Whether it’s a conservative pundit saying retirement “is a stupid idea” or GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump talking about cutting Medicare and Social Security, one thing is clear: Republicans rightly recognize that all us Americans would be better off if we worked until we’re dead.
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I strongly support this stance and have long planned to continue working until my last breath, collapsing face-first onto a laptop as my ancient carcass succumbs to the ravages of time.
Noted podcaster and conservative thought leader Ben Shapiro said on his show Tuesday, “It’s insane that we haven’t raised the retirement age in the United States.”
He continued: “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. Everybody that I know who is elderly, who has retired, is dead within five years.”
I applaud the GOP’s new ‘work until you’re dead’ platform
This is true. Nobody who has ever retired has lasted more than five years, and anyone who claims they have is clearly a zombie. Frankly, I feel almost dead by the end of most weekends, thirsting for the sweet, life-giving invigoration of sweat and toil.
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I’m glad to see the Republican Party lean into my long-standing work-till-death philosophy, and I hope they campaign hard on it heading into the November elections. That will help them reckon with Trump’s recent statement on CNBC about Social Security and Medicare: “So first of all, there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting.”
A Trump campaign spokesman told NBC News the former president was talking about “cutting waste and fraud,” but (WINK!) wouldn’t provide any additional information on how that cutting (WINK!) would be done or how much it might save (WINK!).
Republicans have their eyes on raising retirement age and cutting Social Security
During her failed presidential campaign, Nikki Haley proposed raising the retirement age for younger Americans: “What you would do is, for those in their 20s coming into the system, we would change the retirement age so that it matches life expectancy.”
Trump VP pick: Please let Donald Trump pick Katie Britt as his VP. It’d be a hoot.
And House Speaker Mike Johnson, when he was chair of the Republican Study Committee in 2020, created a budget that would raise eligibility ages for the two programs while cutting $750 billion from Social Security and $2 trillion from Medicare.
Only lackadaisical liberals need things like ‘retirement’ or ‘breaks’
I think we can all see where this is heading, and I’m here to tell you it’s a good place. The whole concept of retiring so you can actually enjoy part of your life is lazy liberal nonsense, no different than catering-to-the-weak work entitlements like lunch breaks or sick days.
Look at President Joe Biden, whom I do not like because he’s a liberal who supports the idea of Americans being able to comfortably retire. He’s 81 and clearly wants to stay at his job and keep working until past his mid-80s. That’s the kind of stick-to-it fortitude all American workers should have, and Republicans should embrace Biden’s desire to push his career to the limits rather than encouraging him to retire.
We Americans are meant to work endlessly and tirelessly, as dictated by people like Trump, Johnson and Shapiro, inspirational leaders with smooth hands who’ve never been inconvenienced by perspiration.
That’s probably why so many Republicans across the country have been pushing to loosen child labor laws. If infants weren’t meant to work in coal mines, it wouldn’t be so easy to plop them in buckets and lower them down. That’s just science.
Conservative pundit|Work to live and live to work – it’s the Republican way
I believe every American child, teenager, adult and nonagenarian should be working at all times, without rest, until they expire, and I’m delighted to see the Republican Party agrees.
I left the womb and went straight to work as a day care security guard, and, God willing, I’ll enter the ground wrapping up a few remaining work tasks.
Entitlements are for ne’er-do-wells and retirement is for snowflakes. Vote Republican, people. Then proudly work your way to the grave.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ben Shapiro calls retirement ‘stupid’ as GOP eyes Social Security cuts
