Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Poll Looks At Reformation

"Most nations have grappled with some form of social security," says James Metzger in a recent article distributed by the Arkansas Forum. "Ancient Greeks stored olive oil as a form of financial security during old age. The English Poor Law of 1601 included a tax that helped the elderly and the infirm."

"If we left the decision to the experts' and pollsters, the fate of U.S. Social Security reform would have already been clearly decided in favor of privatization, Metzger, an economist with a research and consulting firm in Little Rock, stated. "But a more careful discussion of attitudes towards social security has convinced me that the public has not completely made up its mind. Polls indicate that while people want some changes, they do not realize the trade-offs in benefits or retirement ages that might result."

Last year, he conducted a poll during economics classes at two Arkansas universities. The initial position of the students was completely in favor of privatization.

But after more review and study, slightly more than one-half of the students changed their positions away from complete privatization.

What explains this rather dramatic shift in attitudes?

Most of these students reflected the general public's perception that politicians are fearful of reforming the social security program. Most concluded that while changes were needed to "save" the system, they need to be implemented incrementally so that adjustments could be made when necessary. Many wanted the chance to achieve higher returns for themselves through some form of privatization of at least part of their social security taxes. The theme of a safety net for others was repeated by many, especially older students and those with older parents who were at, or near retirement.

"These students were capable of making difficult and complicated choices about social security," Metzger declared. "The challenge for our leaders is to recognize that it is they who are blocking the opportunity for reforms by not engaging the voters in a frank discussion of the issues involved. The voters can handle the truth.

"Yet many politicians still fear the political difficulties of reforming social security," he continued. "Thus, they have sentenced all Americans to an upcoming generating of financial uncertainty, false hopes, and diminished expectations for our children."