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Tuesday

The Social Security crisis is a myth—that’s George McGovern’s contention in his 76-page Social Security and the Golden Age: An Essay on the New American Demographic. McGovern maintains that Social Security is the government’s most solvent program—it pays back 99 percent of what it takes in. But then how did Reaganite anti-SS dogma become political orthodoxy? And why is Bush so bent on privatization? McGovern’s answer to the first question is simple: propaganda. But when it comes to the second, he’s vague and reluctant to ascribe Bush a motive. He’s more solid on the value of old people. Though he’s diplomatic about it, his gist is that instead of putting Grandma in a home, maybe we should listen to her. McGovern reads at 7 p.m. at Olsson’s Books & Records, 418 7th St. NW. Free. (202) 638-7610. (James McBee)