Insuring the Essentials: Bob Ball on Social Security
by Robert M. Ball, Thomas N. Bethell (Editor)

Reviewed by Tom Lesko

In a commencement address at the University of Maryland in 1985, Bob Ball spoke about reciprocal obligation. What a strange term to confront on the printed page. Role it around a few times on your lips. Reciprocal obligation. Not a particularly easy phrase to articulate. Even harder to practice.  

This is presented by Mr. Ball in the context of a young Italian man who received support from his family, community, church and federal government to get a medical degree, after which he removed a bullet from President Reagan’s torso. The man of the community saving the life of the rugged individualist. This is a poignant story, one that drives home the notion of reciprocal obligation.  Bob Ball’s distinct talent is that he can drive his points home with an accuracy and dependability that is rare in writings about Social Security. 

If I had to judge the man Robert Ball from the words in his book, I would judge him wise, expansive and passionate. This review is about a book where the author did practice reciprocal obligation. And because of his long devotion to a public service that enriched all of us, he understands the soul of the Social Security program and he makes a case for Social Security that is clear and cutting edge. After you finish this book, you will have no excuse to ignore the coming debate over the future of Social Security. There will no aspect of the debate that will elude you. This book makes every issue crystal clear. And it makes a clear case that there is much at stake. 

When I started working for Social Security in the early 70’s, (disclaimer: I work for Social Security and am admittedly biased toward this book) there was no doubt in my mind that I was employed in the greatest, and most successful, social experiment in the country’s history. But as my career moved, so did public opinion about the program. There were money problems in the 80’s, problems that seemed insurmountable (they weren’t). There are concerns about the near future when the baby boom generation retires that also seem insurmountable (they aren’t). And now Bob Ball has provided a remarkably accessible book for everyone who has an interest in the debate about the future of the Social Security program. 

Bob Ball’s long history with the Social Security Administration, his presence lingering around every important piece of legislation in the past thirty years (or more), his leadership of the agency for over twenty years (1952-1972), all contribute to the clarity of this book, a clarity that cuts cleanly through the rhetoric of the current debate. 

Insuring the Essentials is a collection of essays and speeches that Mr. Ball wrote between 1942 and 2000. The breadth of scope covered by these writings, and the writer’s passion are both astonishing.  He wants his audience to understand precisely what the Social Security program means to them, why and how it was created, how it is administered, what the effects are in our economic system, and why it must endure. 

With these 22 articles, Mr. Ball covers every important aspect of the program. He starts with “The Nine Guiding Principles of Social Security.” This is truly visionary thinking, the kind that is reflected in much of today’s leadership development courses. In today’s management training circles, there’s a lot of talk about mission, vision and values, as if this were something our forebears neglected, or considered almost accidentally, as they went about building our current social systems. Not so, as we see in reading Mr. Ball principles. In fact, the program seems so well thought out that the principles espoused here could have emerged from last week’s management seminar, not out of a program that’s 65 years old.  

But then, we might ask, what is the foundation upon which these principles are grounded? That’s here too - an abbreviated history of the important political and regulatory changes for the program. There are treatises on the economics of the program, the value of the programs to society, the politics, the legislation, customer service. Every aspect of the agency and the program is examined, turned over - maybe even burnished a bit. This is the real deal. 

I do not wish to extend my adulation beyond this point. We will be reviewing several books over the legislative session covering the Social Security debate. These books will look at Social Security through a much different lens; but the compelling arguments they make must be aired, and the arguments on both sides weighed for their value. Bob Ball’s book provides the context for this debate. Frame your vision of the future of Social Security in this man’s vision, and no solution you decide upon will be far from the desired mark.