Tuesday, December 23, 2008

The biggest ponzi scheme ever

I am surprised how much of a big deal everyone is making about Bernard Madoff. Sure, he created a ponzi scheme that took unsuspecting investors for $50 billion. That sucks. However, there is a much bigger ponzi scheme going on in this country; one so big that Madoff is a flea in comparison. If you have a job, you are forced by law to participate in this ponzi scheme.

Obviously, I am talking about Social Security. If a private company created a ponzi scheme like Social Security, they would be locked up for life. Furthermore, there is no more regressive a tax than Social Security taxes. Most people think that the employee pays 6.2% and the employer pays another 6.2%. However, the economics of the situation is that the employee pays all or nearly all of the tax. Essentially, the government steals 12.4% of your income and gives it to those who are retired. 12.4%! When you retire, the government will steal money from future workers to pay you. The only problem is that the Social Security program is expected to go broke sometime around 2040 because there will be more people drawing on the fund than putting in.

Social Security was implemented by FDR in response to the crisis of the great depression. Hmmm. I guess the government really shock doctrined us.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, Peaceful New Year everyone.