Why Geezers Are the True Enemy of Occupy Wall Street

"When you look at government policies, there's a massive transfer of wealth from the young and relatively poor members of society toward the old and relatively members of society," says Veronique de Rugy, a Reason magazine columnist and economist at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

In 1970, de Rugy notes, transfers from the young to the old took up about 20 percent of the federal budget. In a few years, that figure will break the 50 percent barrier as the population ages and Social Security and Medicare ramp up. Those programs are paid for by payroll taxes that suck up around 15 percent of every dollar most workers will ever make.

Yet the #Occupy movement spends most of its energy railing against "the 1 Percent" richest Americans, whose wealth is not gained at the expense of the "99 Percent." Rather, it comes from providing goods and services that people want to consume.

As transfer payments to elderly Americans - irrespective of wealth or need - increase in absolute and relative terms, de Rugy argues that we should scrap entitlements and replace them instead with a "social safety net" that helps poor Americans of whatever age. "There's absolutely no reason to continue paying for lots of people who have accumulated wealth their entire lives," de Rugy tells Reason's Nick Gillespie.

About 3.40 minutes. Shot by Meredith Bragg and Joshua Swain and edited by Swain.

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Category:

News & Politics

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• libertarian
• nick gillespie
• veronique de rugy
• social security
• medicare
• medicaid
• joshua swain

[PavelDragunov]

@dffykvn Actually ancient Ireland was largely a stateless society for over a thousand years prior to the English invasion, Somalia had a clan system which functioned fine and good since time immorial until they were invaded by the Italian fascist STATE and then were later taken over by a totalitarian communist leader during which time living standards plummeted. Statism. Its your unconstitutional welfare state thats fucking up this country not laissez faire economics, ya dumb fuck.

[SPLASTiK]

@dffykvn Somalia? Libertarian Paradise? To the uneducated video makers and simpleminded who don't know the history or what's going on there. That's like calling North Korea a "liberal paradise" because they have universal healthcare and have strong regulations on businesses.

[force3264]

@dffykvn dumbass, Buffet says "increase taxes on the rich" and you agree without thinking. The taxes are aimed at you so you pay for his business venture like green energy and get tax credits. His own company have trouble with the irs for not paying taxes. If his business goes well, he keep the profit, if it fails, we get poorer. Stop giving money to the rich. Get yourself and education and stop sucking buffet's cock

[dffykvn]

@force3264 What the fuck are you talking about?

[force3264]

@TylerNutify since you can't understand facts or reason, you yourself are spreading Conservative paid "think tank" ploy. get yourself an education dumbass

[force3264]

@dffykvn Then why the fuck are you taking money from the poor and old and giving it to the rich like Buffet? You fell for the good cop you sick fuck. Go give Romney another bj.

[dffykvn]

@GL0BEmaster Don't these assholes know that the only society with absolute property rights are feudal societies where the lord of the land has absolute property rights and the ability to tell anyone living on his private property what to do under pain of death?

If the lord of the land wants to rape your daughter he can because he has the absolute private property right over the land

These assholes want us to return to the feudal era of masters and serfs.

[dffykvn]

@PavelDragu Free markets don't exist

They have never existed in any society in human history

Every society on earth has taxes, every last fucking one except somalia

Now either we radically alter society to your ridiculous definition of free dumb that only a small fraction of delusional libertardians believe or you can 1) move to somalia or 2) go galt and create your own bastion of freedom and liberty, get all of the other libertarians on boardf and stop fucking up this country!

[PavelDragunov]

@dffykvn lmao yeah okay go keep sucking the cock of the federal government based on the assumption thats its protecting you and protecting the poor from the big scary fweee mahket. Its actually working right alongside big corporations to screw you over.Yes, If you come to my house demanding a percentage of my income when your lazy freeloading ass hasn't lifted a finger to earn that money, then yeah, your a fucking thief. If you hate people having freedom so much then go to North Korea

[dffykvn]

@PavelDrag You do know that companies have been giving their execs golden parachutes even while they're collapsing

And don't tell me that they're being bailed out, those are regular companies that aren't receiving bailout money, they're just making sure the last of the assets is given to them rather than shareholders

Taxation is theft? Go to somalia if you hate it so much. The rich giving themselves loopholes is ok while removing loopholes and raising taxes is theft? Fuck you