Pittsfield and Lenox — A chapter of the Third Act group is scheduled to hold a protest in front of the Social Security office in Pittsfield on Thursday, April 24, at 11 a.m.
According to its website, Third Act is a national elder-led group dedicated to climate action and democracy protection. The group’s Berkshire County chapter, which was formed two months ago and currently comprises 22 Lenox residents, is led by resident Lita Moses.
“We decided that our first action as a [Berkshire County] organization is to demonstrate against the Trump presidential administration privatization of Social Security,” Moses told The Berkshire Edge. “As we get better at doing this, we will have different actions to take. We are not going to have one action but continuous actions.”
Cutbacks to federal agencies, including potential cuts to Social Security payments and services, have flooded the news cycle since President Donald J. Trump took office back in January.
Since his inauguration, Trump has empowered Special Government Employee Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to make wide-sweeping federal spending cuts, which has seniors, including Moses, worried about the state of Social Security. “It’s terrifying,” Moses said. “It’s a terrible thing, especially what they might do to Medicare and Medicaid. All of this is a frightening thing for people who are in their 70s and 80s who all rely on their Social Security checks.”
Moses said that the nationwide demonstrations will help put pressure on the federal government. “We can’t sit still because we have to do something,” Moses said. “With all of these demonstrations, hopefully, something will change.”
For more information about Third Act, contact Moses at uppsteinmoses@gmail.com.
