ABSTRACT

One of today's most important national concerns is the projected bankruptcy of Social Security some time in the next few decades and its consequent inability to pay full benefits on time. Yet despite two decades of warnings about this, nothing is being done. The saying that Social Security is the third rail of American politics - touch it and you die - still holds true. In Social Security: False Consciousness and Crisis, John Attarian argues that the major cause of the current impasse is the misleading manner in which the program has been depicted to the public and the beliefs about Social Security which prevail as a result.

part 1|2 pages

Social Security’s Threefold Crisis

chapter 1|22 pages

The Bankruptcy Crisis

chapter 2|16 pages

The Affordability Crisis

chapter 3|18 pages

The Crisis of Confidence

part 2|2 pages

False Consciousness and the Roots of Crisis

chapter 4|36 pages

The Beginnings

chapter 5|22 pages

Helvering v. Davis

chapter 6|40 pages

Forging a False Consciousness

chapter 9|20 pages

Shoring Up the False Consciousness

part 3|2 pages

What Now?

chapter 11|32 pages

A Critical Survey of Social Security Reform

chapter 12|22 pages

A Modest Proposal