The early decades of the 20th century were a complicated time for America and its citizens. After the Industrial Revolution and the Great War came the Great Depression. The economy was crashing, and crashing fast; the stock market crashed twice in one week, thousands of people were laid off, and businesses went bankrupt. These were definitely the hardest of times and the people were looking for help. On June 8, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces to Congress that he intended to provide a program for Social Security. He created the Committee on Economic Security to study the entire problem of the economy and to provide any recommendations that would help congress make a legislative consideration. In early January 1935, the committee gave the report to Roosevelt and on January 17 he presented it to congress. On August 14, 1935, the Social Security Act was passed into law by President Roosevelt. The act was to help people in need of general welfare and pay retired workers age 65 or older a continuing income after retirement. The program later changes to include unemployment insurance, old-age assistance, aid to dependant children, and grants to states for medical care.
             In 1939, the program was amended to include payments to the spouse and minor children and survivors benefits pay in the event the worker suffered premature death. This is pretty much what Americans know as Social Security today and the program has been relatively unchanged since it was started over sixty years ago (Social Security History). This program was definitely needed during these hard times; no one can really argue that. However, most people today discuss Social Security more than ever: it is argued in congress, it is talked about on the news, and it is debated in political elections. Americans feel that they can do better investing their hard-earned money themselves. Most American's feel that Social Security will not be there for them when they r...