What this kind of reform really does is go a long way toward abandoning the original purpose of Social Security and the ethos that underlies it: that we are all in this together, and that all of us win when nobody loses.
This chimes very much with the Obama ethos of international security policy.
At heart, the debacle resulted from a collision of the ready-fire-aim approach of the tech industry and the "T -crossing, "I"-doT -crossing that underlI -dottingtI -dottingtion (ethosif ithatan ethos that's often ignored).
The equality meme which drives anti-racism, acceptance of homosexuality, civil liberties concerns doesn't co-exist well with the merit meme which drives the work ethos, anti-tax, and security concerns.
It needs to be pointed out that this greater security comes from these institutions' underlying ethos of mutuality – a characteristic that, as Michael Stephenson argues, we need a lot more of in these parlous times.
Flexible arrangements, layoffs resulting from reduced budgets, and payment mechanisms tied to performance have replaced the ethos of hard work, security and permanence of work.
Better-heeled suburban schools, sports teams and private recreation contributed to an ethos that emphasized family residential security, individual meritocracy and private life.
Does it outwardly maintain the "Keep Calm and Carry On" ethos while temporarily stepping up security at strategic sites, or does it begin to close off vulnerable public spaces and ramp up security in more permanent ways?
As a result, the Amnesty International report concluded, "the failure to investigate and punish the crimes committed under the military government has built up an ethos of impunity within the security forces, which has allowed torture and ill-treatment to flourish".
