this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2026
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
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But... If there cap is 184k, when you retire and get your SSI check, you won't get more than the next person if you made 1m vs their 184k.
I think the point is the wealthy people are less likely to be reliant of SSI in retirement. So they don't want to pay into it any more than they have to. If they paid more, they'd end up getting more, so while temporarily it'd be funded better sooner, SS would just pay more out later and still be broken.
And so what? If I pay taxes and never use WIC, is that wrong in some way?
Social Security also funds SSI disability, most of us won't use that but we pay for it. That's how taxes work.
The cap should be removed, it's a tax not a pension plan. We can cap the benefits (higher than it is now) without capping the deduction. Anyone making $1M/year is still going to net hundreds of thousands more than someone making $200K. And both of them will be fine.
If you are reforming SS to raise the cap, why wouldn't you also reform the payment end as well? There is no reason that the wealthy should get enormous SS payments they don't need, and allow that to cripple SS for those who do need it.
I can hear the parasites now: "It isn't fair! The poors get all the breaks!"
I was asking a serious question, not defending the wealthy.
The answer is that no, we don't have to pay out enormous sums of social security to rich people. Right now the benefit varies but that is not a necessary part of the scheme. Just like we set a maximum contribution now, we can set a maximum benefit.
No matter how you slice it, the problem right now is that people raking in $ are not paying enough into the system.
Or set maximum monthly payout, adjusted annually for inflation and let the actuaries figure out where the wage cap needs to sit each year to fully fund the system.