1111
It's rigged
(thelemmy.club)
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this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2026
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
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But social security isn't supposed to be a retirement plan. There'snot supposed to be a "return" on individualinvestment. It's meant to be a social safety net. Therefore it's fine for rich people to get less out of it.
It's also why the retirement age when it was instituted was 2 years above the average American lifespan. It was only meant to cover retirees who had lived longer than expected that they didn't want dying in the street.
But our lifespans got longer, so the number of people collecting social security as a retirement plan skyrocketed.
And the solution for the time being is simple: remove the $184,000 cap.
A unskilled laborer makes about $18 or $36k a year.
They have to pay 12.4% to social security.
36k×.124=4,464
$4,464
Income Tax
$36k-12,400=23,600
12,400×.1=$1,240
23,600×.12=$2,832
$1,240+$2,832=$4072
$4072
$4,464+$4072=$8,536
These unskilled laborers have to pay nearly a quarter of their pay in SS tax and Income Tax.
$8,536/$1,000,000=.0085
That's less than 1% to them.
Yes the rich do not need safety nets but they should help build them
If you were making a $1m salary. You could give up less than a precent of that and make one unskilled laborer's life 25% better.
It's crazy how much $8,536 more would help someone making $36,000
Yet the system is designed so it takes your $8,536 selling you a safety net
As long as the withdraw rate is based on contribution rate it doesn't really matter what the cap is, because you'd be increasing withdrawal along with contributions. Social security income for someone who was making $185k/yr will be far more than enough to keep them out of poverty, which is the goal of social security. It's not meant to be people's only retirement account, it's a safety net.
Having rich people pay into a system and then die is just beneficial. Even if their withdrawal rates are based on contributions. They will leave money behind or they with be neutral.
Someone making $36k a year pays $4,464 dollars for SS.
12.4% is a good retirement fund.
So government takes what could be your good retirement fund so you can save another 12.4%?
If someone really could save 24.8% they would have a great retirement. Yet the retirement for someone making $36K a year is looking grim.
That's all true, but I'm not sure if you're disagreeing with something I said or supporting it?
But the withdrawal rate shouldn't be based on contribution. A safety net that only provides for people who are already rich didn't make any sense.