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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (72353)	1/16/2000 12:34:00 PM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 108807

You are probably right, the actuarial unsoundness will necessitate more radical measures......

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (72353)	1/16/2000 12:58:00 PM
From: Rambi	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

Lizzie-- I see the SS debate rages on-- and I thought you might get a kick out a column I wrote last year before tax season for the Fort Worth paper. You and CW would love each other! I'm in the kitchen staring into the pantry. Dinnertime approaches and I'm wondering what nourishing and edible meal I can possibly create from a can of black olives, a jar of applesauce and a stale box of Wheaties, when the front door slams with a definite attitude. My sixteen-year-old's voice precedes him into the kitchen. "Mo-m-m-m-m!!" I know that tone. He's upset, he's furious, he's incensed. I debate the viability of hiding in the pantry, in case it's my fault, but I'm too late. "Look at this!" he demands, shoving a piece of paper in my face. It's his first paycheck. "Honey, that's wonderful!" I gush--and it is-finally the man-child is working- and willingly-albeit for someone else. It gives me hope that he someday will pay for his own junk food and giant Nikes, thus freeing up a great deal of money for the household coffers. "No, it's not!" he snaps. Obviously I have said the wrong thing. “Look at it! I made $320.00 and this check is for only $260.00!" Ahhh-light dawns. He didn't understand about Uncle Sam! Perhaps he hadn't realized that Uncle Sam is not some kindly, eccentric relative with unconventional fashion sense who is going to let his beloved nephew slide by without paying his dues, as it were, just because he's a member of the family. "I can't believe they take that much from me! I'm a kid! I'm saving for college! I need that money and it's my money!" His voice rises in righteous indignation; he is moved by the force and power of his own eloquence. I nod sympathetically, wondering what words of comfort I can offer. That he was getting off easy paying only 20% and it could be, and probably will be as the years pass, a lot worse? But he needs no encouragement from me; he's on a roll now. I stand there, black olives in hand, and listen. "It's time for the American people to revolt! We have to take a stand against government theft! What if we refuse to pay taxes?" His typical teenage mind begins the search for a way to avoid the chore. "We'll get arrested, I think." Government is not my forte. "Not if we all do it! We have to unite!" Pause--I see him mulling over another idea. "I need to be President." "OoooKayyy, but he doesn't get much done, either. Something about division of power.” "Well, we need to get rid of Congress too. Then I can get stuff done. I need full power." "I think that's called a dictatorship, Honey. It's not a popular form of government here.” He brushes this aside. “It's just temporary. After I fix things, we can put Congress back.” (Didn't Caesar say something similar to this?) “Well, what would you change?” I am curious; he does have a creative and fertile mind-maybe he has some good ideas, maybe we won't have to write that nasty check come April. “Well, first I get rid of all Welfare and Social Security.” “Ah---I see. So what will the people who rely on those programs do?” “They can go to work, like the rest of us.” he says nastily. My, how quickly he has become one of the resentful working class proletariat. “The old people already on Social Security can keep getting it,” he adds beneficently, “but no new ones.” “Gee, that could be hard for the people who are depending on it for their retirement in the near future.” I point out, not unreasonably, I think, for his father and I will be one of these. “MO-MMMM!” Uh-oh. That voice again. “Someone is gonna have to do without in order to fix this! Someone will have to feel some pain!” “Well, OK, Honey, but you might have to support Daddy and me in our dotage.” “You'd better start saving more then,” he says, sternly. “I can't afford to do that.” Ahhh-- I get it! Someone has to feel the pain...just not him! This sounds familiar! Welcome to the real world, Son.