First of all, let me apologize for not posting anything this summer. This summer's job involves a lot of writing and staring at a compute screen and, quite frankly, when I get off I don't even want to see a computer for the rest of the day. However, tonight as I was riding back to my apartment on the metro I saw something that I felt I needed to share.
The metro is the lifeblood of D.C., taking people from home to work, back again, and to all points around the city. You quickly learn the system and become a pro at navigating the various lines to get from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time. You and the other riders become cogs in a giant machine. Nameless, faceless, lifeless.
Tonight, however, I was not caught up in the frantic commute and actually took the time to acknowledge that I was sharing a tiny metal car with countless other lives. It was at that moment that I saw them. A dad carrying his little girl on his back as we exited the car. They must have been in the car behind me because I did not notice them at all during the ride. What initially caught my eye about the pair was that the little girl, probably around 10 years old, was completely bald from chemo-treatments. As I watched the dad and his little girl walking through the station in front of me, I noticed that the dad, too, was bald. However, his baldness wasn't due to age or health. The top of his head was whiter than his face and neck, and bore the telltale razor bumps of a freshly shorn scalp. Immediately, it clicked - "he shaved his head for her."
This brief encounter was an amazing picture of love in the midst of a city that is all too often cynical and self-centered. As we go about our lives and daily commutes, we often lose sight of the fact that everyone around us has their own unique story and struggles. It's nice to take the time every once and a while to stop and think about the complete strangers that pass through our lives while waiting for the doors to open.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Social Security
Admittedly, I am not well-versed in the intricacies of Social Security policy. But an off-handed comment made by my Labor Law professor during a recent lecture got me thinking about the need for serious reform of the system.
"When you think about it, Social Security is really a giant Ponzi scheme."
The comment itself was one of those asides that could easily be missed or forgotten over the course of the hour and a half lecture. With the ongoing financial crisis and the oft-discussed Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, however, the comment became poignant. It struck me that the U.S. government, thorugh the Social Security system, is engaging in actions strikingly similar to those for which it is prosecuting Madoff.
Under his Ponzi scheme, which is worth about $50 billion, Madoff would pay investors not with profits made from the money they invested, but with the money paid by subsequent investors. When the financial markets started going under, Madoff's scheme collapsed and he was arrested for securities fraud. He now faces up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine if convicted.
Considering my professor's comment, an argument could be made that the U.S. government is operating a giant Ponzi scheme in the form of Social Security. The Social Security system operates (basically) in this manner: current employees pay into the system in the form of payroll taxes, which the government then distributes to retired individuals in the form of Social Security benefits. Thus, Social Security fits nicely into the definition of the Ponzi scheme: earlier investors (i.e. retirees who paid in while they were working) are receiving benefits out of the money that is being paid in by later investors (i.e. current members of the workforce).
My point is not to defend Madoff, who should certainly pay for his crime, but to point out the hypocrisy of the U.S. government prosecuting an individual for engaging in certain activities while the government itself could be said to be engaged in the same type of activity.
"When you think about it, Social Security is really a giant Ponzi scheme."
The comment itself was one of those asides that could easily be missed or forgotten over the course of the hour and a half lecture. With the ongoing financial crisis and the oft-discussed Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, however, the comment became poignant. It struck me that the U.S. government, thorugh the Social Security system, is engaging in actions strikingly similar to those for which it is prosecuting Madoff.
Under his Ponzi scheme, which is worth about $50 billion, Madoff would pay investors not with profits made from the money they invested, but with the money paid by subsequent investors. When the financial markets started going under, Madoff's scheme collapsed and he was arrested for securities fraud. He now faces up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine if convicted.
Considering my professor's comment, an argument could be made that the U.S. government is operating a giant Ponzi scheme in the form of Social Security. The Social Security system operates (basically) in this manner: current employees pay into the system in the form of payroll taxes, which the government then distributes to retired individuals in the form of Social Security benefits. Thus, Social Security fits nicely into the definition of the Ponzi scheme: earlier investors (i.e. retirees who paid in while they were working) are receiving benefits out of the money that is being paid in by later investors (i.e. current members of the workforce).
My point is not to defend Madoff, who should certainly pay for his crime, but to point out the hypocrisy of the U.S. government prosecuting an individual for engaging in certain activities while the government itself could be said to be engaged in the same type of activity.
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