On Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:39:49 -0600, jim
wrote:

Don Foreman wrote:

On Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:25:54 -0600, jim "sjedgingN0Sp"@m@mwt,net
wrote:



More to my point, a legitimate claimant should not be labelled as a
"cost to society" before paid services per social contract exceed the
present value of mandated periodic investment and accrued interest of
self and supporting spouse over 45 years.

But it never worked like that. You want to pretend you made an
investment and interest accrued on that investment. The reality is you
paid for the benefits of others while you were working and now others
are paying for any benefits you might now be receiving. Your calculus of
saving, investment, interest accumulating you insist upon has never
existed.

Consider savings bonds and treasury bills, which are generally
regarded as investments. You give the government money which it
immediately spends, and you are repaid more at a future date from
future government revenues.

Yes it is similar as far as you went.

But I don't expect that some day the government
will inform you that you have received
the principal and interest due and close your account.

I hope not. That's when we'd become a "cost to society" which is
covered by the insurance program the government imposed upon us
decades ago and collected premiums by payroll deduction all that time.
Insurance is all about spreading cost over a large base according to
actuarial estimates of total expected cost divided by number of
participants, plus profit etc. Some will pay more than they redeem,
others will redeem more than they pay, all are protected from
financial catastrophe due to bad luck.

I don't think we've yet reached the point where we've consumed more
than we contributed, but that could happen as it can with any
insurance program whether voluntary or government-mandated.

I trust that you, as a responsible citizen, will keep sending in your
contributions to pay for the care Mary is getting at the rehab
facility in Roseville and at Mayo clinic. Thank you! She is getting
better. Not as quickly as we'd like and had hoped, but she's making
progress. Her attitude continues to be positive, her gentle generous
persona seems to be appreciated by her fellow inmates and staff, and
her sense of humor is intact. Nobody there knows how bad an idea it is
to **** her off. I've smuggled in some medicines and laundry but no
pistols thus far.

I am there every evening from suppertime to bedtime. I do what the
staff does for others because Mary likes how I do it better. We've
been a small team for many years. She had my six when I was stricken
two years ago, I'm OK now and it's my turn in the barrel.

The staff has noticed; they ask me if I'd like a bit of supper when I
join Mary at table and they shag it post haste if I indicate that I
might. I save Lizzie a lot of work and I'm glad that she notices. s

There are many far more unfortunate than Mary in that facility. We do
what we can to make at least a few minutes of their continued
existance as pleasant as possible. We get some smiles.

Perhaps you should take a tour of duty in such a facility before you
label recipients of care per promise and program as "cost to society".
Bathe some elders, wipe some butts, deal with some spills and messes
usually left to the minions who work there. You might learn to have
some respect for the dignity of those who have inevitably aged after
long, productive, contributive lives.

Mar is still contributing. She definitely brightened the day of
tablemate Kelly tonight. Kelly is terminal, 75 lb and wasting, but
she's a game gal who smiled big this evening. She shared unwanted
onion from her hamburger onto mine and was thrilled to do it. I
appreciated it because I about can't get enough onion on my burger.

There are better days ahead for Mary 'n me. Probably not as good as
days past, but better days than recent days and weeks, we hope.

And you are free to sell your treasury notes for whatever you can get.
You can't sell your medicare benefits.

Correct.