How to Fix Social Security Amish Style

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How a religious sect stood together and fought for exemption from Social Security and later Medicare. They stood together to resist the social programs and later taxes that they say went against their religious beliefs.



While the Amish would endure rendering unto Caesar what was in fact Caesar’s, they had until now lived in such a way as to stay independent from anything that was Caesar’s. So taxation was not a problem. But this new imposition of Social Security taxes was new, for it struck against two core Amish beliefs.



The first was against insurance in general. Commercial insurance was seen as a way of trying to cheat God’s providence. Right or wrong in this particular belief, they had rightly seen all the leftist propaganda and by then official literature detailing the program as “Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance.” Thus they would refuse to pay taxes for such an entitlement.



The second belief was a strict separation of church and state—the state should not cross the line into wealth redistribution and welfare. The Amish powerfully upheld their own welfare community independently of any government coercion:



Perhaps most importantly, the care of the elderly is the responsibility of the family and community, not the government. Whether it be additions built onto the main house where grandparents “retire,” benefit sales to pay large medical bills, or the community effort of a barn-raising, the Amish truly try to “take care of their own.”



An example that can be emulated throughout society, but for far too many it is easier to relinquish our responsibilities to a third-party in this case the state and subsequently relinquish our liberties as well. From public education to Social security and Medicare, we have replaced personal liberty and as a result reneigned on our own personal responsibilities, for payments to the state. We no longer take care of our own.



Perhaps we would do better to emulate the Amish and disavow government seizure of our liberties. Can you live without a government hand-out? Do you need nanny government to take care of you? Really, do you?

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