Your Social Rights:
The Missing Foundation of Democracy
Political freedom without economic security is freedom for some and desperation for others
Join The MovementWhat Are The Social Rights That You Don’t Have?
- The right to housing
- The right to mental health care
- The right to healthcare
- The right to education
- The right to food
- The right to work
but not your right to eat.
Without these guarantees, survival becomes a market commodity.
And when survival is for sale, desperation becomes leverage.
For All The Right Reasons
People aren’t failing. The system is designed to produce failure.
And people are responding rationally to impossible choices.
She’s homeless tonight—for all the right reasons.
She chose to leave an abusive relationship rather than stay housed. She paid for her child’s medicine instead of rent. She lost her job due to untreated illness she couldn’t afford to treat. She aged out of foster care with no family, no safety net, no support system.
Her decisions made sense. The system didn’t.
He’ll go to bed hungry tonight—for all the right reasons.
He paid rent instead of buying groceries because losing housing means losing everything. He gave his food to his children because that’s what parents do. He works full-time at minimum wage and still can’t afford both housing and food.
His choices were rational. The system isn’t.
They’re in crisis—for all the right reasons.
They delayed mental health treatment because they couldn’t afford it, then reached a breaking point. They skipped doctor visits because they couldn’t take time off work, then ended up in the emergency room. They tried to bootstrap their way through poverty, then discovered the game was rigged from the start.
Their effort was real. The opportunity wasn’t.
This is not about personal responsibility. This is about structural design.
When survival is a market commodity, desperation becomes leverage. When basic needs aren’t guaranteed, people make impossible choices between rent and food, medicine and electricity, safety and shelter.
These aren’t moral failures. These are rational responses to a system designed to protect wealth by keeping most people insecure.
People are suffering for all the right reasons. Let’s fix the reasons.
Social Rights We Don’t Have (Anymore)
These aren’t theoretical rights we’ve never had. These are rights Americans used to have—or came close to having—then lost.
The Right to Housing – ALMOST HAD IT
What we had: The 1949 Housing Act declared “a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family” as national policy. By the 1970s, public housing served millions of families. Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers were created in 1974.
What was taken away: The 1980s Reagan administration slashed HUD’s budget by 75%. Public housing construction stopped. Funding for new vouchers was frozen for decades.
The loss: From guaranteed assistance to hoping you get lucky. From “everyone who qualifies gets help” to “sorry, the list is full.”
2026 reality: 771,480 Americans are homeless tonight—including 122,000 children. Only 1 in 4 eligible families receive housing assistance. Waiting lists average 2-3 years, some cities 5+ years. Veterans who served their country sleep under bridges.
The Right to Healthcare – NEVER COMPLETED
What we almost had: In 1945, Truman proposed universal healthcare—defeated by AMA lobbying. Medicare and Medicaid passed in 1965, but only for the elderly and very poor. Clinton’s Health Security Act in 1993—defeated by the insurance industry. The ACA in 2010—compromised, not universal.
What was taken away: Every attempt at universal coverage defeated by lobbying. The pharmaceutical and insurance industries spent billions blocking reform.
The loss: From universal coverage plan to fragmented system. From “healthcare is a right” to “can you afford it?”
2026 reality: 27 million Americans remain uninsured. 45 million are underinsured—they have insurance but can’t afford to use it. Medical bankruptcy is the #1 cause of personal bankruptcy in America. People die from rationing insulin.
The Right to Mental Health Care – HAD IT, DESTROYED IT
What we had: The 1963 Community Mental Health Act funded 2,000+ community mental health centers. State psychiatric hospitals treated 500,000+ patients in the 1960s-1970s. Treatment was accessible.
What was taken away: Reagan’s 1981 budget cuts slashed community mental health funding by 30%. Deinstitutionalization closed psychiatric hospitals without funding the promised community alternatives. Only 700 of the planned 2,000 community mental health centers were ever built.
The loss: From treatment to incarceration. From “we’ll help you get better” to “call us when there’s a crisis.”
2026 reality: 61 million Americans live with mental illness—only 47% receive treatment. Wait times average 48 days if you can find a provider at all. Over 2 million people with mental illness are warehoused in jails instead of treatment facilities. Suicide is now the 11th leading cause of death.
The Right to Education – HAD IT, UNDERMINED IT
What we had: The 1944 GI Bill made college free for millions of veterans. The 1965 Higher Education Act provided grants (not loans) for college. In the 1960s-1970s, public universities were nearly tuition-free in many states (UC system, CUNY, and others).
What was taken away: Starting in the 1980s, state funding cuts shifted costs to students. Federal grants were replaced with loans. States slashed higher education budgets year after year.
The loss: From publicly funded to debt-financed education. From “college is free” to “$37,000 average student debt.”
