I am familiar with Venezuela. As far as I can tell, the poor people were promised goodies from the government, but did not pay anything int the system. Now, they are still poor. I have no sympathy for Venezuela.
However, my generation poured a lot of money into these programs, in which the selfish generation of millenials do not want to contribute.
Yes, I am selfish. I do not believe the government has any right to any fruits of my labor. Why don’t you cut an additional check to the IRS on April 15 to prove you’re not selfish?
To the extent that you poured money in that you will never see, I feel sorry for you. Just as I would for any victim of a Ponzi scheme.
The problem is that you only paid in enough to support the smaller population of retirees at the time and not enough to support the retiring of the Baby Boomers.
The ratio of supporters to retirees has changed from something like 15 to 1 down to 3 or 2 to 1.
The program has always been a transfer of wealth from youngsters to oldsters. With changing demographics and intentional`underfunding, there just isn't going to be enough money. I have read estimates of the unfunded liability of the U.S. at 175 TRILLION dollars. That simply cannot and will not be paid.
I have lived my whole life assuming that I would be responsible for my own well-being. Most of the people my age did not. They spent every dime they made and then some.
Congress has the power to make legislative changes to the Social Security law. Congress has no power to legislate the laws of economics.