Tuesday, October 14, 2008

If I Did This In The Free Market...

...I would be in jail 50 years ago! The Social Security system today survives only because of government mandate.

I run a small business and have come across a lot of programs designed to take money from a person on a promise for a larger return later. Then the program requires the next person make an "investment" and he gets a large return later. That second person's money is paid to the first guy. Of course, the scammer who puts the program together makes money on each transaction.

This works if you can find enough people to scam. Eventually, every Ponzi Scheme, such as this, collapses under larger numbers of people needed to pay off the previous "investors." This scheme has been outlawed everywhere except in our federal government.

Luckily for the government, it has the power to mandate people pay into this scheme in the name of Social Security and a "honorable retirement" for the elderly. Of course, the economics are the same as in the illegal Ponzi Schemes. More and more young people must pay into the system to support the larger numbers of retirees. In addition, the government can promise significantly lower returns on "investment" because it is able to mandate participation. It will eventually fail. It has to! The question is when, rather than if.

I begin this blog to discuss the massive and long lasting failure of the Social Security program along with it's repercussions to the average American. As you will see, you will probably be disgusted at the problems this massive program has caused.

I hope you visit often. I will try to update 2-3 times per week.

Please leave comments as I would like to create a forum to discuss the issue and possibly have people post with me to get the word out.