In this book I have tried to draw a lesson from a lifelong observation of the working of social security with a view to identifying a certain number of fundamentals that are highlighted by its historical evolution. If a sustainable development of social security is the goal, these fundamentals should be respected so as to preserve the institution for future generations.

But what institution do we want, or, more precisely, what institution is likely to survive in view of the deep economic crisis of the present time? A brief overview of the history that was presented in the opening pages of this book shows the variety of replies that people have given at different stages of societal development to the question of how to ensure some degree of material security for individual existence in society. The permanent leitmotiv of this evolution is a search for an ever-wider collective basis for a suitable institutional arrangement, from the mutual help within an occupational group to the overgrown social protection infrastructure of the communist state.

Unfortunately, we have learned – and paid a high price for this lesson – that the communist model of social comfort does not work in the long run, partly because it costs more than this type of collectivist society can afford, taking into account the fact that at the same time it reduces its productive capacity. More importantly, the communist state imposes a trade-off between the guaranteed social protection system and political freedom; experience has shown that for most people political freedom represents a higher degree of security of social and individual existence. The extreme end of the evolutionary cycle of the collectivist provision of social security is hence not what our contemporary vocabulary would call a ‘good practice’, and we have to look elsewhere for a better solution.

The macro-sociological studies of social security that were reviewed in Part Two of this book highlight the overriding importance of the political factor in the evolution of the institution, which is taking place within the limits dictated by the economic situation of society and under the influence of a number of other societal factors directly intervening in this process.