Questions on needs

[National Dialogue Moderator <moderator>]

I would like to thank everyone for joining the conversation with
thoughtful remarks --a mix of brief, casual entries and major
essays. Don't hesitate to fire off a brief remark when the spirit
moves you --this is a conversation, not a conference.

While we are still struggling with the multiple-purpose nature of
the Social Security system, many of you are grounding the discussion
in the practical needs of Social Security recipients. For example,
as Heidi Hartmann describes, a retired male breadwinner might have
four retired wives, each receiving the equivalent of half of his
benefit.  What privatized system could compete with that, in terms
of taking care of all the spouses?  Perhaps that is an unusual case
(perhaps not), but it points to the advantages of a system based
on need, not on earnings.   If, as John Banks-Brooks offered, the
Social Security system is, at root, a political compromise between
assets and needs, perhaps we need to design the system first by
asking what widows and others need. Do you agree with Anna Rappaport's
assessment of widows' needs?  Do you think that an assessment of
needs for different groups, including minorities, is a starting
point for any redesign of this essentially political system?

Maureen West