I maintain that those who argue for private accounts fail to understand the purpose of social security (which I describe as a program to transfer income from youthful producers to formerly productive non-producers). You introduced the following quote from FDR, apparently, interpreting it to support your vision of the reason for social security (a program to assist people to provide for their own retirement):
The civilization of the past 100 years with it's startling industrial changes has tended more and more to make life insecure. Young people have come to wonder what would be their lot when they came to old age. ... We have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty stricken old age.
This quote, by itself, neither supports your view or mine on the purpose of SS. However, the actual operation of the system to date has NOT been to provide some rate of return to people's investment. NO EFFORT, WHATSOEVER, connects contributions to benefits. This, clearly, supports my view that SS is an intergenerational transfer. Therefore, the concept of privitizing makes no sense whatsoever.
Yes, the operation has not tied contributions to benefits. That's why it has structural problems and will collapse unless we raise taxes, cut benefits or import more workers to slow down the demographic shift which is occuring. When FDR signed the bill, the life expectancy was 65 years. Most people didn't collect, or else died soon after retiring.
You have to agree that the purpose was not just to transfer money between generations. If the retired generation was wealthy enough to provide for their own retirement what is the need for a transfer?
FDR's quote talked about protecting against a poverty stricken old age. Happened all the time in the 30's especially because of the Depression. I'm not saying we shouldn't protect people against poverty. Just that government does a crappy job of it.
Chile has a forced savings plan that protects people from poverty in old age without screwing the current workers. You have to agree that a self funded plan that could give retirees the same or higher benefits would be better for retirees and current workers.
Its just a question of what can we do, what would work to get us there.