The Past, Present, And Future Of Social Security

The Great Depression first started as early as 1928, but did not affect the United States until 1929. The Great Stock Market crash started the event of the Depression here in America, but was not the main cause to why it happened. During the early stages of the depression, President Hoover failed to help the economy and continued with his belief system of giving people the least help they needed, so they can earn themselves a rightful spot with pride, not with government’s help. The Great Depression was a very intense experience for us, even until today, the

The Great Depression in the United States began on October 29, 1929. This day is known as “Black Tuesday,” when the stock market in America crashed which led the country into its most severe economic downturn. Many banks failed, the nation’s money supply diminished, and companies went bankrupt and began to fire their workers. The Great Depression is one of the worst time in the history of the United States because hour wages dropped about fifty percent. It began by the complete collapse of the stock market when about thirteen million shares of stock were sold. Over the next few years, the government instituted a series of experimental projects and programs,

In the essay, “The Social Security Problem,” published in Sticks and Stones and Other Student Essays, Max Moore addresses the complex issue of Social Security running out of funds. He also addresses the possible actions that can be taken in order to provide a solution to this problem. Moore targets different audiences that are either directly affected or in control of this depletion of funds. He uses credible evidence to support his claims while also approaching the subject in a balanced and unbiased manner. Moore wants Social Security to both raise the retirement age and raise taxes.

The Great depression began in 1929 with a dramatic event called that Wall Street Crash. This led to the failure of banks and businesses all over the United States. Millions of people lost all their savings and their jobs, and thousands became homeless because they could not afford to pay their rent. Some homeless families lived in shacks made of cardboard. Others took the road to look for work. (Bingham J.) As it could be imagined it was very disheartening to many as losing everything that was worked hard for. Many events took place during this time, like the Stock Market Crash, The Dust Bowl, The New Deal and also Prohibition that changed the outcome of what people could and couldn’t do.

According to Foner the Great Depression was “the greatest economic disaster in modern history.” (Foner, 632) After the stock market crash in 1929, the people of America wound up in a massive amount of debt. The crash began due to a day called Black Tuesday, a day were almost all investors sold their stocks and the prices dropped to eventually become worth nothing. Since there were so many who could not afford to pay for objects, the value went down drastically and employees were eventually laid off from their work with no way of being able to find another one.

The Great Depression was one of the most severe economic situations in the world, and the effects of it were seen all around the world. It started in the late 1920s and continued on until the early 1940s, and it was known as “the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the western industrialized world”. Stock market crashes, bank failures, and much more left America severely inefficient and struck fear into the American people. Unemployment rates went through the roof, millions of people lost tons of money and savings, and American families were greatly affected. The stock market crash of 1929 started the Great Depression, and World War II ended it.

The Great Depression, which began in America in October 1929, was a time of great poverty all across the world. Starting with the stock market crash and then spreading to banks and eventually into other countries, the Great Depression left more than 16 million people jobless in America, and led to the closing of more than 800 banks. Herbert Hoover was president when this tragedy struck, and because he did not take action to help the American people, was not re-elected. Instead, the people chose to elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt who initiated the government’s increased involvement in our everyday life. Roosevelt began this process by reforming the banks, and went on to use the government to become involved in many different organizations, including the stock market.

The Great Depression is a notorious historical event that occurred on October 29, 1929, and holds an important meaning for many individuals who lived through it. The event put American’s hope to test and will never be forgotten. The crisis affected the economic and mental state of American citizens.

The United States’ Social Security system was implemented by Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935 as a part of the New Deal during the Great Depression “to frame a law which gives some measure of protection to the average citizen and his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age." Although the system has proven to be one of the most popular programs ever established, its future has been questionable for some time. According to the Social Security Administration (2008), “People are living longer, the first baby boomers are nearing retirement, and the birth rate is lower than in the past. The result is that the worker-to-beneficiary ratio has fallen from 16.5-to-1 in 1950 to 3.3-to-1 today. Within 40 years it will be 2-to-1. At this ratio there will not be enough workers to pay scheduled benefits at current tax rates” (Social Security Administration [SSA], 2008). This issue concerns many citizens, especially younger generations, and continues to be a hot topic of debate amongst politicians. Many ideas have been proposed about how to reform the current system. The most popular of these ideas is to create an entirely new system consisting of mandatory pension accounts which would allow individuals to accumulate a balance over time with investment options such as stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. This argument will show why Social Security should not be replaced by a mandatory private pension system.

On Tuesday October 29th, 1929 the stock market crashed starting what is known as the Great Depression. This depression was the worst economic breakdown in history of the modern business world and spread throughout the entire United States, even effecting the world. By 1933 American factories, plants and many banks closed their doors leaving more than 15 million Americans in an economic, social and psychological destitutions placing the American Dream inaccessible.

The beginning of the Great Depression can be accredited to the crash of the Stock Market on October 29 1929. The 1920’s had been a strengthening economic era, prices had stayed the same in all areas except one, the stock market. By the fall of 1929, U.S. stock prices had reached levels that could not be justified by reasonable anticipations of future earnings

In October of 1929, there was a worldwide economic depression that had lasted for ten years. It was known as “The Great Depression”. Life during the great depression was rough. Farmers lost their farms, the unemployment rate rose from three percent upward to twenty five percent in the nation's workforce. And people who still had jobs, their wages dropped forty two percent. The great depression started in the stock market, on wall street in New York City when traders sold twelve point nine million shares of stocks on October 24th, 1929. This was triple the usual amount, stocks began to fall twenty three percent for the next four days. This made the stock market crash. Which lead the investors to begin withdrawing their deposits from banks, causing the banks to go into a panic mode.

The Great Depression started within the year of 1929 and had finally ended in 1939. This was caused by the stock market crash in October, by this, causing the Wall Street into a panic and cleared millions of investors. As years are passing by, consumers are dropping their investment and thus causing companies to let go of their people. By 1933 about 13-15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the banks had failed due to people wanting to withdrawal their money. In the 1930s, President FDR came into the picture and he had helped the ease of the Great Depression, although it wasn’t enough; however, in 1939 after the Pearl Harbor Attack, it was finally getting back into gear with American industry and the Great Depression had ended.

     There is much-heated debate on the issues of Social Security today. The Social Security system is the largest government program of income distribution in the United States. People are concerned that they won't see a dime of what they worked so hard to contribute into the Social Security system for so many years. Social Security provides benefits to about forty-three million Americans. Not only to retired workers, but also to their spouses and dependents of the workers who die prematurely. It also provides benefits to disabled workers and their dependents. Social Security appears to most people like a simple retirement saving’s account. After all, you generally

The Great Depression of America started on October 29, 1929, after which, the day was known forever as “Black Tuesday.” The stock market of United States of America, which had been rising upwards for almost a whole decade, collided and eventually plunged the country into its most severe economic crises ever. Investors lost their investments, banks failed, the money of the nation supply shrank and companies got bankrupt and the workers got fired. In the meantime, President Herbert Hoover advised endurance and self-sufficiency. He thought that the crisis were temporary and considered it as a passing incident in their national lives, as it was not the job of federal government to resolve the issue.