Ben Shapiro Wants You To Work Until You Die Because Retiring Is ‘Stupid’
Ben Shapiro has decided that retirement is “stupid,” and that everyone should simply work until they die rather than have retirees receive Social Security or Medicare benefits.
It’s quite a bold statement and only underscores how out of touch he is with the lives of the vast majority of working people. It’s estimated Shapiro is worth millions for doing what hardly qualifies as a job. On paper, Shapiro works as a political commentator, editor, and podcaster—all valid jobs. However, unlike individuals who have actually worked hard to get into these roles and build successful careers by keeping the public informed or entertained, Shapiro has attained success in those roles for being a “conservative pundit.” His “job” consists of nothing more than spreading hate and sharing his bizarre and uninformed opinions. For example, in the past, his “job” has consisted of setting Barbie dolls on fire, pretending to be a rapper, publicly admitting he doesn’t know how to do laundry, and labeling everything and everyone “stupid” due to his limited vocabulary.
When Shapiro did try to work as a lawyer, he lasted just ten months before quitting because he was “miserable” and preferred his cushy job as a conservative grifter, which quickly started earning him $400,000 by capitalizing on conservatives’ hateful rhetoric. One would think that someone who gets paid millions of dollars for talking nonsense on camera wouldn’t feel qualified to speak about the average worker’s experience but Shapiro felt he had the right to tell these workers they shouldn’t be allowed to retire.
Ben Shapiro says no one aged 65 should be retiring
Shapiro went on a particularly unhinged rant about retirement in the United States. In America, the majority of employed Americans are eligible to receive retirement benefits in their 60s. For Social Security, early retirement benefits can be claimed starting at 62, though full benefits cannot be received until 67. Meanwhile, individuals are eligible for Medicare benefits at age 65.
However, Shapiro is upset that life expectancy has risen while the age at which one can receive benefits has not. When Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act in 1935, the average life expectancy was 63 years for women and 58 for men. Still, it was all the way back then that 65 was selected as the age to begin benefits, meaning the vast majority of Americans died before ever collecting benefits. Today, the life expectancy is 79 for women and 73 for men, so some Americans may have, at most, a little over a decade to enjoy benefits.
Shapiro, though, wants to increase the age to receive benefits so that we can go back to 1935 when people died still waiting to become old enough to receive a little bit of aid. He stated, “No one in the United States should be retiring at 65 years old. Frankly, I think retirement itself is a stupid idea unless you have some sort of health problem.”
So, sustainability, age, and life expectancy aren’t really relevant, as he simply thinks no one should ever retire unless they have a health problem. He reasoned that humans have no other purpose in life than to work, so people who retire at 65 die early anyway because they aren’t working. At the same time, he was triggered by the idea of people receiving benefits for years, so it’s unclear why he’s suddenly feigning concern for those in retirement dying early. The truth is that, as he greedily enjoys his millions of dollars, he would rather see those less fortunate than him work themselves to death than receive a tiny bit of aid at any point in their lives.
Of course, it’s easy for him to say that. He’s privileged enough not to know that manual labor exists, which many workers physically cannot perform past the age of 60 or even 50. Many manual laborers physically age out of their jobs long before they’re eligible for benefits, resulting in some sustaining lifelong injuries for continuing to work past their limits for lack of any other options. However, Shapiro wants to see men and women as old as 80 performing strenuous physical labor. Additionally, he wants those forced to work through underpayment and mistreatment, or just a general lack of fulfillment, in fields they may not be passionate about to be stuck in that lifestyle forever.
Laughably, Shapiro also tried to argue that it’s offensive to suggest there’s a certain age at which one should retire. However, it’s far more offensive to suggest that elderly folks have no meaning in their lives aside from work. It’s quite interesting how conservatives are always touting the importance of family but also desire for individuals to never have any period in their lives to enjoy with their loved ones without working 40+ hours a week. It’s also well known that benefits aren’t enough for retirees to live off of, resulting in many individuals still working while receiving benefits.
So, what Shapiro really wants is to snatch away the tiny bit of aid that individuals are granted when nearing the end of a life spent almost entirely working. He wants to take away some elderly workers’ only hope of being able to work part-time or potentially fully retire before they die while he tirelessly gloats about being a millionaire for giving opinions like “retirement is stupid.”
(featured image: Jason Kempin / Getty)
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