Governmental AID

The problem with social security is that the amount of money you qualify for is lessened based on how much you’ve paid into it, there are exceptions of course but usually in extreme cases. With everything getting more expensive, the money you are provided doesn’t get you much, let alone save; nor does the government like when you save money in your account because they will punish by reducing the aid you’re given or flat out remove you from said governmental assistance programs. Furthermore, we must raise the substantial gainful activity amount for those on Social Security. The wage index which is used to calculate how much one can work and earn needs to be adjusted to reflect actual cost of living by country, state and city or town. Such changes would allow someone who is on Social security to work without having to juggle their hours as much and how much they can earn, which makes it more difficult to find employment in the first place. Furthermore, Social Security needs to have policy changes in place that prevent the government from taking one off Social Security if you are permanently disabled, this would allow those who try to work and are unsuccessful to have something to fall back on and not be homeless.

When it comes to Food Stamps, we need to upgrade how they work, with them being far less means tested where at minimum, people should receive at least $300 every month for individuals (with it being adjusted based the cost of living in each state, city/town, instead of a flat rate for all, and of course, it would need to scale based on household size. Furthermore, the government aid should NOT be taken away or garnished if your household is under $40,000 a year for individuals, again this would scale based on the household size, annual income, and cost of living. 

I'm disabled, and on Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid. I can not make too much money, nor can I accept any money outside of what little work I'm allowed to do while under the restrictions of substantial gainful activity. Otherwise, I will be punished if found out. This could come in the form of reduced coverage/financial aid, or I could be completely kicked off of them. I'm particularly worried about Medicare/Medicaid myself, as I can not afford my medications without them. Both myself and my family, along with millions of others, rely heavily on Medicare/Medicaid to cover prescription and healthcare costs. I don't know how many people will suffer and quite possibly die without said coverage. This is why we need a single payer healthcare system. We also need to address the hold Big Pharma has in our country and on our politicians. 

In terms of social security I would like to add that far too many are looking at social security from a retirement aspect, but many people are on it as a form of UBI because they can't work or they don't make enough, which I happen to fall under and am stuck due to how broken the system is. If the United States had a single payer healthcare system, I could work more. I personally would like to abolish or at least drastically reform substantial gainful activity as well, where you can have a part-time job with full shifts and not lose your social security (SSI/SSDI). I believe this would help those who can't work full-time and are disabled to be more financially secure. 

There's a lot to these topics I mentioned, but I am not an expert on them, far from it. I just know that the system is broken and needs to be changed. People shouldn't have to choose between poverty and fulfillment. I should mention that although I support more help for the people, I also know that work can be fulfilling in its own right and provide a sense of purpose. It's important to note that for those who may be reading this that communists aren't opposed to work, but what we do want is to be properly compensated for our labor.

Speaking of, arguably, the minimum wage should be at least $30 an hour, some have suggested figures as high as $60 an hour or more. What I feel should happen is for the wage to adjust for the actual cost of living by location, down to the city/town you live in. With neighboring cities/towns not being too drastically different as to cause worker shortages in one area. In addition to this, I think we should subsidize small to medium-sized businesses so that they can afford to pay higher wages and maintain business costs. Chains and giant corporations like Wal-Mart, Amazon, etc. would not receive any governmental aid, nor would any business that is owned by an asset firm. However, I feel that a higher wage without policies to prevent hyperinflation and price gouging would be futile and quite possibly would cause more problems. With that said, I should mention that these are just ideas I'm throwing around and that I don't know how it would work in practice.