YOU WAKE IN YOUR BED AND BELIEVE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BELIEVE. (A RED PILL IS SHOWN IN HIS OTHER HAND) YOU TAKE THE RED PILL AND YOU STAY IN
WONDERLAND AND I SHOW YOU HOW DEEP THE RABBIT-HOLE GOES. (LONG PAUSE; NEO BEGINS TO REACH FOR THE RED PILL) REMEMBER — ALL I AM OFFERING IS THE TRUTH, NOTHING MORE. THE MATRIX (1999) WRITTEN BY ANDY WACHOWSKI & LARRY WACHOWSKI
Ever wonder where we got the modern concept of “retirement” ? Taken from the Old French word “retirer” meaning “to retreat” the notion of older persons transitioning into retirement, especially at a fixed age, may be a more modern concept than we might presume. 1881: German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck institutes a sweeping government-based retirement security plan that will later become the template for US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Social Security Act in 1935.
At the core of Bismarck’s pay-as-you-go plan was the mandated retirement age of 65 years. Notable, because many of Bismarck’s closer competitors, those vying for power, were of that same general age or above. So, we have a self-serving autocrat keen to peel off his opponents and establish the first of its kind government Ponzi scheme that has younger workers paying for the benefits of retirees who are induced by carrots and sticks to retire at a prescribed age. And thus began the generalized notion that one’s usefulness as a worker would necessitate one’s “retreat” at 65 into a post work safety hammock heartily supported via payroll taxes on the younger generations and by the full backing of the government. My question is why this notion has stuck so readily in the Zeitgeist of so many governmental bureaucracies? Many of society’s elders have attained a vast store of experience, knowledge, wisdom, and are not lacking in the ability to acquire new skills. Why would an entire generation be incentivized to leave the work force? And at a time when their attained wisdom and experiences are at their most valuable height?
Times change; we fast forward to January 31st, 1940. A photo taken that day shows Ida May Fuller standing at her mailbox, proudly displaying the first Social Security check issued in the amount of $22.54. Her total payments into Social Security: $24.75. She broke more than even with the next month’s check and in fact having lived to 100, she collected a total of $22,888.92. Let’s see, that’s a 924% return. The saga……..
