CarolC,

You make two big errors, one of semantics and one of believing a lie. Insurance is something I have a choice to purchase, how much I choose to purchase, what company to purchase it from, and how much I want to counter-balance it with a deductable, my own savings, etc.

I am enrolled into "social security" without my consent, my taxes increase every year, and I have no choice over where the money is invested or divested. Moreover, I have over 20 years to go before I am eligable to claim any of my so-called "benefits". In that time I will either see my taxes increase exponentially or the program will be bankrupt. I can see how my other taxes are used - police officers, or fire trucks or new schools. Here locally I can even vote for what tax increases I want or do not want. Not so with social security. I will never see a dime of the money that has been extorted from me under the guise of "social security".

There is no social security trust fund. Never has been, never will be. Even if there at one time was (which I obviously do not believe) it is gone now.

And by the way, my parents took care of me when I was little. They did not depend on the federal government to "spread the cost" of raising my sister and myself so that their comfort zone would not be infringed. They sacrificed and planned and worked hard. My mom even stayed at home, believe it or not. It is my responsibility, shared with that of my sister, to make sure my mom is taken care of. It is NOT the responsibility of some fat cat in Washington to "spread the cost" of her care. My father passed away before he could claim any social security benefits.

What started out as a noble idea and grand ideal has degenerated into an immoral quagmire out of which there is no escape. That is, unless we massively raise taxes, raise the retirement age by about 10 years, or reduce the benefits of all recipients. Do the math.

Don, I can see how fewer farmers can produce more food. Better techniques, better fertilizers, better pesticides, high yield varieties of foods. How does one go about generating high yield money? How can a person feed his family and be taxed at the rate it would take to feed two or three retirees. Do the math. It will not be two workers for every retiree. It will be two or three retirees for every worker. The writer you quoted spoke of an overwhelming pessimism. This pessimism is not partisan. I know of very few of my friends, and almost no one younger than myself, who believes the current system has any hope for them at all.

Realizing the Titanic was going to sink once it hit the iceberg was not being pessimistic. It was realistic. The ship that could not be sunk, sank like the steel it was made of. Saying the current form of social security is going bankrupt is not being pessimistic. It is being realistic. We've hit the iceberg. Now what are we going to do about it?

Freightdawg