the retirement of the Baby Boomers. The report states that the earlier these problems are addressed by lawmakers, “the more options and more time will be available to phase in changes so that the public has adequate time to prepare.” Unfortunately, a do-nothing Congress has thus far done nothing to tackle these dilemmas.
While several years ago, the overall trajectory of medical inflation seemed to have been reduced, costs are again increasing instead of stabilizing or going down. Whether health care inflation will continue to moderate in the future is uncertain. The only sure way to reign in heightened spending on care is to end fee-for-service medicine. Physicians need to be on salary or a similar system is required to cut unnecessary care and excessive inefficiencies and overhead.
Similarly, Social Security expenditures must be addressed aggressively. In 1950, there were sixteen workers for each Social Security beneficiary. There are now 2.9 workers per beneficiary with only two predicted by 2030. In addition, recipients of Social Security are living considerably longer than in the past, which means that more benefits must be paid out to them over time. This can be cured by having recipients obtain Social Security benefits later by raising the retirement age. Besides helping with Social Security’s finances, this would also aid the general economy by keeping more needed skilled workers on the job. Having Social Security taxes paid on higher levels of income for those working would also help, as would more taxes on the benefits of those who have greater incomes.
In addition, America’s future must be guaranteed by more federal spending to improve its aging infrastructure which literally needs trillions of dollars. And Head Start and pre-kindergarten programs must be expanded to help poor and lower middle-class children catch up academically with their wealthier peers. There should also be more grants and subsidies for higher education so that students are not burdened with monstrous loans when they graduate. The rates on current loans should also be lowered to make them more affordable for younger citizens.
The disaffection of the younger generation from the path of the nation can be partially seen in the support that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have collected. Economic benefits are not being distributed to all segments of the population and many Americans, both young and old, are unhappy with the politicians who made promises and did not deliver. So they blame the political establishment and stick a finger in their eye.
Social issues that separate the generations, like abortion and gay marriage, will be worked out over time as society’s values evolve. Immigration and gun control cut across the generations, although younger people generally favor a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. How the government will spend its money is the main question in the generational divide. Satisfying both the older and younger segments of the population will not be an easy task for politicians who do not present a unified front on anything. If younger people want the system to change, they will have to vote in greater numbers to have their needs met.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
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Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020