8 Reasons Why the Young Should Give a Sh*t About Social Security

The Prometheus Institute ^ | 8/11/2006 | M. Harrison

[tang0r]

Despite being a hot topic among certainly campaigning politicians, many less-political Americans, especially younger Americans, consider Social Security to be a boring, worthless issue that they don't need to care about. Here are eight reasons why that's wrong, and why everyone, especially the young, really should consider Social Security an important issue in their lives.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

Buffett probably doesn't get a larger SS check, since the max you can draw on SS is about 18-20K per year. Some miners make enough to draw that or close.

[GOP_1900AD]

Or even, to set up massive government run "retirement communities" that would have more in common with giant long term care homes or even refugee camps.

[Harrius Magnus]

I believe if everyone had to pay SS and fed taxes quarterly out of their pockets rather than "auto deduction", everyone would suddenly care alot more about what the government is taking and a tax revolution would follow.

yep, bump.

[Harrius Magnus]

so I cram as much useless paper in their prepaid envelopes and mail it back to them.

I once sent them a banana peel with a note explaining the metaphor of "sliding into entitlement oblivion." Didn't get a reply.

[Billthedrill]

Some of us old gits will shoot back, you young whippersnapper! I'm planning on marketing a concealment holster that fits inside a Depends...

What the hell is a "whippershapper," anyway?

[kenth]

It is too bad more don't think like you do. Too many think, "I paid into it, I just want to get what's mine!"

Guess what, it's not theirs, it's not there, and hasn't been since it left their pockets. It is the biggest scam perpetrated on the American public. Anyone else trying something like this gets jail time. The government doesn't like anyone nosing in on their business I guess.

TLLoM:

That's one of the genius moments of the tax collective mindset; don't let the masses know just how much is being taken from them. If people had to write checks every quarter from their own accounts, the outcry would have made most tax schemes impossible. I still cannot understand those who view their income tax refunds as free 'gubmint' money instead of their own money they lent to the government interest free for a year.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

The fundamental of Social Security is that the "Social Security Trust Fund" is invested in safe government bonds. "Safe," that is, until the money is actually needed.

Then those bonds will be revealed as liabilities to the Treasury equally as they are assets to the Social Security system. For the purpose of helping our grandchildren pay our Social Security checks, those bonds are useless. In exactly the same way that an IOU you wrote and signed for a trillion dollars wouldn't make you rich.

OTOH, to the extent that the tax liabilities on our IRAs/401(k)s is of similar magnitude as our Social Security checks our grandchildren will have some significant help.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I thought about sending them a used Kleenex, but don't want to feds to accuse me of biowar.

[phoenix0468]

The only important issue is seeing it gone.

[Whatnow]

ping