Why Social Security reform demands collective action

The lie they sell you: “Social Security is about to break”

The headlines scream catastrophe: “SS will run out of money by 2033.” It’s a sound‑bite that keeps you glued to the evening news, terrified, and – crucially – quiet. The truth? The system is still solvent if we stop pretending it’s a personal savings account and start treating it as the collective insurance it was built to be. The Fulcrum reminds us that Social Security’s strength lies in deliberate political choices to pool risk broadly and administer benefits simply (The Fulcrum). Yet the same politicians who champion “small government” are busy rewriting the rules so that the program looks like a broken promise rather than a living contract.

Who really benefits when the safety net frays?

When lawmakers whisper about “cutting benefits” or “raising the retirement age,” they’re not thinking of retirees. They’re thinking of corporate balance sheets and wealth‑extraction engines that profit when workers are forced to save more on their own.

• Wall Street firms tout “retirement accounts” as the answer, selling high‑fee annuities that line their executives’ pockets.
• Big‑tech payroll platforms charge fees for every paycheck they process, turning a public service into a profit centre.
• Lobbyists for the insurance industry push private “supplemental” plans that shift risk onto the poor while guaranteeing lucrative contracts for insurers.

The GAO’s 2023 report warns that if we ignore the looming shortfall, benefits could be reduced by up to 23% by 2033 (GAO). That’s not a “budget tweak” – it’s a direct assault on the working‑class bargain that promised a dignified old age. The people who stand to lose the most are low‑wage workers, women, people of color, and disabled Americans who rely on Social Security as their sole source of income. The people who stand to gain are the CEOs who can now shift retirement risk onto their employees and the investors who reap the fees.

The false promise of privatization

The neoliberal playbook tells us: “Let the market solve everything.” Privatizing Social Security is the latest incarnation of that myth. Proponents claim that private accounts will “boost returns” and **“give workers control.

• No credible study shows that a fully privatized system would outperform the current payroll tax model. In fact, the Social Security Administration’s own actuarial projections consistently demonstrate higher expected returns for the public system.
• Privatization would expose retirees to market crashes – just ask the 2008 financial crisis, when millions of retirees saw their nest eggs evaporate overnight.
• It would create a two‑tiered safety net, where those who can afford financial advisers get better outcomes, while the rest are left with stripped‑down benefits.

The claim that “private accounts will eliminate the deficit” is plain falsehood; it ignores the fact that any shift of payroll taxes into private accounts would reduce the trust fund’s cash flow, accelerating the shortfall rather than solving it. The NBER paper on Social Security’s changing environment highlights the uncertainty in long‑term projections, warning that policy choices, not market miracles, determine sustainability (SSA/NBER).

Collective power is the only cure

If the problem is political, the solution must be political. Individual savings can’t replace a system built on risk‑pooling. The only way to protect Social Security is through organized, mass‑based pressure that forces lawmakers to act.

• Union coalitions have historically won wage increases and protected benefits. When they mobilize around Social Security, they can demand a raise in the payroll tax cap and index benefits to real wages.
• Community groups can run voter‑registration drives targeting seniors and low‑income neighborhoods, turning the issue into a ballot‑box battle.
• Progressive legislators must be held accountable with recall petitions, public hearings, and relentless media campaigns.

The Fulcrum’s analysis shows that Social Security’s design reflects a collective decision to treat retirement security as a shared responsibility. That legacy can be reclaimed, but only if we re‑assert the collective over the individualistic, market‑first narrative.

What collective actions actually work

• Mass rallies in the capital and state capitals demanding a “protect SS” amendment.
• Targeted lobbying of key Senate Finance Committee members with data‑driven briefs on the economic multiplier effect of full benefits.
• Grassroots ballot initiatives to raise the payroll tax ceiling by 1% and to eliminate the earnings test for beneficiaries.

These aren’t pie‑in‑the‑sky ideas; they’re the same tactics that secured Medicare and the New Deal.

Misinformation that keeps us divided

The public debate is clogged with misinformation from both the right and the left. Below are the most pernicious falsehoods and why they crumble under scrutiny.

• “Social Security will bankrupt the country.”
  Fact: The Social Security Trust Fund holds over $2.9 trillion in special‑issue Treasury securities (SSA, 2022). The GAO projects a shortfall, not a bankruptcy. The program can be balanced with modest policy tweaks—raising the payroll tax cap by 2% or adjusting the benefit formula—without a fiscal apocalypse.

• “Privatization will give workers higher returns.”
  Fact: Historical data shows the public system’s average return of about 4.1% after accounting for administrative costs, beating the net returns of most private retirement accounts after fees. Moreover, private accounts would strip the trust fund of essential financing, worsening the projected deficit.

• “Millennials are draining Social Security because they earn less.”
  Fact: The aging of the Baby Boomer cohort is the primary driver of the imbalance, not millennials’ wages. The NBER notes that demographic shifts, not “work ethic,” determine the ratio of contributors to beneficiaries.

• “Raising the payroll tax would hurt small businesses.”
  Fact: Small‑business owners already pay payroll taxes on both employer and employee portions. A modest increase (e.g., 0.5%) spreads the cost across the entire workforce, with negligible impact on hiring, while preserving benefits for millions.

• “Social Security is a “welfare” program that creates dependency.”
  Fact: Social Security is an earned benefit. Workers and employers have contributed to it for decades. Framing it as “welfare” is a deliberate rhetorical move to justify cuts and privatization.

By exposing these lies, we cut through the fog that keeps voters complacent. The truth is simple: Social Security is a public insurance program under assault, and only collective, organized resistance can save it.

Why this should make you angry – and then act

Feel the heat of injustice. Think of the single‑mother in Detroit who relies on SS to keep a roof over her kids’ heads. Picture the 78‑year‑old veteran in rural West Virginia whose pension is his only lifeline. Their futures are being gamble‑d on the whims of a political class that sells us “reform” while pocketing campaign cash.

The anger you feel isn’t a personal grievance; it’s a signal of systemic exploitation. Channel it. Join a union, sign up for a community advocacy group, demand that your representatives vote for a payroll tax increase and benefit indexation. The fight for Social Security is the fight for economic democracy.

If you think the market will rescue retirees, you’re buying into a myth that has already cost the nation trillions in lost wages and increased poverty. If you think only “individual savings” will protect you, you’re ignoring the structural barriers that keep low‑income workers from accessing quality financial products.

The only viable path forward is collective action that reasserts the original promise of Social Security: a society that cares for its elders, its disabled, and its children, not a marketplace that calculates risk in cold numbers.

Sources

• Social Security Still Works, but Its Future Is Up to Us - The Fulcrum
• There Are Options for Reforming Social Security, But Action is Needed Now | U.S. GAO
• Social Security in a Changing Environment: Findings from the Retirement Research Center at the National Bureau of Economic Research