From the Director's Desk...

The moderator, Sharon Daly of Catholic Charities USA, recalled that Social Security "is the most successful anti-poverty program ever known." It protects 150 million U.S. workers and their families. However, Social Security may be endangered. By 2034 the ratio of beneficiaries to wage-earners will change dramatically. What to do?

Fr. William Byron, S.J., of Georgetown University’s School of Business, laid out the "values-context" within which any debate about Social Security should go on. And as criteria for evaluating new proposals he listed and illustrated 10 key principles of Catholic social teaching.

Against this backdrop Mathew Weidinger, a staff member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, described a proposal that would allow individuals to invest a portion of what they put into Social Security.

Teresa Ghilarducci of the University of Notre Dame, strenuously disagrees with any proposal that would include individual investment. You can’t, you shouldn’t, think of Social Security as separate accounts over which individual workers have control in order to invest, she insisted. It is social insurance of and for a community. To provide adequate benefits in the years ahead one could simply expand the amount of income on which Social Security taxes are charged from $63,000 to $100,000 a year. "It’s easy!," she said.

You can see the two "mind-sets" or perspectives operative here. Is and/or should Social Security be considered an individual insurance account or is it a common fund from which members receive benefits?

Catholic social teaching holds that we are persons in society. It’s not either-or (person or society), but both-and. To allow this fundamental insight to guide our practical decisions is the work of "discernment" in the language of St. Ignatius, and is the "theological reflection" process of the Woodstock Center. To do it well it helps to know your own mind-set ("Where am I coming from?") and your principal motivation ("Who and what do I love?").

Read on! Follow the arguments. Try to figure out the mind-sets. Ask, "Where are they coming from?" and "Who and/or what do they love?"

Here you will also find the final appeal for your financial support for Woodstock as we come to the end of our fiscal year, June 30. We are only nine percent short of our goal for individual gifts. Let me take this occasion to thank you very warmly for the wonderful support you have given to us in the past.

With gratitude and prayers, all of us at Woodstock wish you a refreshing and relaxing summer.

James L. Connor, S.J.