Jennifer worked for more than forty years. She spent just a few years at home when the baby was born, then went right back to it.

She didn’t ask for handouts.Never made a scene.She went to church on Sunday and to work every day during the week.She paid her taxes, saved a little, and kept going.

She wasn’t rich.Didn’t have a pension.But she had her 401K and maybe some Social Security waiting if the government didn’t take that away.She thought she was doing it right.

Then, her son got sick.

He was in his twenties. Just getting started. No real savings. Barely enough insurance.The money he had didn’t come close to what he needed.

He was the kind of sick that throws everything into chaos.The kind that doesn’t care how old you are or how prepared your mother thought she was.

Jennifer fought the denials.Sat through the waiting lists.She watched the out-of-pocket bills pile up. The bills didn’t care about her budget or her plans.

She wasn’t going to watch her son die sitting on any money, so she drained her savings.Sold her car.Skipped her own treatments to stretch the money.

She never complained.She just did what any mother would do. She tried to save her child.

So now, she’s 60.

Her son’s alive.The savings are gone.She hopes to get a small Social Security check. She knows that because of the choice she made and would make again, she will have to work longer to cover rent. She doesn’t regret her decision.

…

Jennifer’s situation begs a question: what do we owe those struck by misfortune?

To answer that, we have to ask something deeper…

Why does this system exist in the first place?

We consent to governance in order for those we elect to protect our property.

Individuals possess inherent rights. These include the right to life, liberty, and the ability to strive toward purpose. These rights are your property. No one can own you but you. So, you are your own property, and only you have the right to make decisions about yourself.

These rights exist independently of government. Even if government didn’t exist, we would still have the inherent right to live, make choices, grow from the result of those choices, and strive for a fulfilling life.

By choosing to submit to governance, we assign a duty to those we elect to protect these rights and the property that comes from us exercising those rights.

Beyond protecting the property that is our natural rights, government also resolves disputes over property. These might involve employers and workers, neighbors, families, or other rub points in society.

This duty is not optional, and it applies to both the strong and the weak. Elected officials are charged with protecting the life and property of every individual, including those who cannot defend their rights on their own.

We give up some control through laws, regulations, and taxes. Sometimes, we pool our resources to build things that multiply our individual capability, like roads, power grids, or schools. Other times, we give up control because we know we can’t always protect our own rights alone.

This is where the tension in funding Social Security begins.

Some succeed and come to see it as a kind of fraudulent Ponzi scheme. They feel that if they can’t access the money their government took from them in taxes when they want it, then those officials failed to protect their property.

But that’s the view from the top of the hill. It’s not wrong, just incomplete. It’s the view of the world from the folly of wealth.

Because eventually, time and chance happen to us all.

The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race. The strongest doesn’t always win the fight. Wisdom, intelligence, and skill don’t always lead to wealth, health, or success.

Sooner or later, misfortune visits everyone. We get injured. Or sick. Or old. Or maybe our child is the one who suffers.

Because we don’t know when misfortune will strike, we hedge our bets. As a nation of individuals, we buy insurance in case we, as individuals, can no longer work due to age or injury.

So…

Our property begins with our ability to choose and pursue our life’s purpose. That includes our labor, our time, and what we create with them. But we live in a world that’s unpredictable and sometimes violent. We know that no amount of planning can fully protect us from injury, illness, or age.

So, in our individual self-interest, we agree to pool some of what we earn. We buy insurance together so that if misfortune strikes before we’ve saved enough, we’re not left with nothing.

This insurance is called Social Security. It’s not built to be flexible. It’s built to be there for when we can no longer work.

But we still haven’t directly answered our question about Jennifer’s situation:

What do we owe those struck by misfortune?

What do we owe those struck by misfortune?

We don’t owe those struck by misfortune sympathy. Nor do we owe them charity. We may have personal beliefs that direct us to love and serve others through our churches and nonprofits, but we cannot force others to share our personal beliefs.

What we owe those struck by misfortune is commitment to stable institutions that protect the life and property of individuals, including those who cannot defend these rights on their own.

Institutions like Social Security don’t spring up by accident. They develop organically over generations and embody the collective wisdom of society. They are built over time in response to painful lessons and misfortune. They reflect the accumulated judgment of generations who saw what happened when nothing was there to catch the falling. They are not the product of a single generation’s will. They are the accumulated wisdom of America refined by need and time.

These institutions carry memory. They remember the cost of doing nothing, the pain of the Great Depression, and the reason we built a floor for those struck by misfortune to stand on.

For those blinded by the folly of wealth and comfort, it’s easy to call for reform. They make claims of fraud without showing evidence. They bought in like everyone else, but now they want to walk away with their share as if the deal was only about them.

We do need to reform the institution to better serve the needs of those struck by misfortune while still maintaining our commitment to it. Not to eliminate it or make it more difficult to use but to better serve those who depend on it.

But reform should come from people who understand the purpose and history of the institution, not from oligarchs in power trying to tear it down.

So, what does America owe Jennifer and others struck by misfortune?

We owe Jennifer commitment to institutions that protect the rights and property of every American, including the weak who cannot defend those rights on their own.

May God bless the United States of America.

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