The Disenfranchisement of The Social Security Program in The United States

Not all individuals have equal rights within the United States. Although we would hope this is not true, it is utterly true in many aspects. One of these aspects is the right, privilege, and access to the Social Security Program. Many individuals are denied benefits despite the fact that they clearly need help and have made contributions into Social Security for many years. One of these groups is the LGBT community partners. Two individuals may have lived in a loving relationship for many years, but they are not considered to be married in the eyes of the law and the children are not considered shared, so when one of them dies, the survivor benefits are not given to the surviving partner or partner’s children. “Disenfranchisement becomes apparent through the implementation of colorblind policies that impose a financial hardship, create confusion, limits access, dilute the vote geographically, or use subjective measures of eligibility” (Blessett, 2015). These individuals are being disenfranchised.

Individuals work their entire lives expecting to be able to count on social security disability if they are injured and unable to work. They have families that depend on them for support. Social security, however, defines what is accepted as a debilitating injury, what is a disability, and what is a family. They make it near impossible to wait out the period of time without work for benefits as well. Individuals are supposed to survive without work if they are truly disabled; however, with families to support, this becomes impossible. If an individual is able to work, they cannot truly be disabled according to the Social Security Administration, however, Social Security moves very slow if at all in giving benefits, which often makes it impossible to get any benefits at all. As stated by Eloy Fisher, (2012), at a time when all other voices are drowned out by the wealthy, systems like Social Security are unlikely to change.