Social Security - Essay Example

Essentially an “investment” that all taxpayers must contribute to, it is the largest government program in the world, and the greatest expenditure in the Federal government’s budget (Office of Management and Budget). The social security program in the United States was and remains a safeguard against poverty like that seen during the Great Depression—a time in which poverty affected nearly half of all American elderly. It seems that, in the event of a current or future economic calamity, social security would provide such protection, and ensure that tragedy does not strike those Americans who cannot earn capital when the financial climate becomes inclement.

A social security system is one that utilizes public funding in order to economically secure private citizens. Established in 1935, the United States’ social security system provides not only for the poor elderly, but also for those who are disabled and cannot work to earn a stable income. The income that the social security program provides is merely supplemental. All employed taxpaying citizens contribute to social security, which diverts this money to those who are of age or unable to work.

Those eligible for benefits receive an amount proportionate to what they have put into the program through taxes. Although this is true, social security pays disproportionately to those who are earning low incomes; thus, social security tries to provide for those who need its benefits more. This is perhaps social security’s most noble intention: based on current estimates, social security is reported to prevent roughly half of elderly Americans from poverty, which closely follows the original intention of the program (Orr).

Despite this, the Supreme Court has ruled that no one has legal right to social security benefits, and that entitlement to benefits is not a contractual right (Flemming v. Nestor). The origins of American social security lie in Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, a