Social Security, Medicare, unemployment benefits, workers compensation, and other social benefits were won through mass struggles by workers and farmers—first in the labor battles of the 1930s that led to the rise of the industrial union movement, and then the Black rights struggles of the 1950s and ’60s. These represent part of the basic living standards of working people—our social wage.

The tiny handful of billionaire families who rule the United States, however, face an increasingly acute crisis. Since the mid-1970s their profit rates have continued to decline. To turn this around they are driven by the inexorable workings of capitalism to wage a double offensive—a military offensive abroad under the banner of the “war on terrorism” and an offensive at home to roll back the social gains of workers and farmers and intensify class exploitation. That means ultimately dismantling the social security system and forcing workers to fend for themselves.

Because Social Security and other gains were won as a by-product of massive struggles, however, the U.S. rulers cannot simply take them away without a fight. The Reagan administration, for example, discussed “reforming” Social Security in the 1980s but decided not to run the risk of unleashing a social explosion. Reagan said that no politician would dare touch Social Security.

The opening wedge came under the Clinton administration, which chose an easier target: Aid to Families with Dependent Children. The Clinton White House callously dismantled what he called “welfare as we know it,” with virtually no opposition—with brutal consequences for millions. It was the fist major assault on the Social Security Act.

This attack, however, is not enough to turn around the economic depression the capitalist system worldwide is headed toward. The employer class is increasingly compelled to probe further in its attacks on Social Security and Medicare—which is what Greenspan’s statements represent. As part of the propaganda war to gain acceptance for this assault, the big-business media and politicians claim there is a fixed pot of Social Security funds—workers pay into it and then get retirement benefits from it. And now, they claim, the large number of “baby boomers” approaching retirement will soon “bankrupt” the Social Security program; it’s their fault. That is a lie—this program is simply part of the overall budget, and it’s the federal government that decides priorities. When they cry “budget deficit!” they would never, of course, consider cutting interest payments to the wealthy bondholders.

Greenspan’s warnings are part of ruling-class efforts to soften the beaches for a government assault on Social Security. Democratic and Republican politicians alike have floated various proposals to “reform” Social Security—to raise the retirement age, reduce pension benefits, increase employee taxation, and urge workers to set up individual savings accounts. Democratic politicians’ election-year denunciations of President George Bush notwithstanding, there is no doubt that if elected the Democrats—like their Republican counterparts—would launch the next assault. Their man, Clinton, has already blazed the trail.

The same week that he called for slashing Social Security, Greenspan warned that the debt-driven expansion over the past decade of two major government-sponsored mortgage institutions, known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, posed a “systemic risk” to the U.S. economy. Greenspan, of course, is one of the main creators of this debt bubble.

The latest probes against Social Security and the warnings about the mortgage institutions are further signs of where the capitalist economy is inexorably headed—toward a deepening worldwide depression. These economic pressures are sharpening the competition between the U.S. rulers and their imperialist rivals in Europe and Japan for markets and territories, as seen in last year’s U.S.-led war on Iraq.

This is not primarily an economic crisis, but the great political and moral crisis of our time.

For the capitalist class, when it passed Social Security legislation in the mid-1930s, it did so as a concession to the rising industrial union movement. The capitalists never expected to have to pay out much on this promise because U.S. life expectancy was lower than the retirement age of 65. But now workers live some 10 years past retirement age. So our lifespan has become a big problem for the rulers. “Why won’t you people face this?” the “experts” like Greenspan ask.

For workers, though, Social Security was the beginning of the attempt to moderate the dog-eat-dog competition imposed on the working class under capitalism. Social Security was an initial step by those who produce the wealth toward conquering the social organization of conditions necessary for life, such as education and health care, for a lifetime. Workers cannot make themselves think of each other as if they do not exist up to the age of 13 or after the age of 65. They have a different class view, a different moral view of society. Elementary human solidarity is in our interests, not in conflict with them. That’s why we should defend Social Security from the impending assault.
 
 
Related article:
…warns of ‘systemic risk’ from mortgage bubble  
 
 
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