A Proposal Short on Honor

In his February 7 op-ed, “Social Security: Anti-social and insecure,” Ted Nugent accurately describes the inefficiencies of the Social Security Administration (SSA), but proposes no suitable solution.

His proposal includes withholding payments to those deemed wealthy enough and those who have sufficient time to rebuild their personal savings. They are based on utility, but have we no principles? Nugent wants to teach youth about responsibility, but what about honor? We are a people of our word, and we should answer for the obligations of previous lawmakers.

A proper solution would make changes to ensure the dismantling of the SSA in the future, while upholding our national character that is based on recognizing the autonomy and dignity of the individual. Defenders of the status quo wrap their ideological preference for massive entitlement programs in social-democratic, egalitarian moral terms, so opponents must also make a moral case — and not merely a fiscal case — if we are to be successful. A transition period is needed, where people can opt to privatize their savings and the shortfall can be met by diverting funds into the system. Ultimately, we should work to fix the problem, not walk away from it.