2026 reality: 43 million Americans carry student loan debt totaling $1.7 trillion. Public university tuition has increased 180% (adjusted for inflation) since 1980. Young people delay marriage, homeownership, and starting families because of education debt. An entire generation is financially crippled before they start working.
The Right to a Living Wage – HAD IT, LOST IT
What we had: The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act established minimum wage tied to cost of living. In 1968, minimum wage peaked at $1.60/hour—equivalent to $13.46/hour in today’s dollars. A full-time minimum wage worker could afford rent, food, and basic necessities.
What was taken away: The minimum wage was frozen, then raised sporadically, never keeping pace with inflation or cost of living. The link between wages and housing costs was severed. Corporate profits soared while wages stagnated.
The loss: From wages that cover rent and food to choosing between them. From $13.46/hour equivalent (1968) to $7.25/hour frozen since 2009.
2026 reality: The federal minimum wage remains frozen at $7.25/hour—unchanged since 2009. Some states and cities have raised it to $15-20/hour, but 20 states still use the federal minimum. A full-time worker at $7.25 earns $15,080/year—below the poverty line for a family of two. Even at $15/hour ($31,200/year), housing costs consume 50%+ of income in most cities. There is not a single county in America where a minimum wage worker can afford a one-bedroom apartment at fair market rent. Working families live in cars, motels, and shelters.
The Pattern
This wasn’t accidental drift. This was systematic dismantling.
1946-1980: Social rights expanded (housing policy, mental health systems, education access, wage growth)
1981-present: Social rights contracted (funding cuts, privatization, means-testing, work requirements)
The pivot point: 1980-1981
Before: “Government has a responsibility to ensure basic welfare”
After: “Personal responsibility, market solutions, bootstrap individualism”
Social rights aren’t radical.
We used to have them. They were taken from us.
Why This Happened: Restoring Leverage to Wealth
This wasn’t incompetence. This wasn’t drift. This was strategy.
From 1946-1980, workers had enough security to say “no” to low wages and bad conditions. That security cost the wealthy class billions in higher wages and benefits. The solution: systematically dismantle the security so workers would be desperate enough to accept anything.
This wasn’t a conspiracy. It was open, coordinated political organizing by the business class.
The Powell Memo (1971)
Corporate lawyer Lewis Powell wrote a confidential memo to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce outlining a plan for business to “reassert itself politically” through think tanks, media control, university funding, and aggressive lobbying.
The memo exists. You can read it: Read the Powell Memo
The Business Roundtable (1972)
CEOs of America’s largest corporations formed an organization to coordinate political power and reverse “excessive” worker protections. They didn’t hide this—they announced it publicly.
Think Tanks (1970s)
Wealthy donors funded Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, and others to produce research justifying cuts to social programs, arguing that “welfare creates dependency” and “regulations hurt growth.”
Heritage Foundation | Cato Institute | Track think tank funding
Reagan (1980)
The political vehicle. His advisors came from corporate-funded think tanks. His policies matched their recommendations. His first budget delivered exactly what they wanted:
- HUD cut 75%
- Mental health cut 30%
- Corporate taxes slashed
- Minimum wage frozen
HUD budget history | Mental health cuts | Reagan Library archives
This wasn’t theory. This was execution of a documented plan.
Reagan’s 1981 cuts weren’t about fiscal responsibility—they were about restoring desperation.
• Slash housing assistance → people accept any job to avoid homelessness
• Gut mental health care → vulnerable people end up in jails instead of treatment (cheaper to warehouse than treat)
• Freeze minimum wage → workers can’t afford to quit even exploitative jobs
• Replace education grants with loans → students graduate desperate to take any job to pay debt
• Defeat universal healthcare → people stay in bad jobs for insurance
When survival is uncertain, people accept anything. That’s the point.
Social rights weren’t eliminated because we couldn’t afford them. They were eliminated because they gave workers too much power to say “no.”
The evidence:
• Corporate profits: up 400% since 1980 (adjusted for inflation)
• Worker wages: flat since 1980 (adjusted for inflation)
• CEO-to-worker pay ratio: 20:1 in 1965 → 350:1 in 2023
• Billionaire wealth: up 1,000%+ since 1990
Where did the money go?
It didn’t disappear. It went up.
Social rights weren’t taken away because of scarcity. They were taken away to create scarcity—because scarcity is leverage.
Fact-Check Everything
Don’t take our word for it. Fact-check everything.
Every claim is documented with original sources: Congressional records, Federal Reserve data, National Archives, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
See the complete documentation →Then fill out the form.
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See The Funding Plan
We fund social rights by redirecting 10% of defense spending—$85 billion annually—toward programs that prevent poverty instead of managing it.
View The 10% Plan →See The Evidence
The absence of social rights wasn’t an accident. Every claim is documented with original sources from the National Archives.
View The Documentation →