"I heard some old lady from some liberal think tank on NPR this morning who claimed that young people who think that Social Security is a Ponzi sheme have been sold "a bill of goods" by Cato. She said, and I quote loosely not having a transcript, "Tell that to the old man or woman today who have their freedom because of Social Security."
The opinion of people currently receiving Social Security today has nothing to do with the fiscal viability of that particular massive government wealth transfer program. It is a feature of Ponzi schemes that the people involved in the scam early on think it's a good deal so, by the same logic, we should judge Ponzi schemes in the same way. Right? Bob who made a million dollars at Pyramid Telecoms thinks it's a great deal, therefore it is.
All over Eastern Europe there a people who, to this day, do not understand why they lost their life savings in such schemes.
However, I will concede that Social Security is not in fact a Ponzi scheme. Such scams ultimately fail because they rely on voluntary contributions. When the pyramid becomes shaky, the base crumbles and there is no way to force people back into the scam. With Social Security, however, people can and will be forced to make ever higher contributions for an ever smaller return. All that being said, I wish Social Security were a real Ponzi scheme, I could refuse to partake and watch the pyramid crumble. As it is, I will contribute for the rest of my life to receive a majorly suckass rate of return when I retire."
- Brendan Huhn
catallarchy.net |
