When viewed through a British lens, one of the big questions of the American economy is how the tireless U.S. worker ever manages to retire. It’s been less than a century (1934) since FDR established Social Security as a measure to provide for Americans past their employable years. Here is what President Roosevelt wrote in his message to Congress introducing the proposal:
“Security was attained in the earlier days through the interdependence of members of families upon each other and of the families within a small community upon each other. The complexities of great communities and of organized industry make less real these simple means of security. Therefore, we are compelled to employ the active interest of the Nation as a whole through government in order to encourage a greater security for each individual who composes it . . . This seeking for a greater measure of welfare and happiness does not indicate a change in values. It is rather a return to values lost in the course of our economic development and expansion . . .”
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