Skip to main content

What part of FDR's Second New Deal provided retirement insurance to people over 65 years old?

The part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Second New Deal that provided retirement insurance to people over 65 years of age is called Social Security.  This is a very famous program that continues to exist to this day.


One thing that President Roosevelt wanted to do with the New Deal was to set the US economy up in such a way that there could never be another terrible economic downturn like the Great Depression.  Social...

The part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Second New Deal that provided retirement insurance to people over 65 years of age is called Social Security.  This is a very famous program that continues to exist to this day.


One thing that President Roosevelt wanted to do with the New Deal was to set the US economy up in such a way that there could never be another terrible economic downturn like the Great Depression.  Social Security was one part of this effort.  Social Security would help prevent depressions because it would make sure that elderly people had money to live on.  If retired people were spending their Social Security money on things like food and clothes, it would help keep the economy strong.


Of course, Social Security was also meant as something of a humanitarian program.  Before Social Security, there was no government program to ensure that retired people had any money to live on.  People had to save for themselves while they worked and/or they had to rely on support from their children when they grew too old to work.  Social Security was meant to ensure that retired people would not sink into poverty if they had not been able to save or if they did not have family who could support them.


For these reasons, President Roosevelt backed the idea of Social Security.  A bill was passed creating the program and Roosevelt signed it into law on August 14, 1935.  While the program has some problems, it continues to exist today and many Americans rely on it for their retirements.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more