Posted on 02/09/2011 7:16:30 AM PST by SeekAndFind
When Bernie Madoff popped up in the news again last week, this time when it was alleged that his bankers at JP Morgan Chase saw red flags in his actions but failed to tell the authorities, I felt that familiar feeling again--nothing. Because I don't hate Bernie Madoff. Why should I?
SNIP
I shed no tears for Madoff, but nor do I clench a fist. Madoff didn't do anything to me.
However, if I were forced to join an investment fund that I knew to be a Ponzi scheme and made to watch helplessly as my dollars were sucked out of my net worth, never to be restored, I'd be very thoroughly miffed. Maybe even medieval-torture miffed.
As it happens, I am being forced to participate in a Ponzi scheme, one that dwarfs Madoff's: Social Security. Do I indulge in idle name-calling? Let's check the SEC website, which states,. "A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors. ... the fraudsters focus on attracting new money to make promised payments to earlier-stage investors."
Social Security taxes are being ripped out of my paycheck every week and passed on to older people who are being told that they are simply getting their own investment back, plus a nifty return. The system will have broken before I ever see a dime of my involuntary "investment" returned to me.
Can anyone doubt that the sole reason Social Security is not the target of an SEC fraud probe is because the government, like the mob and the teachers' unions, protects its own?
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Amen Brother!
Well, it won’t be long before the posts start coming about “I paid in” for years and the “trust fund”. Best of all will be the earnest posts about how to keep the ponzi scheme going so that some other generation will be left holding the bag.
The truth about SS and Medicare is so ugly - both financially and morally - that most people won’t confront it.
Madoff did nothing our government hasn’t been doing for years.
I don’t support social security and I think it should be done away with, but the fact is that people have paid in years. Unless your plan includes some form of reimbursement then it isn’t a workable plan.
Government pension benefits are going to have to be restructured
Fantastic, I will throw a party when that happens.
The point is: You didn’t “pay into” anything. You just paid a tax like any other tax. You and I have no more right to demand that younger people transfer their income to us than we have to demand getting our money back for other taxes we pay. It is a ponzi scheme. The government has defrauded everyone, and the “solution” is not to continue to create new victims.
While I agree the solution is not to create new victims, there has to be a plan to compensate those that have put money into the system. There is no excuse for the government giving short shrift to the very people that finance their incompetence.
Again, you just paid a tax. Moreover, you knew they were lying. So, what is the point? There is no way to compensate you or me without taking it from someone else. This is like demanding that Madoff keep his ponzi scheme going so I can get my money back.
I’d settle for flaying alive the politicians responsible for perpetuating this scam, but we won’t get even that satisfaction.
RE: The point is: You didn’t “pay into” anything. You just paid a tax like any other tax.
And as if that were not enough, today, if you are fortunate enough to receive social security, THAT MONEY IS ALSO TAXED !!
What’s not to like ? /s
If you look up the outcomes of ponzi schemes, the 'investors' are able to sue for recourse. Be consistent.
I believe it’s time we recognize reality and come up with a more accurate definition.
If someone like Bernard Madoff does it, it’s a Ponzi Scheme and should be criminalized.
If the government does it, it is called wealth redistribution, is legal, and cannot be criminalized.
Again, it doesn’t matter if it’s called a tax or a contribution. The government collected money for a purported purpose. Recongizing this as a lie does not dismiss the obligation made to the pople that contributed their whole lives and depend on the money to live.
If I could cause the government to cease and desist any form of social security permanantly I would do so. I would also make sure that every dime of money collected for social security be returned as that is the fair thing to do.
The government always has an alleged purpose for collecting taxes, and it is frequently is the case the the money is used elsewhere - gas taxes, for example. Talking about “obligations” is ridiculous. The government is almost entirely lawless. So, as a practical matter, what does complaining accomplish - unless someone is trying to create a new generation of victims (I am not refering to you).
Oh, alright. This is a superduper Ponzi scheme that, because it is run by the government, gives its victims no recourse. The author of the article made this point.
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