Letter: Social Security issues need more attention

The Sunday, Nov. 6 Daily Herald had an article on Page 1 describing Joe Biden blasting Republicans for wanting changes in Social Security, a tried-and-true political strategy. On page 10, the Herald had an article related to global warming and the disappearance of glaciers around the world, which are "crucial sources of life on Earth."

Here is the oddity, both global warming and funding Social Security are difficult problems to solve that will require pain and sacrifice. People will need to be convinced that the problems presented by global warming or funding Social Security are dire enough to justify the pain and sacrifice.

Papers like the Herald have been presenting the problem of global warming consistently for years, if not decades, and action is being taken on global warming. It may not be enough, but global warming is getting attention and there is some action being taken by individuals, corporations and governments.

It often is politically advantageous for a politician to at least pretend to be for taking action on global warming. Not so much Social Security. In your own experience, how many more articles have you seen on global warming than financial problems with Social Security?

It is odd that a problem like funding Social Security, which is just math and is a problem that we Americans completely control, gets far less attention than global warming, which is subject to more assumptions and complexity, and is a problem that Americans have far from complete influence over.

How much do you think people are going to care about global warming when their Social Security checks are being cut or their Social Security taxes are being raised?

Mark Bodett

Wheaton